While most people here in Texas think about brain injuries as being a result of a fall or serious car accident, some would be surprised to learn that brain injuries can occur from other reasons as well. Ask any soldier and they’ll tell you that exploding bombs and flying shrapnel are leading causes for brain injuries overseas and require just as much care and attention as one received back home.
That’s why the Pentagon has decided to invest a staggering $100 million into brain injury research, possibly to discover new ways to detect and treat the disabling conditions associated with such serious injuries. According to Army Secretary John McHugh’s reasoning, there is definite need too, citing that since 2000 nearly 275,000 troops have suffered some form of brain injury.
Unfortunately, researchers are still at a loss for why male and female troops suffer traumatic brain injuries different from one another. One theory may be that men are more likely to put themselves in harmful positions than woman, though there is little evidence to back up this hypothesis.
As some of our readers know, the severity of a brain injury can not only dictate how long it will take you to recover but will determine whether or not you will be disabled as a result of it. This is something scientists have been trying to address over the last few years, finding considerable advancements in not only detection but treatments as well. While there is still a small group of people who do not respond well to these treatments, others have had remarkable progress, sometimes recovering completely from their injuries down the road. It’s progress such as this that the government hopes to provide all of its wounded soldiers in the future.
Source: USA Today, “Military sharpens new tools to deal with brain injuries,” Gregg Zoroya, June 24, 2013