Military: Troop ailments, from backs to breathing, swell

[unhappycamper]

Military: Troop ailments, from backs to breathing, swell
By Kelly Kennedy, USA TODAY
Posted 12h 6m ago

WASHINGTON — More than 190,000 active-duty servicemembers sought treatment for back injuries in 2010 — roughly 70,000 more than did in 2001, before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, according to a Defense Department morbidity report released Friday.

The number of servicemembers who saw a doctor for adjustment disorders increased from 33,987 in 2001 to 79,500 in 2010.

And 140,000 more servicemembers had signs and symptoms of respiratory problems in 2010 than did the previous year.

Mental disorders possibly caused by combat stress increased by about 170,000 cases from 2001 to 2010. And an increase of epilepsy — from 1,514 cases in 2001 to 2,620 in 2010 — may come as a result of an increase in traumatic brain injuries, which has been connected to the disorder

But some of those numbers — such as a jump from 9,688 diagnosed "all other neurologic conditions" in 2001 to 32,667 in 2010, or the increase from 65,520 cardiovascular cases in 2001 to 91,013 in 2010 — may seem more mysterious. Doctors, researchers and environmental experts, both civilian and military, believe open burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan may be partly to blame. Most of the pits in Iraq — one of which burned 240 tons of Styrofoam, plastic water bottles, diesel engines and computer parts along with other trash every day — have been shut down since Congress demanded it, but new ones have been created to get rid of troop waste in Afghanistan.

[SpiralHawk]

1. OMG

[Wilms]

2. .