Study of Guard soldiers shows effects of mild brain injury not forever

Readers of this blog know I had TBI when I was very young and there was very little known about what happens to the brain after injury. I really should not have survived the fall but by the grace of God for some reason, I did. There are some things that will never be right about my brain, (stop thinking about jokes for now like my friends always come up with) but considering what my head went through, it's not all so bad. You can learn how to adapt. I had to see a speech therapist for a couple of years. Memory problems were overcome by learning some tricks like focusing on what I had to remember, writing down what was important and pretty much tossing things out once I was done with some useless information that really meant nothing. Unfortunately this meant that names were forgotten just about as soon as I was introduced to someone but their face was always remembered. This is a good report because it shows that while PTSD does not "go away" mild brain injury does and as far as traumatic brain injury, if my life is any indication, that can get better too.

Study of Guard soldiers shows effects of mild brain injury fade over time
by Jessica Mador, Minnesota Public Radio
January 4, 2011
St. Paul, Minn. — Results from an ongoing survey of Minnesota National Guard troops conducted by researchers at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center show that most cases of mild brain injury or concussion are likely to fade over time.

Researchers say the survey, which was published in the January issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, also sheds more light on post-traumatic stress symptoms.

The findings could be good news for the thousands of Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans believed to have suffered mild brain injury during combat, although it's unclear how many troops have come home with TBI.

Minneapolis VA Medical Center psychologist Melissa Polusny says the number of soldiers who report an injury that made them feel dazed or confused, or forced them to lose consciousness, varies widely.

Polusny and her colleagues surveyed more than 950 Guard soldiers, and in one survey, as many as 22 percent of them reported suffering a mild traumatic brain injury while deployed.

"When someone hears the word brain injury, I think they make assumptions about what that is," she said. "What we are talking about is concussion, which is sometimes referred to as mild traumatic brain injury."

Mild traumatic brain injury differs from moderate to severe TBI. Polusny says there are a number of common symptoms.

"Like headache, or difficulty concentrating, or irritability or memory difficulties, maybe ringing in the ears or tinitis," she said. "These are grouped together and referred to as post-oncussive symptoms."

The survey followed National Guard soldiers who served in Iraq in 2006 and 2007. Researchers were looking at the associations between concussion and PTSD symptoms, and whether mild TBI caused long-term effects.
read more here
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/01/04/brain-injury-study/