Traumatic brain injury: the silent epidemic

on March 25, 2015 - 10:00 AM

, updated March 25, 2015 at 5:10 PM

Editors Note: Landin Murphy, 20, of Williamsville, suffered a traumatic brain injury during a basketball game in his freshman year of high school in December 2008. March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and Landin chose to tell his story and share some things he has learned about brain injuries. He is a senior at St. Marys High School in Lancaster, continues to recover and is on track to graduate in June. He plans to study pre-med in college.

By Landin Murphy

NeXt Correspondent

The brain is an organ much more complex than most people realize. It is not only responsible for controlling the bodys limbs and movements, it gives the ability of thought and reason. Essentially everything in our bodies is directly linked to the brain. Digestion, muscle tone, heart rate, you name it. This is why traumatic brain injury, also known as a concussion, is such a pertinent issue.

Coupled with the brains importance, what makes TBI even more worrisome is that its occurrence sometimes can slip under the radar. Its symptoms can be confusing and seem unrelated. Furthermore, many athletes are taught from a young age to systematically ignore brain injuries. Frequent hits in football, soccer, basketball or other contact sports go unreported. These hits, stemming from physical contact between players or simply being knocked to the ground, are often referred to as dings. Players often are told to push forward, ignoring the idea that he or she has sustained a brain injury. The symptoms of a ding range from dizziness, nausea, blurred vision and more. These injuries should be treated with all seriousness.

Long-term studies have shown the accumulation of such ignored, smaller injuries to be more problematic than one or two more immediately serious injuries. Likewise, neglect of proper treatment increases the risk of developing much more serious health and brain conditions such as post Concussion Syndrome, CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) or dementia.

Everyone needs to make an effort when it comes to learning more about TBI. The age groups most susceptible to sustaining brain injuries are the young and the elderly, consequently the two age groups most reliant on others. Unfortunately, these people are also the most adversely affected when brain injury is sustained.

Any injury sustained by a young brain can impair or adversely affect development. Similarly, a person with already declining physical assets (such as a person more advanced in years) will often find recovery to be longer and symptoms more severe.

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Traumatic brain injury: the silent epidemic