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Soldiers' Symptoms Tied To Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

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Los Angeles Times

Published: January 31, 2008

Post-traumatic stress, not brain injury, is responsible for many of the symptoms reported by U.S. soldiers who suffered concussions in Iraq, according to research released Wednesday.

The report in the New England Journal of Medicine was the first to look at the longer-term effects of mild traumatic brain injury, considered the signature injury of the war.

The study, conducted by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, found that 44 percent of soldiers who reported losing consciousness, which is commonly the result of a bomb blast, also had post-traumatic stress disorder.

Many of the symptoms reported by the soldiers, such as sleep disturbances, memory loss and irritability, appeared related to PTSD and not to brain injury, researchers said.

Headache was the only symptom specifically linked to brain injury.

Although traumatic brain injury and PTSD are serious conditions, the results might offer encouragement to thousands of soldiers who have suffered concussions in Iraq. PTSD is a treatable condition, but there are no cures for mild traumatic brain injury.

The study was based on surveys of 2,525 soldiers from two brigades that had seen high levels of action during a yearlong deployment in Iraq. The surveys were conducted three to four months after soldiers returned home.

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