As stated in last week's article the use of explosive materials has increased in the wars since World War I. The recent Iran and Afghanistan wars use land mines, car bombs and explosive bombs attached to people and children as major weapons. This has led to 11 to 20 percent of all veterans displaying symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury.
The U.S. Department of Defense estimates that tens of thousands of veterans and military service members deployed in Iran and Afghanistan have sustained Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
TBI is an injury to the brain that occurs as a result of a bump or blow to the head from blunt or penetrating trauma. During the impact, the brain moves back and forth within the skull resulting in bruising, bleeding, and the shearing of nerve fibers known as axons.
After the initial trauma, the brain will typically swell. This caused the brain tissue to push up against the inside of the skull, which can lead to further bleeding and reduced blood circulation. If the swelling is not treated, parts of the brain can become starved of oxygen and other nutrients, leading to brain cell death. It is this cell death that typically causes the most common TBI symptoms. With our military, the blow is usually caused by these explosion waves.
There is another serious head injury that causes brain trauma. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a brain disorder likely caused by repeated head injuries, often occurring in contact sports and military combat. There is no evidence that an occasional blow to the head will lead to CTE. But there is strong evidence connecting CTE to repeated head impacts, whether or not they cause concussions. CTE symptoms do not develop immediately after a head injury.
Experts believe that they develop over years or decades after repeated head trauma. They also believe that CTE symptoms appear in two forms. In early life between the late 20s and early 30s, the first form of CTE may cause mental health and behavioral issues. Symptoms of this form include depression, anxiety, impulsive behavior and aggression. The second form of CTE is thought to cause symptoms later in life, around the age 60. These symptoms include memory and thinking problems that are likely to progress to dementia
In basic training members of the military learn to fire weapons spending most of that time on the range, training field, exposing them to many different shoulder weapons. The blast’s overpressure that is generated from the firing of these weapons may cause brain injury. The brain may be injured by the noise, which is produced when the weapon is fired. This is even more possible when the weapon is a shoulder weapon like rifles, bazookas or other shoulder weapon The blast overpressure from these weapons occurs about a foot away from the head and the position on the head is such that the waves may easily enter the space between the head and helmet, increasing the damage.
Help is available to you by calling the local VA hospital in Northport, (631) 261-4400 or Veterans Crisis Line 1-800-273-8255, press 1 to talk to a veteran or have a confidential chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net or text to 838255.
If you have any question relating to veteran problems please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to answer it. Contact us at Drfred72@Gmail.com.