Source: Indian Country Today Media Network
Alzheimer’s disease and dementia research can grow only within their available funding. That’s one reason why research into connections between the diseases and military veterans is still in the preliminary stages.
But the need for that research has lately grown acute. With more and more soldiers being injured by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), traumatic brain injury (TBI)—and its attending dementia—has been on the rise.
According to the Department of Defense’s Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, there have been 220,430 cases of TBI among service members since 2000, when the Pentagon began keeping records. In 2010 alone there were 31,353 cases; as of the second quarter of 2011, the number is 17,439.
Dr. Heather Snyder, senior associate director of Medical & Scientific Relations for the Alzheimer’s Association, points out that not everyone who has had a TBI goes on to have dementia. Nor is everyone with dementia the victim of a TBI. When it comes to head injuries, Snyder notes, many different factors come into play.
Nonetheless, the preliminary tallies strongly indicate at least some cause for concern.
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