(NEW YORK) MintPress — The war in Iraq may be over and combat in Afghanistan is coming to an end in 2014, but for many of the young veterans of these conflicts, the battle is just beginning.
New evidence shows that former soldiers and Marines in their 20s and 30s appear to be growing old before their time. Scientists are seeing early signs of heart disease and diabetes, slowing metabolism and obesity, which are much more common in middle age and beyond.
Dr. William Milberg, a Harvard Medical School professor of psychology and co-director of the Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, which is working on the project, told USA Today, “They should have been in the best shape of their lives. What’s going to happen to them in the long run?”
Thanks to new clotting agents, blood products and advanced medical procedures performed closer to the battlefield, wounded American troops are now surviving at a greater rate than in any previous war fought by the U.S. But that is in turn introducing new problems for survivors with serious and chronic injuries, including multiple amputations and brain damage.
The research is in its early stages, but Milberg and his co-director, Dr. Regina McGlinchey, say they could be seeing a form of early aging in those with both blast-related concussions and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), about 30 percent of the vets being studied.
Indeed, there is also evidence of diminished gray matter in high-functioning areas of the brain, changes that should not happen for decades if at all, the scientists say.
The vets “really have a lot of things going on at the same time. It’s hard to know where one problem ends and another starts,” explained Milberg.
But the researchers acknowledge that they may not be able to draw concrete conclusions until they study the subjects for another few years.
The impact of war
The scientists say early aging might stem from the nature of the wars, in which troops served long and repeated deployments at an unprecedented rate. This means living with a high stage of alertness and managing stress for months on end, and then doing it all over again with each subsequent tour of duty.
The effect of this prolonged stress on the human brain and body can wear them down.
“Deployments are punctuated by very serious life-and-death exposures,” explained Dr. Ann Rasmusson, a psychiatrist and neurologist, “that when they reach a certain level, change the internal chemistry, the physiology of people’s bodies.”
These wars are also the first to see the heavy use by enemy forces of improvised explosive devices and rocket propelled grenades, both of which can lead to brain trauma in a way that bullets do not.
According to the Pentagon, since 2000, 244,000 service members have suffered traumatic brain injuries ranging from mild to severe. Since 9/11, the VA has treated about the same number of war-era veterans for PTSD.
While the research continues, it’s not clear how the findings could affect the length and number of combat deployments in Afghanistan.
Or the care afforded to the nation’s young veterans.
Paying lip service to the troops
In his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, President Obama said, “Tonight we pay tribute to the Americans who still serve in harm’s way. We are forever in debt to a generation whose sacrifice has made this country safer and more respected. We will never forget you, and so long as I’m commander in chief, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known.
“When you take off the uniform, we will serve you as well as you’ve served us, because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their head or the care that they need when they come home,” he continued.
But unfortunately, they do. While it is true that the VA has improved its services over the past few years, it is still broken.
“The VA has fallen behind in serving the needs of veterans of all generations,” said IAVA Chief Policy Officer Tom Tarantino in an opinion piece on the group’s website.
“According to the Inspector General, over 50 percent of veterans who seek a mental health evaluation at the VA must wait an average of 50 days,” he wrote. “ Meanwhile, despite record budgets, nearly one million veterans’ benefits claims are stuck in the VA backlog. The VA must quickly move to a paperless, electronic claims system. Our veterans cannot afford to wait years for the resources they depend on.”
Obama also said the end of the wars means no more money spent on them, or those who fought them.
“I will use the money we’re no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work rebuilding roads and bridges and schools and runways,” he asserted, “because after two wars that have cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars, it’s time to do some nation building right here at home.”
Aside from being factually incorrect — the wars were largely financed by borrowing, so there is no ready pile of cash to be diverted to anything else — Obama failed to mention the huge expenditure that is needed for basic benefits for millions of vets, let alone those who are mentally and physically disabled as a result of their service.
Then again, neither did his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.
“And after ten years of war, veterans and their families need and deserve support from any and all political candidates. No matter what party they come from or what community they represent, every candidate has a responsibility to ensure that veterans issues are a top platform priority,” wrote Tarantino.
“A simple ‘thank you for your service’ on the campaign trail isn’t enough. Iraq and Afghanistan veterans across America deserve concrete specifics from our nation’s leaders about how they intend to build and support this New Greatest Generation.”
If nothing else, the candidates might want to pay attention to vets’ power at the ballot box.
According to Tarantino, “Iraq and Afghanistan veterans come from all backgrounds and will be a powerful voting constituency in November. Ninety percent of IAVA’s members reported they are registered to vote. From Ohio to Florida to Colorado, new veteran voters have the potential to have a big impact on the November election.
“As our country shifts attention from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the stakes for veterans, service members and their families have never been higher.”
Especially if the latest research proves the wounds of war are even worse than we thought.