I was wondering why i had headaches...

May 1, 2007: The widespread use of roadside bombs and rocket propelled
grenades in Iraq is causing more injuries than it appears. As early as
2004, when army doctors checked out soldiers wounded in Iraq, they found
62 percent also had undiagnosed concussion injuries. Later studies found
that 18 percent of all troops serving in Iraq suffered some damage from
roadside bombs and other explosions. In order to identify those troops
who might have injuries that show no symptoms now, but might turn into
serious problems years from now, the U.S. Army is using a new brain
scanner combines gamma rays and radioisotopes to identify subtle damage
to the brain.



Normally, brain injuries (concussion) from the of nearby explosions,
appear to wear off after a few hours, or days, of rest. What has been
missed until now were the long term effects. Too many concussions has
long been known to cause permanent and severe brain damage. Boxers who
took too many blows to the head would, in their later years, become
permanently disoriented and mentally disabled. This came to be called
punch drunk. But as more professional football and hockey players
suffered concussions, experts in sports medicine began to notice
patterns in how a few concussions could cause serious, and delayed, long
term damage. Better diagnostic tools (like MRI) made it possible to see
the damage early on.



Progress in treating sports injuries, especially head concussions, have
provided the U.S. Army with a large body of experience on how to spot,
and treat concussions (from explosions) and the resulting brain
injuries. The army developed guidelines for combat commanders to apply
for troops who suffer concussions, giving them several days of rest, or
sending them for MRI and other tests to make sure there is no serious
damage. Like professional athletes, soldiers who have suffered a certain
amount of concussion injury will be removed from combat duty. This in
itself is nothing new. For decades, combat soldiers have been shifted to
less strenuous jobs when they suffered permanent muscular or skeletal
injuries from combat, or even peacetime, operations. Paratroopers, or
even airmobile infantry who jump a few feet out of helicopters with
carrying a hundred pounds of gear, often suffer permanent back or other
injuries. Tank crews suffer similar risks jumping off their tanks, or
overexerting themselves pulling maintenance on their armored behemoths.
Just training for combat is a very physically demanding task.



Concussions, first encountered on a large scale during World War I,
which gave rise to the term "shell shock," was the result of the
increasing use of high explosive shells and hand grenades. This created
large numbers of soldiers with no visible wounds, but who were
definitely in a state of shock. Shell shock eventually came to be
renamed combat fatigue, because it wasn't the numerous blast injuries
that caused so many soldiers to go into a long term state of mental
distress, but prolonged exposure to the stresses of combat.



These long term injuries are nothing new, and with thousands of World
War II combat veterans studied for over half a century, there is more
and more data to pinpoint what kind of injuries we are dealing with, and
what their long term effects are. The big breakthrough has been the
ability to spot these subtle injuries early on.

hey great article

i just want to add, that if and when you or any of your soldiers are in
an attack whether it be with IEDs, mortars or RPGs, make sure that they
go to the BAS and have themselves checked out and the medic puts it on a
SF600 (which goes in their med records) even if it does nothing but
clears them for duty.
the most important thing that they get checked is their ears, document
that stuff man, with the way guys are being put out for it and with no
disabilty too, its a shame, so go have yourself check.

doc