Published: May 30th, 2008 04:41 AM
Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake
suggested during a visit to Quinhagak that
concerns about post-traumatic stress disorder,
or PTSD, and traumatic brain injury, or TBI, are
overblown. According to research published in
the Journal of Athletic Training, from 1984 to
1999, 69 football players died of catastrophic
head injuries, 63 in high school, six in
college.The point here is that likening the
shock of an IED or the concussive blast of a car
bomb to a football injury both trivializes the
hazards of battle and ignores the hazards of
football. The brain doesn't care if it's rattled
by a vicious hit on a pass route over the middle
or a homemade bomb in Baghdad. Both can be
deadly or disabling. Or not. But the point that
Secretary Peake should be making is that any
combat vet experiencing any
problems that might be related to a head injury
should be checked out. Let's be sure there's no
lasting damage. If there's not, fine. If there
is, let's start treating it -- and make sure
prompt treatment is there for any vet who seeks
it.
Let's be clear: Most of the 1.6 million veterans
of Iraq and Afghanistan are not suffering from
PTSD or TBI. But a Rand Corp. survey suggests
that several hundred thousand may be. Overblown?
Not to any vet who's dealing with either PTSD or
TBI. The VA chief needs to be a bell-clear
advocate for those men or women.
BOTTOM LINE: James Peake should be urging
vets to get checked out, not suggesting a
concussion can be shrugged off. |
