Group items tagged

PTSD in military deployed in combat is very high.  Estimated from between 20.3% to 42.4% of returning soldiers.  

Prevalence of mild Traumatic Brain Injury was found to be 9.5% in returning US soldiers.  This was associated with PTSD and Etoh abuse.

Vitamin D has key impact in performance of soldiers.  low vitamin D has been shown to be associated with increased risk for muscle/bone injury, weakness, and poor healing.  Low vitamin D has been associated with low Testosterone.  Low vitamin D has also been associated with poor cognition, depression and less than optimal recovery after TBI.  This follows recent publication that normalization of vitamin D levels increases Testosterone levels.  

One of the first studies to look at PCS found that 42% of soldiers produced abnormally low hormone production following TBI one year after the injury.  This study highlights the potential pituitary dysfunction that can result from TBI.

The pathobiology of a TBI in the military.

Article discusses the immunoexcitotoxic process involved in chronic TBI. This is likely to be the underlying process involved in NFL and other football players delayed neurological effects. A similar process has been see in combat veterans returning from the theatre.