Physical Well-Being

Mild traumatic brain injury may sound like an oxymoron, along the lines of "jumbo shrimp" or "random order." But a new study shows that mild TBIs can have serious consequences for military veterans by raising their risk of dementia.

Researchers who examined the medical records of more than 350,000 Americans who served during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan found that men and women who experienced at least one mild TBI were more than twice as likely as their uninjured peers to develop dementia after they retired from the military.

A number of factors, including chronic pain co-occurring with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and pain interference, may predict suicidal ideation and violent impulses in US veterans with chronic pain, according to a study published in the Journal of Pain.

For this study, data on pain variables, traumatic brain injury (TBI), clinical diagnoses, drug abuse and suicidal ideation were collected through self-reports of 667 US veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and active-duty personnel with chronic pain who had served in these organizations since September 11, 2001.

There are an estimated 200,000 women currently serving in active duty in the armed forces and this number is expected to grow.1

Service members and private military contractors who worked around “burn pits” downrange, and later suffered from lung and respiratory issues, may soon get a breath of fresh air.