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Concussions Increase Post Traumatic Risk

Jun 30, 2010 | Staff | eCanada News

Soldiers and troops coming back from combat have always shown a certain tendency to develop Post Traumatic Stress symptoms.

Now, there appears to be a viable link to PTSD and those who have suffered a head trauma or concussion while serving on active duty.

Nearly one out of every six combat soldiers that are returning from Iraq have suffered some sort of head wound or concussion, or both while serving.

Evidence is being revealed that links the concussion to later development of Post Traumatic Stress disorders.

In a study revealed in the New England Journal of Medicine, the effects of concussion, trauma to the head, and other head injuries was examined. A number of these types of injuries appear to have resulted in explosions and roadside blasts. 

It is thought that some explosions of these are causing later neurological defects and injuries that go undetected until later.

Soldiers who return home following a concussion or head trauma often report other illness or symptoms after they get home. 

The effects of the concussion are temporary, but these soldiers appear to be at great risk of developing a variety of physical and mental symptoms following their later return home.

Some of the soldiers report sleep problems, trouble concentrating, headaches, and various other mental and physical ailments. 

"This is a productive first step in understanding this condition, but like all first steps we need to continue to question and investigate," said Brian Levine.  

Levine is a noted neuro-psychologist at the University of Toronto, and was not involved in the study itself.