Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

Those with severe injuries are five times more likely to develop secondary Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). People with mild to moderate brain injuries are two times more likely to have developed attention problems and those with severe injuries are five times more likely to develop secondary Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in an average of seven years after injury, reveals a study. Researchers from Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center in the US presented the study at annual meeting of the Association of Academic Physiatrists in Las Vegas. The findings indicated that parenting and home environment exert a powerful influence on recovery of these attention problems. Certain skills that can affect social functioning, such as speed of information processing, inhibition and reasoning, show greater long-term effects. Children with severe Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in optimal environments may show few effects of their injuries while children with milder injuries from disadvantaged or chaotic homes often demonstrate persistent problems. Many children do very well in long-term after brain injury and most do not have across the board deficits. The team is working to identify genes important to recovery after TBI and understand how these genes may interact with environmental factors to influence … Continue reading →

By: Erika Fernandez February 15, 2017 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) -- Members of the military put their lives on the line in hotspots around the world. But, all too many are dying from a different struggle when they come back home. On average, 20 veterans take their own lives every day. The Veteran Affairs is dedicating new resources to the mental health crisis. It's a job they say is built for warriors. "The thought is accomplish the mission at all costs and there's no time for whining and crying," says Army veteran, Steve Ratliff. Ratliff joined the Army at age 17. After serving as a cannon crew member, over time, he suffered traumatic brain injury. "I spent a lot of time in the field firing the cannon and the cannon makes a lot of noise, a lot of percussions, loud noises, so I never wore ear plugs," Ratliff says. But it wasnt just the brain damage that changed his life. After 10 years in the military, Steve suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. "I used to be a young, happy guy, i was shy. But later on in life... I started to get agitated with just people in general," Steve says. Ratliff … Continue reading →

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a largely silent epidemic that affects roughly two million people each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the scale at which blast TBI (bTBI) injuries -- in the spotlight as the signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- occur and manifest is unknown. Recent studies within this realm suggest that rapid cavitation bubble collapse may be a potential mechanism for studying bTBI. During the Biophysical Societys 61st Annual Meeting, Feb. 11-15, 2017, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Jonathan Estrada, a doctoral student in the School of Engineering at Brown University, will present his work exploring the mechanics of cavitation-induced injury -- with a goal of better understanding bTBIs. Estrada is working under the guidance of Christian Franck, along with colleagues from Brown University and the University of Michigan. The team uses a laser, an optical microscope and rat neurons inside a gel-like substance to mimic brain tissue to examine bTBIs. The laser pulse is sent through the "brain tissue" under the microscope while a high-speed camera -- recording 270,000 frames per second -- captures the laser creating a bubble, the bubble breaking and the damage this causes … Continue reading →

Maggie Worthen suffered a stroke at 22, and was seemingly in a vegetative state. But before she died in 2015, she showed more awareness than doctors thought, pointing to new treatments for brain-injured patients. PROVIDENCE, R.I. Maggie Worthen never imagined that the title of science pioneer would be hers. A senior at Smith College, where she majored in Spanish, she hoped to become a veterinarian. A week before graduation, the 22-year-old suffered a massive stroke. It was 2006. Maggie now required around-the-clock care. The location of her stroke was in the brain stem, says her mother, Nancy Worthen. She couldnt move. She couldnt speak. She couldnt communicate in any way. She looked vegetative. A series of hospitalizations and stays at rehabilitation centers and nursing homes followed for the young woman, disabled by something so rare for someone so young. Most of the health professionals involved in her care believed that Maggie existed in a persistent vegetative state, from which she could never emerge. The state is characterized by loss of motor and cognitive function, although victims can open their eyes expressionlessly. She looked vegetative, Nancy says. But I felt right from the beginning and others as well, her father, her … Continue reading →

TheHealthSite Studies uncover long-term effects of traumatic brain injury Science Daily Across a series of randomized trials, online family problem-solving treatment has been shown to reduce behavior problems and executive dysfunction (management of cognitive processes) in older children with TBI, and over the longer-term improved ... A brain injury is two times more likely to develop attention problems ...TheHealthSite all 6 news articles » Read the original here: Studies uncover long-term effects of traumatic brain injury - Science Daily … Continue reading →

Science Daily Bridging the gap between the mechanics of blast traumatic brian injuries and cell damage Science Daily "Quantifying temporal injury history is essential to understanding, diagnosing, and working toward informed treatment of blast TBI," Estrada noted. "We hope this is a positive step toward those ends." The group's work is funded by the Office of Naval ... and more » View original post here: Bridging the gap between the mechanics of blast traumatic brian injuries and cell damage - Science Daily … Continue reading →

Shepherd Center leased hospital space in 1975 and opened a six-bed unit to offer rehabilitation and hope to people with spinal cord injuries. Four decades later, Shepherd treats thousands of people a year at its state-of-the-art facility. Patients come from all over the country for treatment of spinal cord injury, as well as brain injury, multiple sclerosis and other neurological disorders. On Feb. 20, Sarah Morrison takes over as CEO and president of Shepherd Center. She began her career there 32 years ago as a physical therapist. While much has changed in that time, one thing hasnt, she says: Shepherd Center is a place of hope. Q: What attracted you to Shepherd? A: Shepherd Center, even in 1984, was very well known. When I told people I was working at Shepherd, they would ask, Isnt that depressing? My answer was always no. We cant change that the individual was injured, but what we can do is give back their quality of life. Q: What are some of the differences you have experienced? A: When I came to Shepherd, the average length of stay was more than 120 days. Now, it is only 40 days, mainly because of insurance pressures. To … Continue reading →

February 10, 2017 Credit: Robert Kraft/public domain Doctors are beginning to get answers to the question that every parent whose child has had a traumatic brain injury (TBI) wants to know: What will my child be like 10 years from now? In a study to be presented Friday Feb. 10 at the annual meeting of the Association of Academic Physiatrists in Las Vegas, researchers from Cincinnati Children's will present research on long-term effects of TBIan average of seven years after injury. Patients with mild to moderate brain injuries are two times more likely to have developed attention problems, and those with severe injuries are five times more likely to develop secondary ADHD. These researchers are also finding that the family environment influences the development of these attention problems. More than 630,000 children and teenagers in the United States are treated in emergency rooms for TBI each year. But predictors of recovery following TBI, particularly the roles of genes and environment, are unclear. These environmental factors include family functioning, parenting practices, home environment, and socioeconomic status. Researchers at Cincinnati Children's are working to identify genes important to recovery after TBI and understand how these genes may interact with environmental factors to … Continue reading →

Traumatic brain injury in a serious health concern, especially among children and adolescents. New research uncovers the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury on children. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is any injury to the head that interferes with the normal functioning of the brain. This can be a violent blow or bump, which can result in a sudden jolt, or a penetrating injury that pierces the skull and the brain tissue. TBIs can range from mild (commonly known as a concussion) to severe, potentially resulting in unconsciousness or memory loss. Children participating in school sports have a particularly high risk of experiencing TBI. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that in 2009, almost 250,000 children and adolescents aged 19 and younger received treatment for sports and recreation-related TBIs and concussions. The CDC also note that between 2001 and 2009, the number of people under 19 years old diagnosed with sports and recreation-related TBI or concussions rose by 57 percent. Around 435,000 children aged between 0 and 14 visit the emergency department as a result of TBI every year. The long-term effects of TBI include difficulties in reasoning, language, or emotions and sensations. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy - … Continue reading →

A UCLA-led international research team received a $21-million grant last month to advance treatment for epilepsy. The grant will allow UCLA researchers to study potential preventive therapies for epilepsy caused by traumatic brain injury. If the project succeeds, UCLA could be the first to develop preventive epilepsy therapy available for wide use. Epilepsy, which may result from a number of different injuries, is a brain nerve disorder that leads to unpredictable seizures throughout a persons lifetime. Epilepsy is one of the primary brain diseases, said Jerome Engel, director of the project and a neurology, neurobiology and psychiatry, and biobehavioral sciences professor. Engel said that of all diseases, epilepsy accounts for 1 percent of lifetime loss globally, about the same loss of life that breast cancer causes in women. But as such a serious disease, epilepsy is underfunded and underappreciated, Engel added. Engel also said epilepsy patients are sometimes stigmatized, leading them to hide their diseases from others. [Throwback: UCLAs Dr. Gary Mathern gives children with untreatable seizures a second shot at a normal life] Because there is less media coverage and public knowledge of epilepsy, research on epilepsy also tends to receive less funding compared to other diseases, he added. … Continue reading →