While wars tend to carry a signature weapon, traumatic brain injury has often been called the signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Modern combat medicine and forward surgical teams have saved an amount of lives unthinkable even 60 years ago. But that yields complications: troops have survived wounds and injuries that would have killed in the past. Veterans are returning home with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in unprecedented numbers. But for the first time, a VA-led study has linked brain injuries from combat to a degenerative brain disease most commonly found in athletes.
Brain injuries are notoriously difficult to detect and treat, so these findings may help researchers unravel the complexity of the injuries that has frustrated a generation of medical professionals.
The study’s findings won’t answer all the questions we have about TBI, and it might even lead to some new ones. But given the severity and complexity of brain injuries, the more we know about them, the better we can treat Veterans who got danger close. If you sustained a head injury (like a concussion), check out our TBI resource page for symptoms, screening information, and recovery and rehabilitation options.
