Vol. 4, No. 1, 1998 Page 7 
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Vol. 4, No. 1, 1998 Page 7 |
In several high-profile trials, Vietnam veterans have blamed criminal acts on "post-traumatic stress syndrome." However, a new study suggests that some vets' aberrant behaviors may have a far different explanation: malaria.
N. R. Varney and colleagues evaluated the neuropsychiatric status
of Vietnam veterans who had contracted cerebral malaria between
1966 and 1969, comparing them to vets who had not suffered from
malaria. The researchers found that "cerebral malaria results in
multiple, major, substantially underappreciated neuropsychiatric
symptoms in Vietnam veterans, including poor dichotic listening,
`personality change,' depression, and, in some cases, partial
seizure-like symptoms."
The researchers strongly recommend that "a history of malaria... be considered in any medical, psychological, or psychiatric workup of a Vietnam War veteran."
"Neuropsychiatric sequelae of cerebral malaria in Vietnam veterans," N. R. Varney, R. J. Roberts, J. A. Springer, S. K. Connell, and P. S. Wood, Journal of Nerv. and Mental Disorders, Vol. 185,