Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

Justin Eldridge's family will never fully understand why nothing seemed to ease the anguish of the young Marine and father of five, as he wrestled with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury after a deployment to Afghanistan in 2004-05. Despite stints in VA hospitals and an array of medications, he killed himself in his Waterford home on Oct. 28, 2013. He was 31. "He did his part he followed the treatment they gave him," said his widow, Joanna Eldridge, who is now raising their children alone. "It just wasn't enough, in terms of following up with him and figuring out why he wasn't getting better . . . We just have to do better at helping these guys after they get home." A new study suggests that the suicide risk for Eldridge and other veterans who served in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is significantly higher 41 to 61 percent higher -- than for the general population. The study, led by Department of Veterans Affairs and Army researchers, is the most comprehensive look to date at the suicide risk for veterans who were on active duty during the recent wars. The analysis to be published next month … Continue reading →

In September 2013, Chris Gardner went from kicking and spinning as a black belt in taekwondo to being locked in a world where he could not follow conversations or even walk his dog. The 58-year-old Vienna, Va., resident had just had brain surgery to remove a large tumour, and the operation affected his mobility and cognition. After nine months of physical and occupational therapy, he'd made little progress. So he tried neurofeedback, hoping this controversial treatment would improve his balance and mental processes. Neurofeedback a type of biofeedback uses movies, video games, computers and other tools to help individuals regulate their brain waves. A patient might watch a movie, for example, while hooked to sensors that send data to a computer. A therapist, following the brain activity on a monitor, programs the computer to stop the movie if an abnormal number of fast or slow brain waves is detected or if the brain waves are erratic, moving rapidly from fast to slow waves. The stop-and-start feedback, repeated over and over in numerous sessions, seems to yield more-normal brain waves. Researchers who endorse the technique say they don't know exactly how it works but they say the changes in brain waves … Continue reading →

Dietary supplement may protect the brain from injury The dietary supplement creatine can protect the brain when its oxygen supply is reduced, a University of Auckland study has found. The new study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, was led by Dr Nick Gant along with Professor Winston Byblow, and PhD student Clare Turner, all from the Faculty of Science, University of Auckland Centre for Brain Research. The brain requires a constant supply of oxygen and is highly vulnerable when this supply is reduced by injury or disease, says Dr Gant. We set out to help improve the brains natural defences and think weve discovered a way of doing this. The secret to creatines success is that it requires no oxygen to make energy. The study found that creatine was stored in areas of the brain that are easily oxygen deprived. "Athletes have been getting an energy boost for their muscles from creatine for over 20 years," says Dr Gant. "Creatine supplementation increases the amount of useable energy stored in muscle and our research shows it has a similar effect within the brain. The team used a combination of advanced neuroscience techniques to study the brains of healthy adults. Participants … Continue reading →

Neurofeedback Neurofeedback In September 2013, Chris Gardner went from kicking and spinning as a black belt in taekwondo to being locked in a world where he could not follow conversations or even walk his dog. The 58-year-old Vienna, Va., resident had just had brain surgery to remove a large tumor, and the operation affected his mobility and cognition. After nine months of physical and occupational therapy, hed made little progress. So he tried neurofeedback, hoping this controversial treatment would improve his balance and mental processes. Neurofeedback a type of biofeedback uses movies, video games, computers and other tools to help individuals regulate their brain waves. A patient might watch a movie, for example, while hooked to sensors that send data to a computer. A therapist, following the brain activity on a monitor, programs the computer to stop the movie if an abnormal number of fast or slow brain waves is detected or if the brain waves are erratic, moving rapidly from fast to slow waves. The stop-and-start feedback, repeated over and over in numerous sessions, seems to yield more-normal brain waves. Researchers who endorse the technique say they dont know exactly how it works but they say the changes in … Continue reading →

THE death of a Failsworth man who drove his car into a lamp post was the result of a brain injury, an inquest has determined. Frederick Moores (77), of Ravenoak Drive, had a suspected epileptic fit at the wheel of his car in Hollinwood Avenue last August 16. He and his wife were travelling to see their son. Mr Moores was taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital where his condition worsened and he died four days A consultant neuropathologist at Salford Royal, Dr Pal, explained how she had seen two areas of injury in Mr Mooress brain: one a bleed between the skull and the brains surface, the other a lesion to the thick band of nerve fibres, the corpus callosum, connecting right and left sides of the brain. Dr Pal said: A lesion in this area results in a deep unconsciousness that has a very poor prognosis. Mr Moores had seemed alert after waking following he accident. A few hours later he complained of a headache, suffered a seizure and slipped into unconsciousness. It is my theory that he suffered the damage to his corpus callosum during his seizure and this was determined as unsurvivable brain damage. Mr Moores … Continue reading →

The parents of a baby left with a brain injury after complications during birth have praised a charity for its help and support. Teenage couple Lucy Thear and Mark Cairns, both 18, couldnt wait to welcome their first child into the world in July last year. But their delight turned into heartache when Lexie-May was an undiagnosed breech and was born bottom first in a stressful and traumatic birth. Sadly the youngster, who was born weighing 6lbs, suffered a severe brain injury and it is difficult at this stage to know how badly she will be affected in later life. Mum-of-one Lucy, of Chopwell, Gateshead, said: Everything was good during my pregnancy and we were so excited about having a baby. The labour was going fine until we realised that Lexie-May was an undiagnosed breech. She suffered a severe brain injury during birth and when she was born she was not breathing and was floppy. I couldnt hold her as she was immediately taken away for treatment. It took about 20 minutes for doctors to resuscitate her and about half-an-hour into Lexie-Mays life she suffered two fits and was hooked straight up to ventilation, drips and a heart monitor, she … Continue reading →

The most common cause of severe head injury in the civilian population is an auto accident, yet those in the military, are three times more at risk of traumatic brain injury, even in peacetime. Even for those that regain consciousness, they will usually go on to live with severe cognitive and physical impairments. Dr. Theresa Pape, a clinical neuroscientist at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital and Research Associate Professor at Northwestern University, has been leading a study since 2008 to look at transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a neuro-therapeutic for veterans and civilians left in a coma, vegetative state, or a minimally conscious state due to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). The objective of TMS is to help these patients regain their cognitive abilities over time. At the end of January, a 27-year-old Oregon soldier will receive this groundbreaking treatment at Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, located 12 miles west of downtown Chicago. U.S. Army Sgt. Jordan Adams has been in minimally conscious state and cannot communicate since an auto accident stateside, while on holiday leave in December 2013. Expecting the treatment could create new neuron pathways in Adams brain, which might help him regain consciousness, Dr. Pape reached … Continue reading →

A new paper by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) argues that there is a widespread misunderstanding about the true nature of traumatic brain injury and how it causes chronic degenerative problems. In a perspective article published in the latest issue of Neurotherapeutics, the two authors - Alan Faden, MD, a neurologist and professor of anesthesiology, and David Loane, PhD, an assistant professor of anesthesiology, propose that chronic brain damage and neuropsychiatric problems after trauma are to a large degree caused by long-term inflammation in the brain. In their view, this inflammation is a key culprit behind the myriad symptoms that have been linked with traumatic brain injury and mild traumatic brain injury, including brain atrophy, depression and cognitive decline. Dr. Faden and Dr. Loane also say that there has been too much emphasis on a specific diagnosis known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the set of symptoms and pathology that has been found in some former professional football players. They argue that this may deflect focus from other mechanisms, which may be more important and treatable. They say that although chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a serious problem, relatively few people have been diagnosed with … Continue reading →

YOU'RE not imagining the pain. But your brain might be behind it, nonetheless. For the first time, it is possible to distinguish between brain activity associated with pain from a physical cause, such as an injury, and that associated with pain linked to your state of mind. A fifth of the world's population is thought to experience some kind of chronic pain that which has lasted longer than three months. If the pain has no clear cause, people can find themselves fobbed off by doctors who they feel don't believe them, or given ineffective or addictive painkillers. But a study led by Tor Wager at the University of Colorado, Boulder, now reveals that there are two patterns of brain activity related to pain. One day, brain scans could be used to work out your relative components of each, helping to guide treatment. "Pain has always been a bit of a puzzle," says Ben Seymour, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge. Hearing or vision, for example, can be traced from sensory organs to distinct brain regions, but pain is more complex, and incorporates thoughts and emotions. For example, studies have linked depression and anxiety to the development of pain conditions, … Continue reading →

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) - Sgt. Jordan Adams has been in a barely conscious state since suffering a brain injury in a car crash while on leave in 2013, but his family is hopeful that a new treatment will help him recover. Adams was recently transferred from a hospital in California's bay area to the Veterans Administration hospital in Chicago to undergo the treatment. An organization called VitalOne donated the medical personnel and a Chicago businessman provided a private jet to transport Adams. Adams will be receiving the new treatment because of Dr. Theresa Pape, who reached out to his family. At the end of January, Pape will try out the new procedure that involves stimulating different parts of Adams' brain with magnetic pulses and using a drug as a companion. Adams' mother, Tammi Adams, said Pape expects the treatment to create new neuron pathways in Jordan Adams' brain, which might help him regain consciousness. "I'm afraid to hope, you know," Tammi Adams said. "I mean, I've never stopped and I've never given in, but I don't want to be let down, so I just take every day and I tell Jordan, I know you're there, boy. I know you're there." … Continue reading →