How Do Bombs Affect Soldiers’ Brains?
- Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:30am by
Liz Klimas
- Print »
- Email »
Even though visible effects of multiple bomb blasts on soldiers may disappear, doctors and scientists are saying that there may be more lasting effects on the inside that were previously mis-diagoned as post-traumatic stress disorder.
A feature in on Nature.com, Burt — a man who asked his real name not be used — talks his sufferings from what he and doctors believe are the reverberating effects on his brain from bombs in Afghanistan:
The detonation of C4 and other such military-grade explosives felt like extremely high notes — painful, yet over quickly. But blasts from bombs made out of fertilizer — a favourite of Afghan insurgents — were like standing next to a speaker at a rock concert: the dull bass thuds didn’t necessarily hurt, but they would reverberate through his body like a wave, and stay with him for a long time afterwards.
They’re with him still. Burt [...] spent four months as a tactical adviser to a US military bomb-disposal unit in Afghanistan, during which he was within 50 metres of a detonating improvised explosive device (IED) more than 18 times. His sleeping problems began even before he left. So did the headaches, the ringing in his ears and the nausea. He started to forget things — a problem that got even worse after he returned home. Burt would find himself in a room in his house and wonder why he was there. One time, he told his wife they should try a new restaurant in town. She replied that they had eaten there with friends just a few days before.
Nature describes another soldier who went unharmed even though an IED detonated directly under his armored vehicle. Because everything seemed fine, he went back to work. But after his physical condition began to deteriorate, with some deliberation as to what his condition was, he was accepted into Walter Reed Medical Center with neurological problems.
Evidence is mounting that troops experiencing multiple blasts are suffering concussions and residual symptoms similar to Burt:
“We’ve got a lot of guys out there that might be 30 years old that have been blown up a dozen times,” says Kevin Kit Parker, a biomedical engineer at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who is conducting research on [traumatic brain injury] TBI. “And the risk that these guys are going to get a disease like Alzheimer‘s or Parkinson’s is soaring.”
The number of troops affected by this kind of silent TBI has already topped 200,000, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center in Washington DC. A survey done by the Rand Corporation, a not-for-profit research firm in Santa Monica, California, suggests it could be as high as 320,000.
This NPR video shows how one soldier has suffered from what’s considered a “mild” case of TBI. He says in the video, “It probably would have been easier to have gotten my leg blown off”:
This video, similarly, shows soldiers frustrated by lack of treatment for TBI:
According to Nature, TBI only recently began being recognized as a legitimate condition. In 2006, TBI research wasn’t included in the fiscal year budget. Within a year though, federal funding jumped to $150 million. In 2010, the Pentagon released guidelines for identifying and treating patients with TBI, including a requirement to screen troops within 50 meters of a blast and 24 hours of rest before being put back into duty.
Research derived from this funding has found that the blasts set off a series of cellular reactions that ends with impairment of neurological function. Other research of a deceased soldier’s brain that had been exposed to multiple blasts, according to Nature, reveled damage similar to those of concussions suffered by professional athletes.
But, doctors can’t cut open the brains of live patients and some traditional brain scans miss damage, making TBI hard to diagnose. Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported new software used in conduction with a typical MRI machine was revealing abnormalities in the brain that had been missed before. Other research is even evaluating soldiers’ brains pre-deployment to measure differences after they return to better understand TBI.
Continuing to further recognize TBI, on June 6, 2011, Congress passed the Traumatic Brain Injury Ammendment to Department of Defense Appropriations Bill of 2012 that was initiated by Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX-32), which allows TBI sufferers more treatment options not currently available within military and veteran medical facilities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.























Submitting your tip... please wait!
mikee1
Posted on September 24, 2011 at 11:16amDid a GOV.-FUNDED STUDY at one of our liberal universities provide this info.? Hey, here is another good one. How does fire affect wood?
Report Post »AB5r
Posted on September 24, 2011 at 9:16amIf is a total outrage that our society is wasting lives, limbs, resources, trying to help or fix societies controlled by Islam. Once Islam is in a society nothing can be done. It is a fatal cancer, all you can do is save your own society by keeping Islam out altogether. Islam out of the West now. People want to wait until we have bombs in our own shopping centers and average citizens are suffering this sort of brain damage. Unbelievable.
Report Post »SamanthaUSA
Posted on September 24, 2011 at 2:45amThe article is informative; unfortunately, the instances of awkward formulation, spelling, grammatical and even punctuation errors are so numerous as to be distracting. Please hold yourself to a higher standard.
Report Post »Bernard
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 8:52pmHigh pitched noise is one of the many ways to torture a prisoner of war and I have no doubt that soldiers exposed to the sound blast of a bomb suffer similar effects as that of a tortured prisoner. We have the technology to invent instruments inserted into a soldiers ear that would activate when sound reaches a certain pitch and stay dormant allowing the soldier to hear commands and converse. If we do not we should.
Report Post »In addition sound and light can be used as preemptive weapons on a battle field where a certain pitch and a certain stream of light would disable the enemy long enough to take the upper hand. But again those using it must be guarded from it’s effects or fall into the same trap as the enemy.
Mil Mom
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:58pmTBI is actually a wide range of problems, depending on the area of the brain and how it is affected. I suffered one from a work injury in 1999, and one doctor misdiagnosed as Traumatic Stress Syndrome from the accident. When I was wending my way SO SLOWLY through the diagnostic process, one nurse told me, I was describing the exact type injury which is called “Shaken Baby Syndrome” but mine was from my head bouncing back and forth between 2 wooden shaft type pieces.
Report Post »I have been concerned about our troops since completing Neuro-Rehab (2nd time, a surgery & pneumonia re-activated the problem. ) Talking with a family soldier as he described battle helmets, it sounds like the helmet made to protect from a blow, may not protect from the head moving around inside the headband. We discussed lining it with Styrofoam and he pointed out this would make it difficult to hear, and could be more costly than the concussion.
It took 2 yrs for me to get to a Dr familiar with the condition, and he called me a TextBook Case! I can well imagine the trouble our troops have. THE SYMPTOMS CAN BE VERY SIMILAR TO A STROKE OR ALZEHEIMERS ONSET FOR A MILD CASE!!! I know, been there, No Fun! Would forget what I was holding in my hand if I looked away! Wonder in Wars past, how much this condition was misdiagnosed! MAYBE THIS IS WHY SO MANY VIET NAM VETS HAD TROUBLE RE-ASSIMULATING!
bobbybear
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 5:59pmBeing a father of two, 2 boys, 2 Marines, I can relate to this article. My youngest son lost his lower right leg on a mountain top in Afghanistan a year and a half ago. At Walter Reed, it’s called a paper cut. His life’s functions are going to be just fine. The amputation is below the knee and he was on the ice playing sled hockey less than a week and half after the amputation. His life goes on and there’s nothing that will stand in his way. My eldest son, 25, was involved in 7 explosions while deployed to Iraq. He has TBI/PTSD and where his life is going to go, we don’t know. These are the guys that do commit suicide at an alarming rate. He has undergone treatments for his TBI, but at this stage, everything is experimental. So far, almost all the studies that the Marines have been doing have shown no promise, but at least they’re trying. It’s a long road that my family is heading down and the future is a fog. But the services are trying to come to grips with it. Some are slow and others, the Marines, are at the forefront of these studies. The hardest part is that TBI/PTSD are sight-unseen injuries, the unkown injuries that people don’t see, including the officer’s, until it can be too late. We’ve been lucky. most of the guys aren‘t diagnosed until it’s too late.
Report Post »Mil Mom
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:21pmIncourage your son to not give up! If he hasn’t had Neuro-Rehab with a Neuro Psycologist, have him ask for it by name. My Neuro-Psyche Evaluation was the most grueling thing I’ve had as an adult, split over 2 days because fatigue affected my capabilities. From there we built a game plan, worked it, ON THE MOST OBVIOUS PROBLEM, many game plans on others, I discovered, extreme heat, fatigue, illness (I could tell I was getting a cold or flu 24 hrs before by the limit to my abilities) surgery, all were setbacks, 11 yrs later, I still have some days I’m a little off, but we’ve (my Lord, and I) come a Long way, and with time you learn to plan your day according to your capabilities. (I’m a night-time worker [3rd shifter] and my capabilities were actually best between 10a.m. and 2:30a.m. so I worked hardest at re-learning during those hours.) My Dr pointed out we normally use a very small portion of the brain, so there is much there to re-learn in, tell your son, to think of himself the same as a very small child. My Drs said using the computer really made a difference, any game program made for improving a small childs skills works for adults. I prowled the “Gifted” programs in specialty stores in Col. OH (can’t remember the name) and used kids games, (any kids in the family really enjoy making a game of it!) Tell him “hang in there” it does get better with time and hard work, but frustration works against him! God bless & Help!
Report Post »rabornmd
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 5:28pmWounded Soldiers are being treated right here in Delray Beach Florida approved but not funded by the government. SPECT scans and psychological teating is done before treatment with hyperbaric therapy. Several have been treated with encouraging results. I am a scientist, teacher and board certified internist who is greatly impressed by the few results of this therapy. So much of the old literature on hyperbaric was wrongly applied, given only for a short time and used in only severely injured individuals. Ray Cralle’ and the medical doctors working with him are cutting edge and experimental. Check the results and imaging for yourself.
Report Post »Jayderaven
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 3:50pmWell as someone who is currently serving overseas, there is one fact that is not quite correct. The 24 hours of “rest” is not rest. It considered no movement within 24 hours from the time the blast occurred, but if the convoy gets hit midway through a mission, it might be several more hours until they reach their destination. It might help the SM if the policy actually stipulated what “rest” really means.
Report Post »Misty Williams
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:30pmI don’t have to watch the videos to understand this problem. I’ve been working at it with my husband for years now. When I suffered a serious close-head injury a number of years ago, I sustained TBI, but I got very lucky, and was admitted into a semi-experimental civilian rehab program.
When my husband spent two years in Iraq, the first as a soldier in the Green Zone and the second as a contractor, doing the same job he did as a soldier, he was on the receiving end of so many explosions and concussion waves, he lost count. When he came home, he was not the same–there were some pretty glaring differences in his personality and energy levels, his memory, his tolerance for light and sound. He had been very outgoing and bold, he was a stage magician as a hobby for many years, even performed for the troops in Iraq, and suddenly couldn’t tolerate crowds or really any people at all. He would shut himself in his room, and sleep when he wasn’t at work. Shortly after he returned home from that second year, he suffered a sub-arachnoid hemorrhage and he very nearly didn’t make it. Praise God he did. It took two years to get the VA to recognize and provide any treatment for this condition. And the treatment to date has been Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen, and me trying to help him learn the therapies I was taught. I’m so glad the Military and VA are starting to pay more attention to this. Perhaps others won’t have to struggle quite as hard as he and so many others have to date.
Report Post »Tom K
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 11:33amWhat about all of the E.O.D. ( Explosive Ordinance Disposal ) people who take explosives to a safe site and blow them up ? Or the strip miners, road builders, building demolition operators, folks that launch our July the 4th. fireworks, etc. that are near explosions just doing their job ? Needs to be looked at.
Report Post »Jayderaven
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 3:52pmThat should be looked at as well, but like the article said, the problem comes from the non military grade explosives made from fertilizer that send out a low concussive blast.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:07amWE have a friend with an adult son who suffers (that is speaking mildly) from TBI from a serious car wreck years ago. Our friend has worked YEARS trying to get help for his son. Lots of promises; no follow through. They have almost lost hope. The son (a very LARGE, strong young man in his late 30‘s now or early 40’s) is the sole responsibility of his father who is providing in-home care for him. Besides almost breaking the family financially, it has almost broken them emotionally.
With the current non-administration in place, we can be certain NOTHING will be done to help anyone with TBI, much less our returning soldiers.
Our hope is in JESUS CHRIST WHO will bring HIS change to this country if we ask HIM to!
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 6:52am.
Report Post »As long as we have to have feelings when we go to war. Bombs will hurt…………
Mil Mom
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:43pm@SpankDaMonkey
Report Post »Posted on September 23, 2011 at 6:52am
.
As long as we have to have feelings when we go to war. Bombs will hurt…………
***
Good point, BUT physical hurt has many tried and true treatments, TBI is considered by most non-professionals to be a Psychlological or emotional problem, when truly it’s a problem of the channels in the brain being affected, and normal brain function being messed up in very much the same way as the nervous system being damaged means paralysis or muscular dysfunction. Often in TBI the brain does not give the nervous system the proper signals and you have a very similar situation. The Spec Scan is good if there are areas of the brain damaged. Mine weren’t and the Dr said that was good, but there would have possibly been a surgery if there were! After struggling for over a year, MOST would find themselves preferring brain surgery to the slow tedious work of relearning! Think everything an infant learns in the first 5 yrs of life and imagine if as an adult he had to relearn most of it! Then add the things a highly trained soldier has learned as an adult, if damaged, it must be relearned too! THE BRAIN IS MARVELOUS FOR ADAPTING, BUT MUST HAVE TRAINING TO DO SO! HABITS ARE FORMED BY REPETITION, AND SKILLS ARE RELEARNED THE SAME WAY!
OUR TROOPS REALLY NEED THERAPISTS, DR’s NURSES TO LEARN WITH THEM !!! God Bless those who try!
Secessionista
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 5:55amRon Paul would not have allowed this to happen in the first place.
Report Post »Mil Mom
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:54pm@Secessionista
Report Post »Posted on September 23, 2011 at 5:55am
Ron Paul would not have allowed this to happen in the first place.
***
Unless Ron Paul has some MAGIC WAND he can wave to make all the bad guys turn good, THAT’S A HOOT!!! Didn’t you hear of the car bomb this morning about 20 miles north of Toledo Ohio, in the Detroit area? Wouldn’t have made a bit of difference if our troops were stationed in the US or not, (and I know we have reservests in that area) THE BAD GUYS MADE THINGS GO BOOM!!!
Ron Paul’s foreign policy would have long ago emboldened the terrorists and our soldiers, and the rest of us, would have seen this happen as often in America as Iraq or Afghanistan!! STICK YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND AND YOU LEAVE A VERY LARGE PART OF YOUR BODY STICKING UP FOR A TARGET!!!
Freedom.Fighter
Posted on September 29, 2011 at 4:00pmActually, I am a soldier in the Army and whether one agrees with Secessionista or not, the fact is that you must declare war on a someone BEFORE you bomb them. We have yet to declare war on any of the countries that we are in. The Army’s own findings in how terrorists are motivated to attacking us points to the fact that our own bases occupying their land has led to more terrorist recruitint material and hatred than anything else. Unfortunately, our leadership can‘t get over themselve’s and let us protect our country starting with our own borders for a change. If not, at least change the name from Department of DEFENSE to Department of OFFENSE. That would be more accurate.
Report Post »Tractorboy
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:00amUhm bombs are fun when your a kid in your parents basement,but I Can’t even comprehend, the real
Report Post »stuff our troops had to endore, god bless them…….for fighting for our freedom.
Middle Finger
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:57amGod bless our soldiers. May they be made well.
Report Post »MARCH4HIM
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:47amI hope they can help these guys…it is a terrible feeling knowing somthing is wrong and you cant prove it, and when people think its a emotional problem,,,when it realy is a phyisical problem that has symtoms of emotional side affects…mem loss ,forgetfulness,ect,I hope this gets resolved, that (tbi) sounds like the real deal ….Its bad enough to have these problems when you get older..
Report Post »Lunertic
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:13amHome Of The FREE BECAUSE Of The BRAVE
Report Post »A pitiful situation. WWI and WWII, Korea and Vietnam created many Shell Shocked Soldiers who served “1” Tour. Today our Kids are making 5 to 10 Tours and are still on call to go back yet again. We’ve made our Military a Job. A Career Soldier. Whats going to become of them?
God Be With Them And Their Families.
Psychosis
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:13amIF WE WERENT NATION BUILDING THEY WOULDNT BE THERE
let our boys go in kick a$$ and come home there is no reason we are still dealing with these cavemen without the stupid rules of engagement they currently operate under we could have had the job done yrs ago
Report Post »paulusmaximus
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:12amYes This is “Johnson” fighting, if their over there their not here looking for a job and wanting to know why.
Report Post »I pray for their safe return, there has been to much required of today’s solders and I believe all for political reason!
B.O.STINKS
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:54amOur current Nanny State rules/ standards are killing this country. They drive up the cost of living in all areas. The Libs strive to attain a dreamstate standard of life that we can’t afford (because it is essentially unnatural) and then want to cut off the resources needed to pay for them (coal, oil, gas). They want us all to become vegans and want to protect everything on earth and that simply is not Life. They want to protect Life from Life. Obama on the other hand simply wants to severely weaken or destroy the US as he strengthens the Muslim commmunity then ship them abroad so he can recolonize the US and rest of the world them (Caliphate plus). Under the guise of a “do-gooder” Liberal, Obama is hijacking the various liberal movements in order to attain this goal. The people of this country will have to do one of 2 things: Prepare to be like Jesus and carry a GIGANTIC CROSS or toughen up and prepare to FIGHT LIKE HELL!
Report Post »MakeTheMiddleEastAGlassFactory
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:15pmCheck the name. Totally agree.
Report Post »Mil Mom
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 11:04pmI’d like to nominate you for the JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF!!! Or if you have no military background, how about Dept of Defense! If we’re attacked, GO TURN THE BEST MILITARY IN THE WORLD LOOSE TO RETURN THE FAVOR, IF THEY HIDE BEHIND WOMEN AND CHILDREN, WE HAVE THE SAME CAPABILITIES ISRAEL HAS, AND THEY MANAGE TO TAKE THEM OUT IN A CAR DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD, a camel shouldn’t be that much harder!!!
Report Post »Tell everyone who hides terrorists, they‘ll get treated according to the company they keep and watch how many times they’re ratted on!
scout n ambush
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:10amMy only concern is that these facts will be used to somehow take the right to own a firearm from these patriotic americans.These vet’s should be well taken care of unlike those in the past.This is something that should get more funding for research not some of the b.s that gets billions like solyndra and a million other stupid projects that got stimulis or pork barrel spending money..
Report Post »rdietz7
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:09amBurt you need to accept your change. I‘m glad you’re alive to hear the good news. Christ Jesus died for you. You are a sinner and you need Jesus in your life so that you can be forgiven for the sinful state of being you were born into. If you pray to Jesus and ask him to forgive you then you will be forgiven. You can now begin the true healing process. Miracles are for you all, if you repent. Everyone on your knees, we all need this healing and now is the time to receive. God bless you Burt and your wife.
Report Post »thepatriotdave
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:31amAlthough I may agree with what you wrote about Jesus, I think it‘s presumptuous of you to automatically assume that Burt doesn’t know Jesus Christ.
Report Post »rdietz7
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 6:34amPray that Jesus is in Burt’s heart so that he can have a miracle healing process. Jesus is here for all of us sinners. We just need to ask him to receive his grace. Glenn recently said that the whole world may go over the edge but we need to stand firm. Jesus is the only way to set ourselves apart to be that remanent.
Report Post »TH30PH1LUS
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:58amI will believe that our Congress stands in support of American troops, on the day they unanimously demand that the financial numbers for the aftercare of our wounded warriors are INCLUDED in projected war costs.
Report Post »richard bensen
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:52amAfter serving in combat in Vietnam I can still remember the shock of being shelled constantly at my fire base by the ????????????…enemy.Or feeling the vibes from our B-52′s.Either way it was horrific to say the least..When I returned home I had loss of hearing and the occasional feeling of vertigo..Although I’m making it now,I can agree with this post and feel for our soldiers who have a long way to travel…..
Report Post »Jefferson
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:39amNot as bad as depleted uranium, which has a half life of 500 million years.
Maybe that is why the Military has given more money to Ron Paul than ALL of the other Repubs COMBINED, and even more than Ohmamma. Google it.
Report Post »We know that he wants to form a PERIMETER DEFENSE around THIS NATION and its borders and territorial waters,.not some litter box across the ocean.
Bring ‘em home. Give ‘em a raise. Have them protect THIS country not someone else. Have them spend their money HERE and not in Korea, Germany, and Japan and 700 other places in the world.
NOT TO MENTION WE’RE BROKE!!
thepatriotdave
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:34amthe Military has given more money to Ron Paul than ALL of the other Repubs COMBINED….
Report Post »=================
This claim was made back in 2008 and has been proven to be a myth/hoax/lie.
Jefferson
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:20amNo actually YOU are the liar, or simply just too dumb to use Google.
Report Post »http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2011/jul/23/ron-paul/ron-paul-says-members-military-have-given-him-far-/
Read ‘em and weep buddy.
American Soldier (Separated)
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:39amI donated to Ron Paul’s campaign in 2008 while I was serving in Afghanistan. So did a lot of other people just in my unit alone. We talked about Ron Paul a lot while deployed and following the new at the DFAC. While not everyone cared about politics, those that did were almost certainly in favor of the Doctor.
Report Post »Jefferson
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 11:42amThanks for your service. More importantly thank you for speaking up for what is right. Your perspective as a veteran in tremendously valuable.
Report Post »The military understands that Ron Paul is a fellow veteran, and would use them judiciously.
They are overworked, underpaid, and unappreciated by the chickenhawks that carelessly send them into harms way.
There is no more precious a resource than a man or woman willing to lay their life on the line in defense of THEIR country. Ron Paul understands that, and wants them HERE defending THIS country and its borders and territorial waters. It’s called a PERIMETER DEFENSE for the slower ones in the group. We have the technology to defend ourselves, without being spread out all over the globe. We also have the technology to respond to a threat at a moments notice. Ron Paul wants to speak softly, but carry a big stick. He doesn’t want to put the military out of a job, he wants to STRENGTHEN them, by using them more efficiently. I don’t know why that is so hard for some to understand.
When I read stories about the military suicides being at record levels, it makes my blood boil.
The Ranger that just killed himself because he was being deployed for the FREAKIN’ 9TH TIME, is a tragedy beyond measure.
Bring ‘em home, give ‘em a raise, buy ‘em a steak dinner, give them a good vacation, and the respect they SO deserve. Send Lindsey “light in the loafers” Graham over there instead.