While most reports on the long-term health effects on first responders to the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center in New York City have focused on physical damage – increased rates of severe respiratory conditions and incidences of cancer – often leading to premature death, it has only been within the last month that the long-term neurological effects have been examined and documented. Continue reading
Tag Archive | post traumatic stress disorder
The Neurological Legacy of 9/11 on First Responders: PTSD, Cognitive Impairment, and Dementia
While most reports on the long-term health effects on first responders to the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center in New York City have focused on physical damage – increased rates of severe respiratory conditions and incidences of cancer – often leading to premature death, it has only been within the last month that the long-term neurological effects have been examined and documented. Continue reading
How War Damages and Destroys The Brain: Blast Wounds, PTSD, and Neurological Damage & Decline
“War is hell.” General Sherman Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), who led Union forces through the South during the United States Civil War, made not only this insightful observation on the nature of fighting wars, but also added “War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it;…”
The ultimate purpose of war is malevolent: to maim, to injure, to destroy, and to kill to force one group of people to surrender to another group of people. Continue reading
Military Service, War, and Dementia Risks for Veterans
We pause on Memorial Day 2016 (in the United States) to remember our deceased military veterans.
I also pause to remember all those who have died – especially the civilians who weren’t drafted or who didn’t volunteer, but who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and became collateral damage – because of war because they should not be forgotten either.
However, in light of Memorial Day, it seems fitting that we should also consider how military service and war increase the risks of developing dementia for veterans. Continue reading