Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise Boston (April 1, 2015) A new study out of West Virginia University suggests antioxidants may play a key role in reducing the long-term effects of concussions and could potentially offer a unique new approach for treatment. Common among athletes and soldiers, it is estimated that 3.4 million concussions occur each year in the United States. The development of a readily available oral supplement would have the potential to improve brain function in a percentage of concussion sufferers. The study adds to recent findings that concussions can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Head injuries often lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease associated with long-term brain damage and behavioral symptoms including memory loss, impulsive behavior, depression and aggression. The number of retired athletes and veterans diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy has climbed in recent years. Concussions can contribute to long-term changes within the brain and these changes are the result of cell death, which may be caused by oxidative stress, said Brandon Lucke-Wold, a M.D./Ph.D. student at West Virginia Universitys Medical School who conducted the research. This study shows that antioxidants such as lipoic acid can reduce the long-term deficits when given after … Continue reading →

A small area in the midbrain known as the substantia nigra is the control center for all bodily movement. Increasing loss of dopamine-generating neurons in this part of the brain therefore leads to the main symptoms of Parkinson's disease -- slowness of movement, rigidity and shaking. In recent years, there has been increasing scientific evidence suggesting that inflammatory changes in the brain play a major role in Parkinson's. So far, it has been largely unclear whether this inflammation arises inside the brain itself or whether cells of the innate immune system that enter the brain from the bloodstream are also involved. At the DKFZ, a team led by Prof. Dr. Ana Martin-Villalba is investigating causes of cell death in the central nervous system. Neuroscientist Martin-Villalba has suspected that a specific pair of molecules, the CD95 system, is involved in neuronal death in Parkinson's. This pair consists of the CD95 ligand and its corresponding receptor, CD95, also known as the "death receptor." Martin-Villalba recently showed that after spinal cord injury, inflammatory cells use these molecules to migrate to the injury site, where they cause damage to the tissue. Martin-Villalba then wanted to investigate whether peripheral inflammatory cells also play a role … Continue reading →

A Central Coast toddler who died from a catastrophic brain injury showed no signs of an alleged paddle-boarding accident when examined by paramedics, refuting suggestions by his mother's boyfriend that this accident may have caused the fatal injury. Two-year-old Darcy Atkinson died on December 7, 2012 after presenting to Gosford hospital with bruises, traces of Ritalin in his bloodstream and the fatal brain injury that later claimed his life. Mystery surrounds the cause of Darcy's brain injury, which is the central issue being examined this week in the NSW Coroner's Court. The inquest has previously heard that, the day before his death, Darcy began vomiting repeatedly and then had a seizure, while in the care of his mother's boyfriend, Adam Taylor. Advertisement Mr Taylor had texted Darcy's mother, Tara-Rae Maxwell that morning to say that the two-year-old had "had a little fall" while they were out paddle-boarding. He also raised this as a possible cause of the infant's rapidly deteriorating condition when paramedics arrived at his home that afternoon following a triple zero call. But on Tuesday one of the two paramedics who first examined Darcy at Mr Taylor's home said none of the signs of such an injury were … Continue reading →

(AP Photo/Steve Helber Nascar team owner Joe Gibbs, addresses the media about the condition of his son J.D. Gibbs in the media center prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va., Sunday, March 29, 2015. Joe Gibbs Racing President J.D. Gibbs is undergoing treatment for "symptoms impacting areas of brain function," which likely stem from a head injury suffered earlier in life. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Joe Gibbs says his son, J.D., is his hero and the most courageous person he's been around. Joe Gibbs Racing announced this week the younger Gibbs, who is the team president, is undergoing treatment for "symptoms impacting areas of brain function." Joe Gibbs says the family has known of the diagnosis for about six months and "medically, there are very few answers." He says 46-year-old J.D. is pursuing treatment and may not be as visible with the team as a result. "I have to tell you that he's my hero," Gibbs said during a statement at Martinsville Speedway. He noted that J.D.'s son, Taylor, was diagnosed with leukemia at age 2. And while Taylor is doing great now, "J.D. through his entire … Continue reading →

There is no secure means of diagnosis, but there are also no known ways to prevent it and no cure, wrote National Geographic magazine in a recent article dedicated to the signature injury of the Iraq and Afghan wars. The assessment reflects the almost universally shared conventional wisdom about Traumatic Brain Injury. The conventional wisdom is wrong. For now, even as legislation for removing Medicare caps for brain-injury treatment and establishing sports concussion treatment guidelines are drawing bipartisan interest on the Hill, we can confidently peer beyond TBI as a life full of frustration, solitude and suffering and instead look confidently at treatment that leads to recovery. As a result of a unique public-private partnership, new revolutionary research and treatment programs are coming out of the U.S. military. A decades-old foundation the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund has raised millions of dollars for construction of state-of-the-art TBI centers that upon completion are run by the Department of Defense. These facilities are where much of the advanced work on TBI is being done. At the five operating and soon-to-be opened Intrepid Spirit Centers (with the Fund currently raising money to build four more) around the country and the research-oriented National Intrepid Center … Continue reading →

Staff, patients and their loved ones are invited for a walk for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Awareness Month, hosted by the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) tomorrow, March 27, at noon. The walk, which will begin at the center, will take participants around the outside of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) and end back at the center at approximately 12:45 p.m. Those who attend are encouraged to wear green, the color chosen to signify March as National TBI Awareness Month, and to show solidarity for those in need of support. After considering how we could get campus recognition about brain injury awareness, [we decided] organizing a campus awareness walk would be a great way to spread knowledge about brain injury and the excellent treatment we give to patients and families at WRNMMC, said Cmdr. Karen Livornese, service chief for Clinical Education and Outreach at NICoE. She hopes the event will expand in years to come, she said, allowing staff members to eventually walk into the city of Bethesda to help raise TBI awareness. Often referred to as an invisible wound, a TBI is the result of a blow or jolt to the head, resulting in the disruption … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

More research is needed to identify how athletes sustain brain injury from American football, and also to develop strategies to protect them, write experts in The BMJ today. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative syndrome that can affect athletes. It is thought to result from concussion and brain injury following repeated blows to the head. But the topic of brain damage in football is controversial. The National Football League, for example, does not acknowledge any association between football and brain injury. CTE symptoms include memory problems, depression, poor impulse and motor control, anger and apathy. But diagnosis can be confirmed only with an autopsy. Over the course of the last 60 years, just 63 cases of CTE have been identified. When compared to the millions of football players, this number is very low, explain the authors, and this makes research "challenging" as definitive conclusions are difficult to make based on small samples. Consequently, it will take time and further research to make American football safer, but it must remain a top priority, they argue. All cases of confirmed CTE following autopsy suggest that the condition is linked to repetitive blows to the head. But not all of these … Continue reading →

New technology that tracks the eye movements of brain injury patients as they watch television could help improve both diagnosis and treatment, scientists believe. Around one million people in the UK are living with serious brain injuries, which can have a devastating impact on the individual and their families. As Headway, the UK-wide brain injury charity, points out on its website: Although we all think 'it'll never happen to me', a brain injury can affect anyone at any time. But a study by NYU Langone Medical Center in New York offers hope that it could be easier in future for doctors to quickly pinpoint the exact area of the brain that is damaged. This, in turn, could make it easier to develop tailored treatments to help different individuals with traumatic brain injuries on a case-by-case basis. Twelve people with brain problems that impacted on their ability to control eye movement and 157 healthy people were monitored as they watched a music video or television for 220 seconds. In healthy patients the number of up and down eye movements was similar to the number from side to side but in the other patients, the ratio was skewered in a way that … Continue reading →

Innovative angles of attack in research that focus on how the human brain protects and repairs itself will help develop treatments for one of the most common, costly, deadly and scientifically frustrating medical conditions worldwide: traumatic brain injury. In an extensive opinion piece recently published online on Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs, Henry Ford Hospital researcher Ye Xiong, M.D., Ph.D., makes the case for pioneering work underway in Detroit and elsewhere seeking to understand and repair brain function at the molecular level. "To date, all attempts at treating traumatic brain injury with experimental drugs have failed once testing moved from animal studies to clinical trials in humans," Dr. Xiong explains. "Although this is disappointing, we believe innovations now at the preclinical stage hold great promise for a deeper understanding of traumatic brain injury and how to treat it." Also known as TBI, traumatic brain injury most commonly results from a sudden, violent blow to the head, in some cases driving broken bone into the brain, or from a bullet or other object piercing the skull and entering the brain. This trauma sets off a complex "cascade" of reactions in the brain that can impair thinking and reasoning, behavior and movement. … Continue reading →