Sunday, September 5, 2010

Army's Traumatic Brain Injury Study, Bobmb Specialists

The use of the term "mild traumatic brain injury" is belies the fact that brain damage is permanent and therefore not a "mild" injury.


Full Article at: Army studies concussions' effects on bomb techs

By KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press Writer Kristin M. Hall, Associated Press Writer

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky.: "Soldiers from the Army's 52nd Ordnance Group based at Fort Campbell have undergone hours of exhaustive cognitive testing in the military's first-of-its-kind study of mild traumatic brain injury."

"The Fort Campbell bomb specialists will be tracked during their upcoming Afghanistan deployment for concussions and head injuries to look for effects on brain functions."

"During the testing, the soldiers are subjected to numerous mental exercises and given puzzles and quizzes that give a baseline of a soldier's brain functions before an injury. One test required Dwyer to quickly press a series of blinking lights while doing math problems in his head. In another, he was asked to recall a list of words that he was given earlier."

"The Department of Defense says 178,000 troops have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries since 2000, mostly mild cases. Even those can have wide-ranging effects on concentration, speech, balance and eyesight.

The Army released new rules this year for soldiers who are within 50 meters of a blast, are in a vehicle that rolls over or are in a vehicle involved in a blast. Those soldiers now must undergo a medical evaluation and be put on 24 hours of rest before returning to duty. Comprehensive evaluations will be mandatory after three concussions in one year."

"The brain is using a lot of energy to heal, and if you stress the brain so that it runs out of energy, it's actually going to cause death of neurons," said Dr. David Twillie, director of Fort Campbell's Traumatic Brain Injury Center."