MILITARY MEMORABILIA

War Veterans and Traumatic Brain Injury

Each year, the increase in the number of American veterans that Soldiers returning from the wars in the latest American to come home. However, as the survivors are welcomed home after a career dedicated to serving their country, a new generation of men and women suffering from mild to severe brain injury Traumatic (TBI) are greeted with battled medical budgets and technology gaps TBI, which does not provide the necessary services and treatments necessary to improve their newly developed disabilities.

With an average of 1.4 million Americans undergoing some form of TBI, the number of scientists and researchers seek to cure these individuals should be more and more, however, declining budgets continue to compress and squeeze war-related funding of brain damage. In 2006, the U.S. House and Senate reduced funding for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) in half of the previous year.

Traumatic brain injury has been considered the "signature" injury of the Iraq war, according to military doctors and experts. It is imperative to combat soldiers to get help with their TBI-related disability.

What is TBI?

Head injury is defined as an injury that occurs after a sudden trauma causes brain damage, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). War-related TBI can occur in many ways and people suffering from side effects and this report is symptoms vary from case to case diagnosis.

Researchers and scientists are, however, find several repetitive conditions and symptoms among TBI victims. Signs and symptoms of these conditions related to war are as follows, according to a study published in medical journals of Neuropsychology and brain damage:

* Cognitive issues decreased attention, including focused, selective and sustained attention problems * language problems

* Lack of motivation * inability to process information effectively

* Irritability * depression and anxiety

* Increased fatigue * headaches * memory loss or disturbance

* Behavior Problems

* Disturbed sleep

* Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

In May 2006, co-founder testified DVBIC to a Senate subcommittee that if bulletproof vests "may save troops caught in sound leaves many with brain injuries," a The report in U.S. news today. In addition, the article cited several disturbing statistics on the status of TBI and Veterans combatants.

* 10 percent of all troops in Iraq suffer from concussions during combat. * 20 percent of all infantry Primary suffer concussions during combat.

Scientists believe the Pentagon should consider * all soldiers returning from Iraq.

* The Pentagon has refused screenings for all returning troops and the screen a small population of soldiers.

* If it is untreated or untested, multiple head injuries and concussions can cause permanent brain damage.

In addition, several equally disturbing statistics have been reported in several journals, including brain damage, medical Internally, the soldiers Magazine, MIT Technology Review and Perspectives in Psychiatric Care. These statistical area as follows:

* Nearly 25 percent of all veterans the war in Iraq are diagnosed with a mental illness.

* Linked to war TBI patients often manifest changes distinct personality.

* Of the 35,000 soldiers screened for TBI, approximately 11 percent had symptoms of mild TBI.

* No treatment currently exists to heal the long-term symptoms of TBI.

Flawed Brain Injury Technology

Unfortunately, as budgets are cut, the quality of care and technology also decreases. More recently, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed nine of the Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers and concluded that the validity of testing CBT and reliability may be biased.

In addition, the report found that soldiers with TBI may be receiving inadequate care or unnecessary for their brain injuries, according to an article from The Associated Press January 2008. The report concluded that:

* Although the VA has established TBI screening tools, validity and reliability of the tool has not yet been established.

* The VA has established a protocol to ensure soldiers testing positive for TBI are treated adequate, but most of VA medical facilities either did not follow the protocol or had difficulty in doing so.

* Growing, VA found that Iraq veterans feel the VA and its facilities meet the elderly veterans and do not want to treat young veterans.

* The VA is struggling with the rural poor's access to medical facilities and low rates of participation for injured veterans which in some cases must drive 100 miles more to reach a nearby hospital VA.

Living with TBI

Veterans who are currently living with The TBI will see that not only does TBI affect them, but the ripple effect among the family of a wounded veteran and friends is very broad. There is a clinical trial that the victim of TBI may contribute to the improvement of living conditions and to treat the symptoms of TBI. Some these clinical trials can be found by the following organizations Web sites:

* National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Diseases – Brain Resources and Information Network (BRAIN)

* Acoustic Neuroma Association Foundation head injury

* Injury Association Brain Alliance Family Caregiver America / National Center on Caregiving National Rehabilitation Centre (NARIC)

* Association National Disease

* National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation (NIDRR)

Finding Help Brain Injury

There several organizations to provide assistance specifically dealing with issues related to war. Here are several key organizations and hospitals:

* Walter Reed Army Medical Center Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center

Centre for Defence * Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury

* National Center for Health deployment Intrepid Center of Excellence Clinical

* Center for the Study of Psychology Centre Traumatic Stress deployment

* The Department of Defense (DoD) also has a research component through their Web sites to assist veterans in finding a veteran hospital in their geographic area.

In Moreover, those lasting pain of a brain injury related to the war are encouraged to find an experienced brain injury lawyer trauma that can provide assistance in the development of further brain damage. Due to the nature of these injuries, there should be no reason why monetary compensation is not awarded to the injured party.

TBI medical bills can be extremely expensive, and this potential award may bring relief from stress associated with medical expenses.

About the Author

Learn more about traumatic brain injury and how it affects war veterans at http://brain-injury.legalview.com/. Or use the LegalView homepage at http://www.LegalView.com and research information on the latest medical controversies such as the Zimmer Durom cup defects or the Viapro recall.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 at 4:26 am and is filed under Military Memorabilia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.