Congressman Sestak on Veterans, TBI and Brain Awareness Week

Earlier today, Congressman Joe Sestak (PA-07) took to the floor of the House of Representatives to talk briefly about 2009’s Brain Awareness Week, which began Monday and continues through March 22.

"This is the week that Society for Neuroscience members spread throughout America to speak about the exciting wonders of the mind," Sestak said. But, he added, they also take the time to engage us on issues having not only to do with neuroscience, but also on how to care for patients who suffer damage, such as traumatic brain injury.

"I speak about this as a veteran," Sestak said. "As the Pentagon announced earlier this month that 360,000 of those 1.8 million members of our society who went to Iraq or Afghanistan have returned with a brain injury."

The vast majority of these returning troops have healed, and will heal, he said — but about 90,000 will have lasting damage.

Remarkable numbers, especially when we recall the big splash a report by USA Today’s Gregg Zaroya made in November 2007, revealing that a look at veterans’ records showed that ~20,000 OEF/OIF vets showed signs of having some form of TBI — although the official military count was well below that.

In fact, in January 2007, as Moving a Nation to Care was moving towards its May publication date and the window to making any changes was a day or two away, I had called my publisher in a panic. Opening my review copy to its first page, reading its first paragraph, out jumped what was at the time a glaring typo: a sentence stating that 20,000 of returning Afghanistan and Iraq veterans had been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury.

The official figure at the time was actually ~2,000.

We were able to catch that misprint before the presses were fired up, and I was able to breathe a sigh of sweet relief. Little did I know how quickly my worries would become pointless, and how swiftly the stats that I’d collected in my slim offering would be outdated and dwarfed by the figures yet to come.

In extended, some of the latest science, politics and progress on the diagnosis and treatment of TBI, and a recommended documentary. And, if you’re interested in sharpening your brain (and the knowledge you pour into it), Dr. Deb has some fun suggestions — and Mind Hacks will, well, blow your mind.