For Iraq Veterans, Headaches Continue After Traumatic Brain Injury

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Many soldiers who experienced mild head trauma or a blast exposure while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan are returning to the United States with headaches, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009.

The study, conducted at Fort Lewis, WA, involved 978 U.S. Army soldiers returning from Iraq or Afghanistan in 2008. All had experienced a concussion, head injury or blast exposure while deployed.

Nearly 98 percent of the soldiers reported having headaches during the last three months of their deployment. The headaches started within one week of the traumatic brain injury for 37 percent of the soldiers, and within one to four weeks for 20 percent. Among the soldiers whose headaches started within a week of the injury, 60 percent had migraine-like headaches and 40 percent had headaches that interfered with their ability to do their daily activities. Thirty percent had headaches for 15 or more days each month.

"Mild traumatic brain injury is occurring in 15 to 25 percent of soldiers deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan," said study author Brett J. Theeler, MD, of Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "The associated headaches can be a source of impaired occupational functioning. These findings should alert health care providers, especially those affiliated with the military or veteran health care systems, to the need to identify and properly treat headaches among soldiers."

The study was supported by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences through a grant from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.

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Soldiers Help Iraqis Revitalize Hospital

Photo: Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Jemison, of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, talks to two members of the Sons of Iraq security group Feb. 4, 2008, at a hospital in Salman Pak, Iraq, as regiment leaders and members of 489th Civil Affairs Battalion tour the facility. Photo by Sgt. Natalie Rostek, USA

With help from U.S. soldiers, work is under way in Salman Pak, about 15 miles south of the Iraqi capital, to revitalize a hospital that has not been fully operational for about five years.

Soldiers and leaders from 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, and Team 915 of Company A, 489th Civil Affairs Battalion, from Knoxville, Tenn., attached to 1-15th Infantry Regiment, visited the hospital Feb. 4.

Army Maj. John Wolfe, from Scottsboro, Ala., a 489th Civil Affairs Battalion team leader, said the Iraqi National Police have been using the facility as a headquarters and barracks since 2005.

"The national police were forced by circumstance to work out of the hospital and other key facilities," explained Army Maj. Cliff Faulkner, from Silverton, Colo., commander of Company A, 489th CA. "Now that security has improved, they can give physical possession of key infrastructure back to local residents."

Wolfe said the first step in revitalizing the hospital was negotiating with the city council to relocate the police from the building. The next step is establishing community access to the hospital.

Several council leaders, a leader of the local Sons of Iraq security group, and maintenance representatives led the tour through the hospital's cold, dark halls.

Wolfe said he believes coalition forces and Iraqi leaders can restore the hospital to full operation. If the facility returns to its former capacity, jobs will be available for doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals.

"Past insecurity and sectarian violence kept many medical professionals away," Faulkner said. "We are optimistic that the improved security and stability will permit the return of these professionals and essential services."

Army Capt. Jason Carney, from Knoxville, Tenn., a 489th CA team leader, said changes have been made since the national police vacated the facility. The Sons of Iraq, members of a neighborhood watch-type program, took over security for the hospital, and three doctors see patients daily from morning to early afternoon.

"Doctors and patients are still leery to stay overnight," Carney acknowledged.

Wolfe said the Iraqi Health Ministry is helping fund improvements. The hospital in Salman Pak already has used Health Ministry funds to buy water pipes and porcelain sinks.

"Now we just need to get the people to understand that the hospital is open," Wolfe said.

Photo 2: Army Capt. William Clark, commander of Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, looks through the operating room during a tour of a hospital in Salman Pak, Iraq, Feb. 4, 2008. Photo by Sgt. Natalie Rostek, USA

(Army Sgt. Natalie Rostek serves with the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, in the Multinational Division Center Public Affairs Office.)