# How the US Military Changed its View on TBI



## cupper (12 Jun 2016)

Not sure if this is the right place for this topic, so Mods feel free to move if it isn't.

NPR is running a series of stories over the next few weeks on the US Military and TBI's (Traumatic Brain Injury)

The first two articles are up.

The first discusses the groundbreaking research that has challenged the common thought that if there are not physical signs of injury that the problem is a psychological reaction to the trauma. It also goes into the negative reaction that they experienced from the military medical community, and how it took pressure from the highest levels of the COC to make changes.

*An Army Buddy's Call For Help Sends A Scientist On A Brain Injury Quest*

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/08/480608042/an-army-buddys-call-for-help-sends-a-scientist-on-brain-injury-quest



> The first time Kit Parker's phone rang, everything seemed fine. It was January 2006, and Parker's old Army buddy Chris Moroski was calling to say hi.
> 
> Parker and Moroski had jumped out of airplanes together in the 1990s when they were paratroopers in the National Guard. But after the attacks on Sept. 11, Parker had been deployed to Afghanistan, his friend to Iraq. They'd lost touch.
> 
> ...


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## cupper (12 Jun 2016)

Part 2



> From Heart Cells To Brain Cells
> 
> At Harvard, Parker had been studying the structure and function of heart muscle cells. He'd published several groundbreaking papers on how these cells respond to mechanical forces, like the stretching that occurs when blood pressure goes up.
> 
> ...


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## cupper (12 Jun 2016)

The second report goes into more detail on the Gray Teams and the friction they faced and overcame.

*How A Team Of Elite Doctors Changed The Military's Stance On Brain Trauma*

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/10/481568316/how-a-team-of-elite-doctors-changed-the-military-s-stance-on-brain-trauma



> During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military did an about-face on detecting and treating brain injuries caused by explosions. After years of routinely sending blast-exposed troops back into combat, the military implemented a system that requires screening and treatment for traumatic brain injury.
> 
> The change came about in large part because of a remarkable campaign by an elite team of military officers who were also doctors and scientists. They worked for the highest-ranking officer in the armed forces. And they were known simply as the Gray Team.
> 
> ...


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## Colin Parkinson (13 Jun 2016)

Thanks great read


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## cupper (13 Jun 2016)

I'll post the new articles as they are released.


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