Brain injuries lead Iraq war injuries (UPI) -- Nearly 2/3 of U.S. solders

[fearnobush]

Date: Friday, July 23, 2004 4:43:16 PM EST By BRAD AMBURN, United Press International

WASHINGTON, July 23 (UPI) -- Nearly two-thirds of injured U.S. soldiers sent from Iraq to Walter Reed Army Medical Center have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries -- a percentage thought to be higher than any other past U.S. conflict, military officials told United Press International.

About 60 to 67 percent of soldiers coming through the hospital with wounds as well as injuries from blasts, severe falls and motor vehicle accidents have suffered these potentially life-altering brain injuries, said Dr. Deborah Warden, national director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center at Walter Reed, where the majority of patients with suspected head injuries from Iraq are sent.

Warden said this trend may seem grim but the increased number of cases actually serves as proof of an improved head injury survival rate from better armor, more sophisticated diagnostic tools, and soldiers and medical staff better trained to look for and treat these kinds of injuries that would have been fatal or gone unnoticed in past wars.

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[stellanoir]

1. to say nothing of the completely incalculable

emotional scars. Bare in mind that Timothy McVeigh & John Allen Mohammed were both desert storm vets. What the hell is going to happen when all these troops come home, having received no help whatsoever?

[mom cat]

3. I have been worrying about this too... Now the brain injury twist!

I am recovering from a traffic related brain injury. It's been over three years now and I am substantially better. But for the first year I was a mess. Everything was irritating and I had a very short fuse. I would hate to think what I might have done if I had also had PTSD and a gun. I remember seeing the one soldier in F 9-11 who was in the hospital and wondering if he had a brain injury. He was so discombobulated. My heart goes out to them. Recovery is a bitch and is frequently incomplete.:cry:

[soothsayer]

2. I'm shocked, I would have thought lost limbs were the leading injury

What a mess.

[Mari333]

4. The wealthy 1% , and all Bush's friends thank the soldiers

for making them so wealthy, and handing over all those lucrative profits with their lives and health to the rich.
May Bush and his friends all rot in hell for eternity.

[2Design]

5. this is not good....traumatic brain injury....can be forced

to live in acute care forever because they are unable to live on their own.....

and that is usually if you go from hospital to acute care....wonder if the government will take care of these folks...or abandon them....

[Divernan]

6. Every wounded soldier should be given 1000 shares of Halliburton stock!

I mean, that's whose interests they were protecting and promoting when they were injured. Between the physical and the psychological traumas, I expect nearly all of these men and women to suffer life altering effects of Bush's oil / revenge war. Sadly, I have found that nearly every Vietnam vet I know has had the experience negatively impact on one or more aspects of their lives. Of course, I am talking about REAL nam vets - the ones that were actually IN Vietnam - not the ones who served stateside or in Europe during that time period.

[saigon68]

7. THE BUSH CRIMINALS WILL NEVER SHARE ANYTHING

They are greedy BASTARDS who have made billions from the suffering and DEATHS of countless soldiers.

Their line " FIGHTING FOR OUR FREEDOM IN IRAQ" Makes me want to PUKE