Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: UK MoD reveals scale of brain injuries among Iraq and Afghanistan  veterans

MoD reveals scale of brain injuries among Iraq and Afghanistan
veterans
Matthew Taylor
Wednesday January 16, 2008
The Guardian
Hundreds of troops returning to the UK from Iraq and Afghanistan are
suffering brain injuries caused by exposure to high-powered explosions
or minor blows to the head, it emerged yesterday.
The Ministry of Defence said that since 2003 about 500 servicemen and
women had suffered "mild traumatic brain injury" (mTBI) - which can
lead to memory loss, depression and anxiety. The Surgeon General,
Lieutenant General Louis Lillywhite, said that more troops could come
forward as awareness of the condition increased. "We have put a
significant amount of effort and resources into this area in order to
get ahead of the game," he said.
One option was to put sensors in soldiers' helmets to measure blast
waves as they travelled through the brain, he said. "The US are
introducing sensors and we are considering doing that as well,
although we are awaiting their results."
The US army says up to 20% of its soldiers and marines have suffered
mTBI and the condition has been designated as one of four "signature
injuries" of the Iraq war by the US defence department. According to
US neurologists, mild brain injuries can occur when a soldier gets a
blow on the head or is close to an explosion. The use of roadside
bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan has put troops at risk, and experts say
that even the most advanced helmets cannot protect the brain from
shock waves.
The Guardian revealed last year that an official inquiry had been
launched into how many UK troops could be affected.
Lt Gen Lillywhite said UK officials were reluctant to extrapolate
directly from the US figures, arguing that the science was still
inconclusive and that the UK's experience in Iraq and Afghanistan has
been different to the US's. "The bottom line is we do not know why the
US is seeing higher rates," he said. "It is clearly a matter of
interest to us because the difference may point to methods of
prevention."
Last night campaign groups and MPs warned that the government figures
had underestimated the number of UK troops at risk - and called for an
urgent campaign to educate doctors, army medics and frontline troops
about the danger signs.
"The difference between what is emerging from the US and what's
emerging from the UK cannot be explained by differing roles of our
troops in Afghanistan and Iraq," said Peter McCabe from Headway, the
brain injury charity. "There may well be high numbers of UK service
personnel that are going undiagnosed."
Dr Liam Fox, the Conservative defence spokesman, said: "There is an
extraordinary disparity between levels identified by the US military
and the British. Even if this represents over-caution on the part of
the Americans there must be a real worry over under-reporting on the
British side which could leave many service personnel in danger of
falling through the net."
Sue Freeth, the director of welfare at the Royal British Legion, said
many GPs did not know which of their patients had been in the army and
warned that UK figures could be "the tip of the iceberg".
The MOD identified 585 UK troops who had suffered traumatic brain
injury since 2003 out of 36,000 who had reported medical problems.
About 80% were estimated to have suffered mTBI and officials said most
did not need hospital treatment.
Lt Gen Lillywhite said it was impossible to predict how big the issue
may become, adding that the MOD was conducting several research
projects to improve its understanding of the condition.
He said an education campaign was under way and a new four-stage
treatment programme had been set up at the Headley Court military
rehabilitation centre in Surrey which would help identify and treat
sufferers.
Advances in brain scanning have revealed that soldiers can sustain
bruising and blood clots on the brain, even if there is no visible
injury.
If the condition is not diagnosed it can lead to long-term problems -
from depression and anxiety to violence and relationship break-up.

 successo alla nascita...
disse il tarato dalla nascita. ROTFL!
Meno male che non hai figli, sia per le tare che hai sia per i
vizietti pedo di cui sei afflitto.

 Anche
è evidente che li hai. Prima o poi la polizia postale ti becca con
tutti quei filmini che ti scarichi.

 arrivassero all'Unione Sovietica".
Possisibilissimo. E probabilmente succede ancora adesso con Echelon,
visto che c'e' roba filoterrorista come il PdCI e Rifondazione al
governo.
Pero' Cossiga avrebbe fatto meglio di parlare del Piano di
Rinnovamento
Nazionale (o come si chiama) della P2 di cui doveva avere
informazioni
molto piu' esatte come Presidente della Repubblica.
E che avrebbe potuto configurare reati di alto tradimento di
cittadini
italiani.
Non si e' vantato di essere dentro Gladio? Poi basterebbe sapere  se
era
dentro quella parte di Gladio confluita nella P2. Cioe' quella parte
che
strumentalizzava il comunismo per preparare il colpo di stato.
Am.

 Ah, ecco
ti stai dando alla cancellazione selvaggia eh? non ti servirà a molto
nazipedof.

 Toh, ecco Lapparenko che si presenta per la carota in culo quotidiana...
girati adesso che te la infilo.

 perche' sei cresciuto in mezzo a loro ;-)
Fatemi sapere quando crescete.
Queste espressioni non le dicono neanche all' asilo infantile.....
Dott. Piergiorgio.