I saw this sadly honest bumper-sticker in Cleveland Heights the other day - the same day an article in the New York Times [1] pointed out a horrific circumstance of our attacks on the Middle East - 100,000s of concussions among our forces alone... imagine how many of the people of the countries we have brought to war are suffering the same injuries - far more than our soldiers, who are suffering as follows:
Mr. Owsley is part of a growing tide of combat veterans who come home from war with mild traumatic brain injuries, or concussions [2], caused by powerful explosions. As many as 300,000, or 20 percent, of combat veterans who regularly worked outside the wire, away from bases, in Iraq or Afghanistan [3] have suffered at least one concussion, according to the latest Pentagon estimates. About half the soldiers get better within hours, days or several months and require little if any medical assistance. But tens of thousands of others have longer-term problems that can include, to varying degrees, persistent memory loss [4], headaches, mood swings, dizziness [5], hearing problems and light sensitivity [6]. These symptoms, which may be subtle and may not surface for weeks or months after their return, are often debilitating enough to hobble the lives and livelihoods of returning soldiers.