Review: Injuries you can't see
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 24, 2011
Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) and mild Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) affect soldiers coming back from tours of duties in Iraq in increasing large numbers. The link between both disorders is unclear but it looks like one may cause or complicate the other. Symptoms are often the same : loss of cognitive abilities, headaches, anxiety attacks etc. A soldier goes to war and comes back a different person with lingering problems that will impact his life and his family.This article does a beautiful job of putting faces on the problem. From the real stories and struggles of five soldiers, the authors show the efforts doctors put into assessing and helping the affected men. It also shows the cracks in the system and the need for research. Neurology as a field has much to learn and science is forever evolving. And while the military debates on the science or can not move for lack of ressources, veterans are suffering.Well written, well researched, this article presents the case without being overly emotional or needlessly critical. Very well done.