Shell shock remains 'unsolved'

Conclusion This research aimed to shed light on the type of brain damage that blast exposure during military conflict may cause. Previous research suggested blast exposure can cause diffuse axonal injury, where the forces acting upon the brain cause tearing and damage of the long nerve fibres that connect different parts of the brain. This study found some supportive evidence suggesting this might be the case. Four of the five veterans with a history of blast injury did show this type of nerve fibre damage. Researchers also observed a distinctive "honeycomb" pattern of nerve fibre damage, which was not present in other controls. However, it cannot be concluded with much certainty that blast injury was the direct and only cause of this damage, as these results are clouded by several factors. Three of these five veterans died from an opiate overdose. Non-military people who also died from an overdose still showed this nerve fibre damage, albeit in a different pattern. Similarly, people who suffered other types of traumatic brain injury also had this type of nerve fibre damage, though again with a different pattern. Therefore, as the researchers acknowledge, it is difficult to rule out the influence that opiate overdose, lack of oxygen to the brain around the time of death, and other non-blast trauma may have had upon these brain changes in this military sample. It is also not known whether these nerve fibre injuries had any effect on the person's subsequent hea...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Mental health Source Type: news