H
Harry Hope
Guest
From The Associated Press, 9/10/07:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationw...g-home-wounded-brain-injuries,0,7423210.story
Thousands of GIs Cope With Brain Damage
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE | AP Medical Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
The war in Iraq is not over, but one legacy is already here in this
city and others across America: an epidemic of brain-damaged soldiers.
Thousands of troops have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury,
or TBI.
These blast-caused head injuries are so different from the ones
doctors are used to seeing from falls and car crashes that treating
them is as much faith as it is science.
"I've been in the field for 20-plus years dealing with TBI. I have a
very experienced staff. And they're saying to me, 'We're seeing things
we've never seen before,'" said Sandy Schneider, director of
Vanderbilt University's brain injury rehabilitation program.
Doctors also are realizing that symptoms overlap with post-traumatic
stress disorder, and that both must be treated.
Odd as it may seem, brain injury can protect against PTSD by blurring
awareness of what happened.
But as memory improves, emotional problems can emerge:
One of the first "graduates" of Vanderbilt's program committed suicide
three weeks later.
"Of all the ones here, he would not have been the one we would have
thought," Schneider said.
"They called him the Michelangelo of Fort Campbell" -- a guy who
planned to go to art school.
As more troops return from the war, brain injuries are a growing
burden -- for them, for the few programs to treat them, and for
taxpayers who pay for their care and disability if they cannot hold
jobs.
Most TBIs are mild, and most of these patients recover within a year.
But one-fifth of the troops with these mild injuries will have
prolonged or lifelong symptoms and need continuing care, the military
estimates.
Nearly all of the moderate and severe ones will, too.
Though the full number of those suffering from TBI is still unknown,
the problem is straining the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Until now, "they were dealing with a cohort of aging veterans with
diabetes, heart disease, lung disease," said Dr. Jeffrey Drazen,
editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and a VA
adviser.
Now, these young, brain-injured troops need highly specialized care,
and how much it will help long-term is unknown, he said.
People with TBI have frequent headaches, dizziness, and trouble
concentrating and sleeping.
They may be depressed, irritable and confused, and easily provoked or
distracted. Speech or vision also can be impaired.
Some sufferers have been misdiagnosed with personality disorders.
Others have lost jobs because of unrecognized and untreated symptoms.
_____________________________________________________
"We're kicking ass"
AWOL Bush in Australia
Harry
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationw...g-home-wounded-brain-injuries,0,7423210.story
Thousands of GIs Cope With Brain Damage
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE | AP Medical Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
The war in Iraq is not over, but one legacy is already here in this
city and others across America: an epidemic of brain-damaged soldiers.
Thousands of troops have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury,
or TBI.
These blast-caused head injuries are so different from the ones
doctors are used to seeing from falls and car crashes that treating
them is as much faith as it is science.
"I've been in the field for 20-plus years dealing with TBI. I have a
very experienced staff. And they're saying to me, 'We're seeing things
we've never seen before,'" said Sandy Schneider, director of
Vanderbilt University's brain injury rehabilitation program.
Doctors also are realizing that symptoms overlap with post-traumatic
stress disorder, and that both must be treated.
Odd as it may seem, brain injury can protect against PTSD by blurring
awareness of what happened.
But as memory improves, emotional problems can emerge:
One of the first "graduates" of Vanderbilt's program committed suicide
three weeks later.
"Of all the ones here, he would not have been the one we would have
thought," Schneider said.
"They called him the Michelangelo of Fort Campbell" -- a guy who
planned to go to art school.
As more troops return from the war, brain injuries are a growing
burden -- for them, for the few programs to treat them, and for
taxpayers who pay for their care and disability if they cannot hold
jobs.
Most TBIs are mild, and most of these patients recover within a year.
But one-fifth of the troops with these mild injuries will have
prolonged or lifelong symptoms and need continuing care, the military
estimates.
Nearly all of the moderate and severe ones will, too.
Though the full number of those suffering from TBI is still unknown,
the problem is straining the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Until now, "they were dealing with a cohort of aging veterans with
diabetes, heart disease, lung disease," said Dr. Jeffrey Drazen,
editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and a VA
adviser.
Now, these young, brain-injured troops need highly specialized care,
and how much it will help long-term is unknown, he said.
People with TBI have frequent headaches, dizziness, and trouble
concentrating and sleeping.
They may be depressed, irritable and confused, and easily provoked or
distracted. Speech or vision also can be impaired.
Some sufferers have been misdiagnosed with personality disorders.
Others have lost jobs because of unrecognized and untreated symptoms.
_____________________________________________________
"We're kicking ass"
AWOL Bush in Australia
Harry
