Brain Injury From the Battlefield

Today on Word of Mouth, we’re looking at the effect of active combat on the brains of returning soldiers. About 97 percent of American troops wounded in Iraq come back alive - the highest survival rate of any American war to date.

Many of those injured return with wounds that are invisible to the naked eye. They suffer from brain trauma. Not only the post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, which has been in the news, but other injuries which can be even more debilitating as losing a limb. Their symptoms may include memory lapses, constant headaches, mood swings, nausea and insomnia. Many of these veterans remain undiagnosed. According to the RAND Corporation, as many as 300,000, or one in five combat veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, screened positive for possible concussion.

New theories on the causes of brain injury range from blasts causing pressure waves to ripple through blood vessels and damage brain tissue, to electro-magnetic pulses generated by the blasts. Some experts are worried that this research might create fear of a mysterious, unknown epidemic, like what happened with Gulf War syndrome.

Eric Hagerman wrote about brain trauma in soldiers for Popular Science, where he serves as a contributing editor. He joins Word of Mouth to discuss the latest research into brain trauma.

(Photo by Tom Mulrooney)