How Two Veterans Developed The Same Rare Brain Condition

Short Wave

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🗓️ 7 January 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

Some weapons used by the U.S. military are so powerful they can pose a threat to the people who fire them. Today, we meet two Marines, William Wilcox and Michael Lozano, who spent years firing missiles and rockets, then developed the same rare brain condition: arteriovenous malformation, or AVM. The condition sends high pressure blood from a tangle of abnormal blood vessels directly into fragile veins, which can leak or burst. Most AVMs are caused by genetic changes that affect the growth of blood vessels, so the connection between weapon blasts and AVM isn't always immediately clear. But NPR's brain correspondent Jon Hamilton reports that recent research suggests that blast waves can alter genes in the brain — and that the evidence is even stronger for less extreme blood vessel changes.

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Transcript

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0:24.4	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:29.7	Hey, shortwavers.
0:31.1	NPR's brain guy and sometimes shortwave substitute host is with me today.
0:35.2	Hello, John Hamilton.
0:36.5	Hello, Regina Barber. So you've been on the pod
0:39.1	many times with me also substituting for me while I was away. Thank you very much. Thank you for making
0:44.5	fun of me on the show. I had a great time making fun of you. Not that I want you to go away again or anything.
0:50.6	Of course. I mean, people can't live without me. We're going to turn things a little bit more serious, though, today, John. You're actually joining us today to follow up on an episode
0:57.9	we did actually a few months ago, right? Right, Gina. Back in August, we talked about how some people
1:03.6	who fired powerful weapons in the military can end up with brain damage. We talked about concussions
1:09.7	or maybe a more serious traumatic brain injury.
1:13.1	And then there's this early research about arteria venous malformations or AVMs.
1:18.9	Yeah, can you remind me what an AVM is? Yeah, it's this malformed tangle of veins and arteries that can cause a stroke.
1:27.4	So usually, you know, blood from the heart travels through the arteries and then through
1:31.8	these tiny blood vessels called capillaries before it goes back to our veins and then
1:36.1	back to the heart. Those capillaries act as a kind of buffer. They take this turbulent,
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