STUDIES SHOW THAT BLAST INJURIES MAYBE BE DAMAGING TROOPS' AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
When was the last time you thought about your Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)? It’s likely not at the center of your thoughts, which is sort of the point. While our ANS is a vital part of our survival, its job is to do all of the things we don’t have control over or need to think about. Unfortunately, we’re now learning that troops dealing with blast pressure injuries may be damaging more than they realize while serving our nation.
What Is the Autonomic Nervous System?
Your Autonomic Nervous System is made up of nerves responsible for controlling the many involuntary processes your body uses to survive every day. This includes when you’re sleeping.
The ANS has three anatomically distinct divisions—sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric.
How You Use the ANS
If you’re reading this, chances are, you don’t need to think about pumping blood through your heart and body, regulating your temperature, breathing, etc. That’s all thanks to your Autonomic Nervous System.
The ANS is responsible for plenty of things that humans do autonomically, including digestion, fight or flight responses, blood pressure levels, heart rate, and even sexual arousal.
Autonomic Nervous System Dysfunction
An Autonomic Nervous System dysfunction can lead to a number of disorders and occurs when damage occurs to your ANS through injury.
Depending on the extent of damage, among other factors, conditions may be mild or severe, involving issues seeing, trouble staying conscious, and more.
ANS can be caused by complications with diabetes, Parkinson's disease, blast pressure injuries, and other conditions.
Types of Disorders
Autonomic disorders can cause various conditions affecting essential body functions, with each condition requiring specialized care, including:
- Orthostatic hypotension leads to dizziness or fainting from a sudden blood pressure drop when standing, often triggered by dehydration or prolonged standing.
- Postprandial hypotension, common in older adults, causes dizziness after meals due to poor blood vessel response.
- Multiple system atrophy is a progressive disease causing motor decline, speech issues, and coordination problems, often requiring mobility aids.
- Pure autonomic failure results in blood pressure instability, reduced sweating, and urinary issues, mainly in older adults.
- Afferent baroreflex failure leads to extreme blood pressure swings, headaches, and sweating due to nerve damage.
- Familial dysautonomia, a rare genetic disorder, causes unstable blood pressure, reduced pain sensitivity, and severe digestive and respiratory issues.
Blast Pressure Injuries and the Autonomic Nervous System of Troops
As reported by Military.com, data coming in involving U.S. Army live-fire mortar exercises is showing that troops who stand near mortars are at risk of suffering significant disruption to their ANS.
So far, the findings are showing that the Soldiers in question could have even worse effects on their Autonomic Nervous System than injuries seen in athletes or elderly patients.
Blast pressure injuries are capable of causing several dysfunctions, including issues involving regulating one’s fight or flight response—a response sometimes connected to issues with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Reports of trouble with controlling the temperature of their bodies, heart issues, and even gastrointestinal distress have been reported by Soldiers who faced blast overpressure.
With these issues coming to light, experts are calling for more in-depth studies to better understand the risks warfighters face with their Autonomic Nervous System exposed to such conditions as part of their duty.
Suggested reads:
SHARE:
TAGS:
JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER
Get the latest news and military discounts
