Comparing Brain Damage in Brains of Wounded Vets to Brain Damage in Football Players

The Sports Legacy Institute and the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy have announced that they will be now examining the brain tissue of service members who have passed away after suffering from blast injuries.  They will be comparing the pathological findings in the brain tissue of victims of blast injury to the findings in tissue examined in football players who have sustained multiple concussions. The full story is reported in the New York Times article, "A Chance for Clues to Brain Injury in Combat Blasts".

The researchers hope to determine whether single, non-impact blasts in battle can cause the same type of brain damage found in the brains of football players who have been subject to years of repetitive head injury.

They researchers also are interested in determining whether their are physical changes to the brain in service members who have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since many of the symptoms associated with this condition, such as depression, erratic behavior , diminished ability to concentrate are all similar to the post concussion symptoms faced by professional athletes and other concussion victims.