Returning soldiers and the lingering effects of head trauma

Share your thoughts on Jia-Rui Chong's story about the long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries on soldiers returning from combat.  An excerpt:

A recent Rand Corp. report, which Yochelson worked on, estimated that 19% of the troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, or more than 300,000 people, have come back with traumatic brain injuries. It estimated that treatments for such injuries and the loss in productivity have cost the nation, conservatively, about $554 million.

Do you think the Department of Veterans Affairs deals effectively with these patients?  Have you, a family member or friend been personally affected by head trauma?  Weigh in here.

Photo: U.S. Marine Brian Vargas, 20, connects with a punching bag at Scripps Hospital Encinitas brain injury recovery ward. Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times.

Comments

[Sue adair]

My husband died at the age of 60 diagnosed with altheimer diseas which I never believed he suffered plane crash in world war 2 and suffered trauma to the head he started having sighns of something wrond as early as his early fifties but our doctors ruling was He couldnt verify altheimers but in the realm of the human brain we are in the dark ages and by the way I couldnt even get him in a va hospital and he is a silver star winner.

[Caretaker]

My father had a severe head injury when he was 17 years old. He was in a coma for many weeks, and had to learn to walk and talk all over again. He was hospitalized for 7 months. He is now 90 years old and was diagnosed with Parkinsons and dimentia about 10 years ago. Our family noticed problems long before however, decades before. I have always felt that this was connected to his brain injury. My mother had always suspected this also. I appreciate Jia-Rui Chong's article bringing to light the correlation between head injuries and the affects mentioned above.

[splashy]

My father was in an accident where he hit his head before I was born, and everyone says he was a different person after it. Before hand he could hold a job and support a family, after the accident he became violent and couldn't work for long. He also started binge drinking.

I'm thinking that some of the people who appear to be functional but still can't hold a job or keep things going in our competitive world may have this kind of problem. That is why we need better social support, as in universal health care (Bill HR 676 in Congress, Medicare for All, should be passed for this reason) and more help when it comes to shelter and food. No one should be homeless.

[avetern]

Many soldiers have had head injuries in the past from training accidents. The same type that affects the soldiers coming back from Iraq and the Afgan wars. I hope the VA and the Army can some how go back and find those soldiers. Many are homeless, in jail or just having a difficult time with life. They need to be found treated and told that their head injury from service has or is causing many of their daily life and work related problems.