War Veterans with Brain Injuries Decline Faster With Age

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http://www.ivanhoe.com:80/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=17873
Reported January 3, 2008
War Veterans with Brain Injuries Decline Faster With Age
(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Brain-injured Vietnam War vets may have a harder time with their mental condition as they get older.

A new study finds men who suffered brain injuries during the conflict have a faster decline in their cognitive functioning as they age than veterans without brain injuries.

The research shows how much the veterans declined depended on how intelligent they were before they were injured, their level of education, the size and location of the injury, and some genetic markers linked to brain injury and neurodegeneration. The more intelligent they were and the higher their level of education before the injury, the less their cognitive functioning worsened.

With today’s soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan with brain injuries, study author Dr. Jordan Grafman, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, says governments need to keep these findings in mind.

“Nearly two-thirds of injured US soldiers sent from Iraq to the US army medical center have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries,” Grafman was quoted as saying. “These veterans would benefit from life-long care by neurologists and specialists in head injury. Clinicians treating veterans with brain injuries should evaluate any changes in their neurobehavioural status carefully so as not to confuse an exacerbated decline in function with dementia.”

The study looked at Vietnam veterans with penetrating head injury (PHI) 36 to 39 years after the injury. Researchers used the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) to measure the veteran’s intelligence. It has a range from 0-100.

Results show veterans now in their mid to late 50s had a median average AFQT score of 54 while veterans without head injuries had an average score of 74. And there was a faster rate of decline in the brain injured group.

The authors say their findings could help veterans, their families, and their doctors with long term planning and potentially doing things to protect against cognitive decline such as staying physically fit and intellectually active.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Brain


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