Soldiers fighting invisible enemy on home turf-TBI

Soldiers fighting invisible enemy on home turf
February 21st, 2011 @ 10:18pm
By Sarah Dallof
SALT LAKE CITY -- An alarming rise in a type of battlefield injury is prompting changes within the military and in how soldiers returning from battle are treated.

Symptoms closely mirror those of post-traumatic stress disorder. In fact, the two often operate in a vicious cycle.


Josh Hansen was injured in several blasts similar to these.

Doctors estimate up to 20 percent of soldiers currently deployed will suffer a traumatic brain injury -- something that just a few years ago was often never diagnosed or properly treated. Most will recover with no after affects, but some are changed forever.

When retired Army Sgt. Josh Hansen first saw a modern warfare video posted on YouTube by an insurgent group, it brought back painful memories -- it was one of his missions.

Hansen would suffer eight concussions during two tours of duty from blasts like those shown in the video.

"When we were first getting injured, no one thought of brain injuries. You just pop some aspirin and go back out and do your job," Hansen said.

Concussions occur when an outside force causes the brain to shake in the skull. It's an injury that routinely sidelines professional football and hockey players.

Hansen didn't notice slowdown until his fifth concussion. He says he would be in the middle of a mission when suddenly he had no idea how he'd gotten there.
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Soldiers fighting invisible enemy on home turf