According to a panel of health experts, traumatic brain injury can lead to an increased risk of developing dangerous symptoms like those of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other disorders. The panel of experts came out with a report that says that more than 5,500 troops have sustained traumatic brain injuries in the both Iraq and Afghanistan wars, many due to the roadside bombs commonly used by insurgents against American military vehicles.

A committee of the Institute of Medicine, that provides advice to U.S. policymakers, made a review of the studies on the consequences of the kind of brain injuries that thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered. The panel which held the study was lead by George Rutherford of the University of California, San Francisco. It said that there is enough space for evidence that such injuries at moderate and severe levels may leave a person at higher risk for dementia like that experienced by people with mind-robbing Alzheimer’s disease. It also added that the research indicates these injuries at moderate and severe levels can make someone more likely to get symptoms similar to those of Parkinson’s disease, which affects nerve cells in the brain that control muscle movement. Parkinson’s symptoms include trembling and slowness of movement.

The report prepared for the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department also says that the traumatic brain injury can also be linked to increased risk of seizures, aggressive behaviour, depression, and memory and concentration problems. This type of injury generally results from a sudden, violent blow to the head that can bruise the brain, rip nerve fibres and cause bleeding.

Rutherford in a statement also quotes that the explosive devices and other weaponry have become more powerful and devastating throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, causing higher rates of non-penetrating traumatic brain injury and blast-induced injury among military personnel than in earlier wars.

The panel makes a recommendation that the U.S. Defence Department must conduct cognitive tests for the troops before they are deployed to establish a baseline for identifying post-injury consequences.

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