For years, it was believed that the shell-shock syndrome experienced by many Vietnam War veterans were merely fictional. However, as psychology and medicine – especially psychiatry, have evolved, it became increasingly obvious that shell-shock was very much real. In medical terms, it is referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSS). PTSD and PTSS are not reserved as diagnosis only for veterans, but they refer to any kind of traumas that leave neurological and psychological scars.

Similar physical brain injuries like the ones undergone by the Vietnam veterans have also been suffered by soldiers from more recent wars, such as the ones from Iraq or Afghanistan. Recent studies regarding these brain injuries have been linked to several long-term problems that have occurred in people who had sustained the aforementioned injuries. Among these problems, researchers have identified seizures, aggression and even “dementia reminiscent of Alzheimer’s disease,” as described by the Institute of Medicine, in a report released on Thursday.

The report raises the alarm on such cases, according to Dr. Michael Yochelson, a specialist in traumatic brain injury at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, and a former employee at the National Naval Medical Center. The brain injuries that can lead to such severe long term afflictions can be caused by such things as prolonged exposure to energy sources, bullet wounds, shrapnel wounds and even mild blows to the head.