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VA PROGRAM AT UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS STUDIES BRAIN

INJURIES -- "It's a virtually unexplored area. We've got a

powerful research tool we're pleased to see used

to address a serious medical problem."

For more information about traumatic brain injury, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=traumatic+brain&op=ph

Story here... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5408485.html

Story below:

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VA program at University of Texas studies brain injuries

The Associated Press

AUSTIN — Doctors will begin studying brain injuries among U.S. troops through a new $4.2 million Department of Veterans Affairs program at the University of Texas.

Some estimate that more than 20,000 troops have suffered from brain injuries in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where roadside bomb blasts can jar the brains of nearby soldiers. The damage varies in severity, and the injuries can create a broad range of symptoms, some that manifest months later and can be confused with other conditions.

"It's a virtually unexplored area," said Michael Domjan, director of the Imaging Research Center, which UT opened in January 2006 before talks with the VA had begun. "We've got a powerful research tool we're pleased to see used to address a serious medical problem, one that is not limited to just veterans."

The program will use UT's new $2.2 million state-of-the-art brain scanner at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus, among the most sophisticated brain-imaging devices in the world. Dr. Robert Van Boven, the VA program director, said it is the first to combine the three types of brain scans the machine can perform.

The combination of techniques is more precise than most brain scans and far more reliable than the standard method of making a diagnosis based on symptoms, Van Boven said. Emotional instability, inability to concentrate, balance problems and other symptoms can easily be confused or intermingled with those of post traumatic stress disorder, depression and sleep disorders, all of which require different treatment.

"This is what the field has been waiting for," said Dr. Jim Misko, a neuropsychologist and member of the Brain Injury Association of Texas. "Rehab professionals are sorely in need of knowing which treatments really are effective and which ones aren't."

As a VA doctor, Van Boven is treating troops with brain injuries, but the program will not begin working with patients until its finer points are approved next year.

Officials say they hope the program, which received VA funding four months ago, will eventually expand into brain injuries among children and athletes, and possibly into the physical causes within the brain for post traumatic stress disorder and other psychological conditions.

Some organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health and National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, have been funding research into brain injuries for years. But experts and veterans' advocates say far more money and effort are needed because of the surge of injured soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
 

Information from: Austin American Statesman

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Larry Scott  --

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