It’s an `emerging epidemic’

            WASHINGTON - Dr. John Booss, a former U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs neurology director and Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), testified for the AAN before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs to support S.1233 - to improve rehabilitation, training, and assisted living services for veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Co-sponsored by committee chairman Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and ranking member Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), S.1233 provides rehabilitation centers closer to veterans’ homes; gives VA physicians chances to improve their TBI skill, and requires the VA to create assisted living plans for veterans’ needs. “I applaud hearings on how the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have created an emerging TBI epidemic among combat veterans,” said Dr. Booss. “TBI has been called the signature wound of the wars, and involves cognitive, neurological, and behavioral changes which are complex, varied, diverse, and may change in severity or develop over time. Longer-term neurological problems often include post-traumatic epilepsy, headaches, sleep disorders, and sensory complications.”