thedrifter
09-10-08, 08:00 AM
Last modified Tuesday, September 9, 2008 5:27 PM PDT
MILITARY: Fixing injured brains and psyches
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
SAN DIEGO ---- UC San Diego is getting about $14 million over the next five years to coordinate and conduct studies to help fix war-injured brains and psyches.
The money is part of a $60 million Department of Defense grant shared by the university and nine other facilities to meet challenges posed by rising rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injures among service members and to explore the growing link between the two.
"We'll be doing studies about the nature of the dysfunction that leads to post-traumatic stress disorder and using advanced neuro-imaging methods to look at how the brain is wired and how damage occurs," said Murray Stein, a doctor and university psychiatry and family medicine professor. "All the studies are intended to find ways to provide better treatment."
The work is part of a larger, $300 million Department of Defense allocation this year intended to improve the diagnosis and management of the two maladies.
Recent studies conducted by the Army and Rand Corp. suggest that more than 1 in 10 service members assigned to Iraq or Afghanistan will experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Army researchers also recently reported that 1 in 20 infantry troops exposed to concussive explosions in Iraq suffered a loss of consciousness, a mild form of traumatic brain injury.
Those exposed to roadside bomb explosions often suffer fully developed traumatic brain injury, which can lead to a lifetime of physical and mental disabilities.
Scientists also are increasingly linking traumatic brain injury with post-traumatic stress, suggesting that half of all troops who lose consciousness during combat will develop the psychological ailment.
"The clinical consortium will be devoting special efforts to understand and develop treatments for the overlap between these two conditions," Stein said.
The number of Marines suffering from post-traumatic stress has risen each year since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The most recent statistics reported by the Department of the Navy show there were 2,114 cases diagnosed in 2007, up from 1,366 in 2006 and 1,378 in 2005.
One of the puzzlements researchers face is that about 90 percent of those exposed to a strong explosion will not suffer long-term consequences while 10 percent will have varying degrees of injury.
"We want to find out what the risk factors are," Stein said, adding the project will include drug trials to find out which drugs are most effective.
UCSD's efforts and its nine partners ---- including the University of Washington in Seattle and Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, the only others on the West Coast ---- will study civilians as well as former and current service members.
The studies also will examine family members of troops suffering from post-traumatic stress who develop their own stress symptoms, said Dr. Raul Coimbra, director of UCSD's trauma, burns and critical care division.
Coimbra outlined three specific goals: learning more about the specific causes of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury; improved early detection of each; and the long-term consequences posed by the disorders.
About 30 people will work on the effort in San Diego. As the coordinating entity, UCSD is responsible for reviewing and reporting the work of its researchers and those at other sites around the country.
The specific projects that will take place locally have not been finalized.
"We need to target the military first and we're well-positioned to do that," Stein said of the university's proximity to facilities such as Camp Pendleton and Balboa Medical Center.
The other project partners are Dartmouth College, Duke University, the University of South Carolina, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Maryland, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie
MILITARY: Fixing injured brains and psyches
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
SAN DIEGO ---- UC San Diego is getting about $14 million over the next five years to coordinate and conduct studies to help fix war-injured brains and psyches.
The money is part of a $60 million Department of Defense grant shared by the university and nine other facilities to meet challenges posed by rising rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injures among service members and to explore the growing link between the two.
"We'll be doing studies about the nature of the dysfunction that leads to post-traumatic stress disorder and using advanced neuro-imaging methods to look at how the brain is wired and how damage occurs," said Murray Stein, a doctor and university psychiatry and family medicine professor. "All the studies are intended to find ways to provide better treatment."
The work is part of a larger, $300 million Department of Defense allocation this year intended to improve the diagnosis and management of the two maladies.
Recent studies conducted by the Army and Rand Corp. suggest that more than 1 in 10 service members assigned to Iraq or Afghanistan will experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Army researchers also recently reported that 1 in 20 infantry troops exposed to concussive explosions in Iraq suffered a loss of consciousness, a mild form of traumatic brain injury.
Those exposed to roadside bomb explosions often suffer fully developed traumatic brain injury, which can lead to a lifetime of physical and mental disabilities.
Scientists also are increasingly linking traumatic brain injury with post-traumatic stress, suggesting that half of all troops who lose consciousness during combat will develop the psychological ailment.
"The clinical consortium will be devoting special efforts to understand and develop treatments for the overlap between these two conditions," Stein said.
The number of Marines suffering from post-traumatic stress has risen each year since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The most recent statistics reported by the Department of the Navy show there were 2,114 cases diagnosed in 2007, up from 1,366 in 2006 and 1,378 in 2005.
One of the puzzlements researchers face is that about 90 percent of those exposed to a strong explosion will not suffer long-term consequences while 10 percent will have varying degrees of injury.
"We want to find out what the risk factors are," Stein said, adding the project will include drug trials to find out which drugs are most effective.
UCSD's efforts and its nine partners ---- including the University of Washington in Seattle and Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, the only others on the West Coast ---- will study civilians as well as former and current service members.
The studies also will examine family members of troops suffering from post-traumatic stress who develop their own stress symptoms, said Dr. Raul Coimbra, director of UCSD's trauma, burns and critical care division.
Coimbra outlined three specific goals: learning more about the specific causes of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury; improved early detection of each; and the long-term consequences posed by the disorders.
About 30 people will work on the effort in San Diego. As the coordinating entity, UCSD is responsible for reviewing and reporting the work of its researchers and those at other sites around the country.
The specific projects that will take place locally have not been finalized.
"We need to target the military first and we're well-positioned to do that," Stein said of the university's proximity to facilities such as Camp Pendleton and Balboa Medical Center.
The other project partners are Dartmouth College, Duke University, the University of South Carolina, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Maryland, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie