Story Archives of 'Brain Injury'

Today on Word of Mouth, we’re looking at the effect of active combat on the brains of returning soldiers. About 97 percent of American troops wounded in Iraq come back alive - the highest survival rate of any American war to date.

Many of those injured return with wounds that are invisible to the naked eye. They suffer from brain trauma. Not only the post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, which has been in the news, but other injuries which can be even more debilitating as losing a limb. Their symptoms may include memory lapses, constant headaches, mood swings, nausea and insomnia. Many of these veterans remain undiagnosed. According to the RAND Corporation, as many as 300,000, or one in five combat veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, screened positive for possible concussion.

New theories on the causes of brain injury range from blasts causing pressure waves to ripple through blood vessels and damage brain tissue, to electro-magnetic pulses generated by the blasts. Some experts are worried that this research might create fear of a mysterious, unknown epidemic, like what happened with Gulf War syndrome.

Eric Hagerman wrote about brain trauma in soldiers for Popular Science, where he serves as a contributing editor. He joins Word of Mouth to discuss the latest research into brain trauma.

(Photo by Tom Mulrooney)

"A tap on the head, and anything can go wrong." That's how our guest Michael Paul Mason describes the seemingly random nature of brain injury. Just a tap, and suddenly we forget how to swallow, or become unable to recognize our own face in the mirror, or lose our sense of time or place. It seems like a remote possibility, but the numbers suggest otherwise: 5.3 million Americans are permanently disabled due to brain injury. That's 2 percent of the population.

Explorations of our brains' fragility fill the pages of Mason's book, "Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath." Mason, a brain injury case manager in Tulsa, Oklahoma, speaks with Word of Mouth host Virginia Prescott about the efforts made to help those permanently disabled by brain injury.

We also speak with Lee Harvey, a prominent Seacoast architect who suffered a stroke four years ago while on a Caribbean cruise with his wife. He tells the story of his ongoing recovery at local schools and rehabilitation programs through The Krempels Brain Injury Foundation's SteppingStones program.

Listen to the NHPR StoryCorps interview with David Krempels of the Krempels Brain Injury Foundation

(Photo by Kenny Stoltz)

Mr. Elkind serves as Vice President of the NH Brain Injury Association; by Governor Lynch’s appointment, he chairs the NH Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Advisory Council. A lecturer and educator, Bud is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist/Trainer, has worked in a-typical sub-acute, and post-acute brain injury rehabilitation settings. Bud is Director of Clinical Operations at Robin Hill Farm, a residential treatment and rehabilitation brain injury facility operating in W. Deering, Hillsborough and Peterborough, New Hampshire.

People with brain injuries often get little of the support and therapy they need. David Krempels knows this first-hand. He staged a remarkable recovery from a traumatic brain injury in 1992 and went on to win a big liability award. He?s put the money to use helping others with brain injuries through the Krempels Foundation. This repeat Front Porch interview represents one of Host John Walters' favorites.

People with brain injuries often go without the support and therapy they need. David Krempels knows this first-hand- he barely survived a traumatic injury in 1992. He was one of the lucky ones. He staged a remarkable recovery and he won a big liability award. He?s put the money to use helping others with brain injuries through a grant program and Steppingstones, a place for brain injured individuals to meet and participate in various activities. www.braininjurysupport.org