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Ear to the Ground

Soldiers and Doctors Struggle With Brain Injury

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Posted on Sep 9, 2007
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One study found that troops are exposed to an average of one explosion a month. Each shock wave a soldier experiences increases the chances that the next will cause brain damage.

More and more troops are coming home from Iraq with brain damage, the result of repeated exposure to explosions, and doctors are having a difficult time keeping up. For many, the damage causes problems experts have never seen before and aren’t sure how to treat.

AP:

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.

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By Davey, September 10, 2007 at 1:08 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

This is an excellent subject for our gov’t to REALLY explore.

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By Stephen Smoliar, September 10, 2007 at 7:01 am #

Seeing is believing.  Last night was the first broadcast of ALIVE DAY MEMORIES:  HOME FROM IRAQ, the new HBO documentary produced by James Gandolfini:

http://www.hbo.com/aliveday/?ntrack_para1=leftnav_cate gory6_show0

One does not watch this to determine whether the cases of brain damage deserve more or less attention than the other forms of damage.  Ten cases are examined, and what is most important is that ten members of our military who only barely escaped death have been given a voice.

I suppose the original intention of HBO was to broadcast this on the Sunday night before 9/11.  However, I have to say that any member of Congress who ignores this documentary is negligent in his/her decision-making responsibilities, whether or not he/she is directly involved with General Petraeus’ activities in the Capitol today.  (It is probably too much to ask of the White House, beginning at the top and proceeding down from there!) There is no excuse for NOT watching this.  Not only is a DVD already available, but also there is a link from the above URL to a page for watching the entire film on-line.

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By Debra Istvanik-Strotman, September 9, 2007 at 8:07 pm #

How sad to see so many of our military personnel who do not end up in a body bag to come home with brain damage, PTSD, and many problems that we have yet to realize.

Our government isn’t going out of it’s way to help those in need of medical and psychological health problems. In fact many are told they had mental problems before going to Iraq and Afghanastan, so forget any help from the VA. The suicides, which are higher than any other war are blamed on a love affair gone bad that a soldier couldn’t cope with.

If these brave people had mental problems when they signed up to serve their country, why were they accepted into the armed services?  Why are they sent to war zones 3-4 tours?

I saw this same bullshit when Vietnam vets returned to the states. I witnessed the VA try to screw over veterans who needed help..

So when Bush compares Vietnam to Iraq, he may be correct if he is comparing the shabby treatment all these vets receive.

Impeachment is to good for Bush,Cheney, and company;They should be put in a prison that shares their views on torture, and the key should be thrown into the sea.

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By farmertx, September 9, 2007 at 4:12 pm #

Check here to see the reason these troops are being maimed and dying.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/09/bushlinked-te xas-oil-man_n_63659.html

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By RAE, September 9, 2007 at 2:40 pm #

Don’t doubt it. There’s a LOT of brain damage going around these days… right from the White House on down.

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By weather, September 9, 2007 at 1:53 pm #

Send Israel, Exxon and Hailburton the bill, this toxic nightmare was all for them all along.

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