Saturday 14 December 2013

33 Dementia - World War 2 and Korean War - Long-term Memory of Experiences [Update 1 - 15/12/13]

Today I saw a post elsewhere about some veterans of WW2 and the Korean War who " were not previously diagnosed with "shell shock" are being diagnosed with dementia and are now becoming symptomatic of "shell shock"...".

I had not previously heard of this happening and await further details. However, some time ago I did hear of a person with dementia who following a loud bang dived under the table. It seems that as a child he had lived though bombing raids during WW2. 

The clinical field seems to be "traumatic brain injury" (TBI) which happens in instances like:
  • motoring accidents - hence the use of seat belts
  • falls in general, but in particular for cyclists - hence helmets 
  • falling objects - hence building site workers using helmets
  • boxing and other contact sports - hence the use of head gear in amateur boxing
  • head wounds, etc arising in battle conditions.
I had previously seen general references to brain injury and dementia. In the last instance there is some clinical evidence of the link between dementia and TBI but I have not found yet any references to shell shock.