Hacker News Reader

Comment by ChuckMcM | Hacker News Reader

I can certainly believe that there is more going on than just stress, and the argument that compression waves travelling through the brain can damage it is pretty compelling.

The question then is how would you block it? How would you protect yourself from a compression (blast) wave such that it went "around" your head rather than through it. Is there some material that could conduct that energy preferentially?

View on HN

The evidence that TBI is becoming a real problem is certainly compelling, but PTSD occurs in many people who didn't suffer from this.

However, I'm on the side that thinks that periods of intense stress can produce a permanent, possibly physical, change in a person. These periods can be prolonged or particularly intense moments.

Stop sending people to war would help

True, although I'm also concerned about people who are in the area when a bomb goes off (and there has been way too much of that lately). How much does damage? Is the damage reparable? What how far away must you be? If not reparable then treatable? The big data point here is the actual injury, vs the psychological injury.

Maybe we need to design more friendly bombs which only kill people in the blast radius (in a nice way) but don't compress the brains of those outside of that radius. Those soldiers launching bombs need a safe work environment. Perhaps we should get OSHA involved.

Thousands of years of violent human history suggest that designing a better helmet to mitigate TBI is likely to help more people than wishing war would go away.

In the article, if you read all of it, they suggest point to a study that suggests a better helmet may be of no use in preventing the injury. If you search for "animal" in the article, you should find it.

On the other hand, if the majority of people who want to join the army understand the dangers they face (in addition to death and dismemberment) then we might find that they held a war, and nobody came.

Having a war where nobody shows up would be great. Sadly wars usually happen because one side shows up and leaves the other side with no choice.

It's not the matter of material but shape. Soldier would have to wear something that completely surrounds his head, like motorcycle helmet. Which is very uncomfortable to wear if you have to wear it all the time.

When I talk to experienced motorcyclists, the biggest issue isn't the physical sensation of wearing a helmet. The problem is changing the acoustics around your ears.

An enclosed helmet that "hears" like a human, but filters the spikes (powering your iPod in the process)?

> An enclosed helmet that "hears" like a human, but filters the spikes (powering your iPod in the process)?

A friend of mine is a big hunter; he has over-the-ear hearing protectors (battery-powered electronics) that do just that.

The article seems to imply even that wouldn't be perfect- shock waves can and do travel through the bloodstream.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com