Researchers in the United States Defense Department have discovered a consistent, previously unknown pattern of brain damage in the bodies of Navy SEALs who were repeatedly exposed to blasts from their own weapons, The New York Times reported on Monday.
The discovery came after a string of suicides by veteran men who experienced a sudden onset of cognitive decline and emotional regulation issues around age 40 of the type indicative of brain damage, despite never having been wounded by enemy fire.
One veteran, David Metcalf, arranged a stack of books about brain injury and then taped a note to the door of his garage before shooting himself in the heart.
The note read, in part: “Gaps in memory, failing recognition, mood swings, headaches, impulsiveness, fatigue, anxiety, and paranoia were not who I was, but have become who I am.”
In Metcalf’s brain, researchers found damage that they have seen “again and again” in the brains of veterans with repeated blast exposure, the report said.
The damage is not chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, commonly seen in football players, nor is it evidence of a primarily psychological disorder, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
A
study in 2016 reported the specific pattern of microscopic damage, called interface astroglial scarring.
“For the first time, we could actually see the injury,” said Dr. Daniel Perl, who heads the Department of Defense Brain Tissue Repository, established in 2012, that conducted the research.
Many of the SEALs who eventually died by suicide had sought help for their symptoms from neurologists or psychologists, but none of these had successfully diagnosed the problem.
The findings only came after an effort by grieving families to facilitate donations of the veterans’ brains to the lab, which most had never heard of prior to their loved ones’ decline and suicide.
The report further said that until reporters from the newspaper informed the Navy of the lab’s findings, the Navy itself had not been aware of them, a claim that the Navy confirmed.
There is also evidence to suggest that living Navy SEALs are currently suffering from the same brain damage, the report said, citing a Harvard
study published in April that found a connection between repeated blast exposure and alterations in brain structure, as well as lower quality of life, in SEALs who underwent brain scans.
The Navy is working to limit blast exposure going forward, Rear Adm. Keith Davids, commander of Navy Special Warfare, said in a statement to the Times.
“We have a moral obligation to protect the cognitive health and combat effectiveness of our teammates,” Davids said.
