Army officials announced on Thursday worrisome figures about undetected brain injuries of U.S. soldiers. As many as 20 percent of U.S. troops returning from the war may have been victims of traumatic brain injury (TBI), usually referred to as concussion.

Brig. Gen. Donald Bradshaw, chairman of a task force on traumatic brain injury created by the Army surgeon general, announced that the United States Army is allegedly "challenged to understand, diagnose and treat military personnel who suffer with mild TBI."

Traumatic brain injury is mostly caused by a person's head being struck by or against something. It is in fact a frequent cause of major long-term disability in individuals surviving head injuries sustained in war zones. Furthermore, repeated injury before the last brain injury was completely healed, may lead to deadly conditions.

In U.S. troops, the most common cause for TBI is blast from an explosion. Col. Robert Labutta, a neurosurgeon with the Army surgeon general's office, said that persistent symptoms have been reported by less than half of those who suffered from a mild traumatic brain injury in combat.

The Army is trying to raise awareness of TBI symptoms which will hopefully make soldiers seek appropriate and speedy treatment when the possibility of brain injury exists. "By identifying them (those suffering from TBI), giving them a diagnosis, so they don't think they're just going crazy ... we think that helps them deal with it," said to AP Col. Jonathan Jaffin, deputy commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

Brain injury can occur at the site of impact, but can also be at the opposite side of the skull, because the impact to the head can cause the brain to move within the skull, hitting the interior of the skull opposite the head-impact. In addition, if intracranial hemorrhage occurs as a result of broken blood vessels, a hematoma within the skull can put pressure on the brain causing additional symptoms.

Mild traumatic brain injury is usually associated with headaches, mental confusion, lightheadedness, dizziness, vision problems, ringing in the ears, bad taste in the mouth, fatigue, insomnia, behavioral changes, and trouble with concentration and memory. The symptoms vary with the impact site and the seriousness of the trauma.