Vision: a casualty of war
Monday, February 18 2013 | 00 h 00 min | News
A recent study published in Optometry and Vision Science has found that soldiers often develop vision problems after a blast-related traumatic brain injury.
The researchers analyzed rates and types of vision problems in 50 U.S. Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans with blast-related traumatic brain injury. They compared their findings with those of 50 patients, mainly civilians, with non-blast-related traumatic brain injury.
The results did not show significant differences between the two groups. However, they clearly showed the devastating impact such injuries have on vision. More than 65% of all patients had vision problems, including difficulty reading in about half of patients. Just as many participants had accommodative dysfunction or convergence insufficiency. Veterans were more likely to suffer from light sensitivity, whereas civilians complained more of saccadic dysfunction.
Between 2002 and 2010, more than 600 Canadian soldiers have been wounded in action in Afghanistan.
Source:
