IEDs can cause undetected brain injuries in soldieMany Canadian soldiers could be coming home with brain injuries they don’t even know they have.
New research from Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital shows even distant exposure to shockwaves from an improvised explosive device (IED) can cause traumatic brain injuries in combat soldiers.
These short, intense bursts of energy travel as shockwaves through the brain and can cause a concussion, says Dr. Andrew Baker, the study’s senior author, speaking at St. Michael’s new Keenan Research Centre. The findings are significant, as they show concussions aren’t always caused by physical injuries. Dr. Baker says many soldiers experience explosions but don’t have the typical lung, ear, and bowel injuries caused by blasts. They say they are fine, but their brain is actually damaged.
“We found, under the microscope, broken neurons, broken axons in the white matter,” he said, adding that the damage continues to develop up to 72 hours after the blast. The brain’s white matter helps other parts of the brain communicate with one another. Damage to the white matter leads to emotional, social and behavioural problems. It causes people to feel confused, dizzy, nauseous, to have serious headaches, unable to focus and anxious.
On January 29, 2007, Master Cpl. Michael Blois was in his armoured vehicle when they were attacked by rocket-propelled grenades for four hours in Afghanistan. “I knew right away that something was wrong. I just didn’t know how serious it was,” said the 28-year-old father of one. For over a year, he continued to work as a drill sergeant back in Canada but eventually the exhaustion, nausea, dizziness and headaches limited his physical abilities. He knew it was time to get help.
“The onus is completely on the individual to do anything,” he said. “You can mask and hide your condition for a while.”
He says that though the military culture is about soldiering on, as soon as he came forward with his injury they got him help. At St. Michael’s Hospital, he continues to see Dr. Donna Ouchterlony.
“People are ignoring treatment: they’re thinking it will go away, they’re thinking there isn’t treatment,” she says. “There is good treatment available. With treatment, you can get a good life.” She says this latest research brings more attention to the development of concussions, but she knows that handling the volume of cases from the military will be tricky. More than 35,000 Canadian soldiers will have served in Afghanistan.
“We’re already seeing more people coming to seek help. We’re very strapped for facilities,” she continues. “I’m booking now for October, but military we see right away.”
Canada’s combat mission in Afghanistan ends this summer. Soldiers’ brain trauma may only be visible under the microscope, but it can be life changing. As the findings show, Canada will have to gear up to treat the soldiers coming back with these invisible wounds.