ABOUT TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI)

With improvements in battlefield medicine and body armor – plus deadlier improvised explosive devices – TBI is has become the signature injury of war.

Whether it's a bullet, a bomb, a blast or blunt force, it's the "signature wound" of the Iraq War today, affecting thousands of troops. A highly individualized injury, TBI severity depends on nature of the injury, strength of the force, area of the brain affected, physical and genetic variations and more.

Sixty percent of the service members wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom have sustained blast injuries, and two-thirds of them have TBI, according to the Department of Defense. Besides wartime TBI, falls, motor vehicle crashes, assaults, and sports/recreation accidents cause brain injuries. Some 1.4 million Americans sustain a TBI every year – one every 23 seconds.

It's a silent epidemic, hard to know and diagnose. Even mild TBI can lead to problems with balance and coordination, and loss of hearing, vision or speech. Fatigue, memory loss, concentration difficulty, anxiety, depression, impulsivity and impaired judgment are common. TBI injuries often require intensive treatment and long-term care.

Doctors can repair a body, but they need help putting lives back together. The Bob Woodruff Family Foundation helps service members and their families whose lives have been affected by TBI and combat stress injuries.

• The National Institutes of Health - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
• The Mayo Clinic on Traumatic Brain Injury
• The Defense & Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC)

© The Bob Woodruff Family Foundation