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May 16th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) — The same type of brain
damage seen in athletes who suffer repeated concussions also occurs in
soldiers exposed to large blasts, new research indicates.
In the study, researchers at Boston University and the Veterans Affairs
Boston Healthcare System analyzed brain tissue from four U.S. military
personnel who were known to have been close to explosions.
The results, published online May 16 in Science Translational
Medicine, showed that exposure to a single blast — equivalent to the
force from a typical improvised explosive device (IED) — results in
chronic traumatic encephalopathy and long-term brain impairments
associated with the condition.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive brain disorder that can
only be diagnosed after death, has been reported in athletes with multiple
concussions. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy and traumatic brain injury
share common features, including psychiatric symptoms and long-term memory
and learning problems.
Traumatic brain injury can occur in people exposed to blasts and may
affect about 20 percent of the 2.3 million U.S. military personnel
deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, according to the
researchers.
The investigators also concluded that the blast wind, not the shock
wave, from an IED explosion leads to traumatic brain injury and long-term
consequences such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Explosions lead to dramatic changes in pressure in the air around the
blast. In addition to injuries caused by debris and shrapnel, the blast
forces themselves can lead to devastating injuries.
A shock wave occurs right after an explosion, when the air around the
explosion becomes overpressurized; a blast wind follows the shock wave,
when the air around the explosion gets sucked back in to fill the void
created by the blast. A blast wind can reach a velocity of up to 330 miles
per hour.
“The force of the blast wind causes the head to move so forcefully that
it can result in damage to the brain,” study co-leader Dr. Lee Goldstein,
an associate professor at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston
University College of Engineering, said in a university news release.
The researchers also found that immobilizing the head during blast
exposure can prevent the learning and memory deficits associated with
chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
“Our study provides compelling evidence that blast TBI [traumatic brain
injury] and CTE [chronic traumatic encephalopathy] are structural brain
disorders that can emerge as a result of brain injury on the battlefield
or playing field,” Goldstein said. “Now that we have identified the
mechanism responsible for CTE, we can work on developing ways to prevent
it so that we can protect athletes and our military service
personnel.”
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has
more about traumatic brain injury.
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