Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

A Billings couple suspected of assaulting their 2-month-old son on Christmas prosecutors say he was choked and suffered a brain injury are being held in the Yellowstone County jail. Kayla Jean Edwards, 23, called 911 on Wednesday night and reported that her 2-month-old son had stopped breathing, a court document filed on Friday says. Medical personnel responded to a residence on the 200 block of Terry Avenue at about 8 p.m. and took the child to St. Vincent Healthcare for treatment, police said in a press release. The medical responders observed suspicious injuries on the infant and notified law enforcement, police said. The investigation revealed that the defendant struck her son in the head so hard that she caused a brain injury, an affidavit of probable cause states. The defendant then strangled her son to prevent him from breathing. The infant was in critical condition, Billings Police Lt. Jeremy House said on Friday afternoon. The childs other parent, 28-year-old Brandon Tory Edwards, admitted to watching and allowing the assault, as well as choking his newborn son on another occasion, records say. An Oct. 15 birth announcement in The Gazette lists the couple as having twins a boy and a girl. … Continue reading →

After she'd emerged from the coma, after she'd survived a severe head injury from which most people never make it back, Kristin McCollum's recovery became a steady stream of humble miracles: the time she first opened her eyes; the time she smiled when her dad walked into the hospital room; the time she uttered her first word, a swear word, to her speech therapist. "Those were very special moments," says her mother, Paula. "But for a long time, we'd look at her and wonder, 'Is she still in there? Is she still Kristin?'" Four years later, the one-time pizza-shop manager still is slowly coming back from what her mom calls "ground zero," that Christmas Day in 2010 when McCollum, then 31, for no apparent reason lost control of her Volkswagen Golf on Old Almaden Road. It took rescue workers 45 minutes to extract her from the mangled vehicle. She suffered a traumatic brain injury from which 90 percent of victims never regain consciousness. A key to that recovery has been Services for Brain Injury, a nonprofit center and wonder factory tucked into a nondescript business park in North San Jose. For the past year, McCollum has been coming here five … Continue reading →

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - In a story Dec. 16 about the Eisenhower Center, The Associated Press, based on information from the center, reported erroneously that it will be the primary facility used by the NFL Players Association for treating brain injuries and other neurological issues through the After the Impact program. According to the NFLPA, the center is one of the facilities the group uses to treat a number of health-related issues. A corrected version of the story is below: Brain-injury program working with NFL players Michigan center updates military veteran brain-injury program to include football players LANSING, Michigan (AP) - A brain-injury treatment program originally designed for military veterans injured on the battlefield has been updated to include professional athletes. Representatives with the Eisenhower Center say it is the only facility in the country that pairs NFL former players with military veterans as they undergo treatment for a number of health related issues. The residential neuro-rehabilitation facility is based in Ann Arbor. The program provides intense treatment for soldiers and athletes recovering from concussions, mild traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems. It evolved from the Eisenhower Center's transitional treatment program to help military members deal with … Continue reading →

Brain injuries are complicated things and even now not fully understood. Researchers at the NYU Langone Medical Center have completed a study that suggests eye tracking technology may be able to help locate and determine the extent of brain injuries as well as monitor recovery. The key to this method is its simplicity the required eye tracking analysis can be achieved while patients watch music videos for a few minutes. Thanks to its relative simplicity, the method can be applied to head trauma or blast injury to assess brain injury quickly. Its potential use in triage marks it as useful, especially given that current techniques often do not pick up some kinds of injury. "These results are extremely exciting because the technology is not overly complicated and, as a result, can move from the bench to the battlefield," says Dr Charles Marmar, professor and chairman of Psychiatry at NYU Langone, and executive director of NYU Langones Steven & Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center. The study led by Dr Uzma Samadani looked at 169 American veterans, 12 of whom had weaknesses in the nerves that moved their eyes or brain swelling near those nerves, which affect eye movements. Participants watched music videos … Continue reading →

Rory Curtis, 25, suffered a serious brain injury after a car crash in 2012 He woke from a six-day coma and started speaking in fluent French Former footballer was also convinced he was actor Matthew McConaughey He broke his pelvis, but made a full recovery with an experimental drug Mr Curtis is still able to speak perfect French two years after the crash By Jenny Awford for MailOnline Published: 06:38 EST, 22 December 2014 | Updated: 08:11 EST, 22 December 2014 39 shares 14 View comments A footballer woke from a coma after a horrific car crash thinking he was Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey and speaking fluent French despite only having a basic grasp from school. Rory Curtis, 25, suffered a serious brain injury and a broken pelvis after his van flipped over on the M42 near Tamworth, Staffordshire, and five vehicles ploughed into it in August 2012. He was placed in an induced coma for six days and when he finally came round he started chatting to nurses in fluent French even though he had not spoken the language in 12 years. The former semi-professional footballer for Stourport Swifts FC also said he did not recognise himself in the … Continue reading →

Published December 17, 2014 A brain-injury treatment program originally designed for military veterans injured on the battlefield has been updated to include professional athletes. Representatives with the Eisenhower Center announced Tuesday that it will be the primary facility used by the NFL Players Association for treating brain injuries and other neurological issues through the After the Impact program. The residential neuro-rehabilitation facility is based in Ann Arbor. The program provides intense treatment for soldiers and athletes recovering from concussions, mild traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems. It evolved from the Eisenhower Center's transitional treatment program to help military members deal with brain injuries. The NFL expects 6,000 of nearly 20,000 retired players - or 28 percent - to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or at least moderate dementia someday. Former players have sued. Current Detroit Lions tight end Joseph Fauria and former quarterback Eric Hipple attended Tuesday's announcement. "Nearly one-third of all retired NFL players will suffer from a long-term cognitive problem," Hipple said. "The players and veterans who have gone through the After the Impact program have learned a lot from each other and helped each other on the path to recovery." The NFL last month urged … Continue reading →

Updated DEC 16, 2014 7:55p ET LANSING, Mich. -- A brain-injury treatment program originally designed for military veterans injured on the battlefield has been updated to include professional athletes. Representatives with the Eisenhower Center announced Tuesday that it will be the primary facility used by the NFL Players Association for treating brain injuries and other neurological issues through the After the Impact program. The residential neuro-rehabilitation facility is based in Ann Arbor. The program provides intense treatment for soldiers and athletes recovering from concussions, mild traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems. It evolved from the Eisenhower Center's transitional treatment program to help military members deal with brain injuries. The NFL expects 6,000 of nearly 20,000 retired players - or 28 percent - to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or at least moderate dementia someday. Former players have sued. Current Detroit Lions tight end Joseph Fauria and former quarterback Eric Hipple attended Tuesday's announcement. ''Nearly one-third of all retired NFL players will suffer from a long-term cognitive problem,'' Hipple said. ''The players and veterans who have gone through the After the Impact program have learned a lot from each other and helped each other on the path to recovery.'' … Continue reading →

MGN Online The NFL expects 6,000 of nearly 20,000 retired players -- or 28 percent -- to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or at least moderate dementia someday. A brain-injury treatment program originally designed for military veterans injured on the battlefield has been updated to include professional athletes. Representatives with the Eisenhower Center announced Tuesday that it will be the primary facility used by the NFL Players Association for treating brain injuries and other neurological issues through the After the Impact program. The residential neuro-rehabilitation facility is based in Ann Arbor. The program provides intense treatment for soldiers and athletes recovering from concussions, mild traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems. It evolved from the Eisenhower Center's transitional treatment program to help military members deal with brain injuries. The NFL expects 6,000 of nearly 20,000 retired players -- or 28 percent -- to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or at least moderate dementia someday. Former players have sued, accusing the league of hiding what it knew about concussions and brain injuries to keep players on the field. Current Detroit Lions tight end Joseph Fauria and former quarterback Eric Hipple attended Tuesday's announcement. "Nearly one-third of all retired NFL players will … Continue reading →

Updated: Wednesday, December 17 2014, 06:34 AM EST By: The Associated Press LANSING, Mich. -- A brain-injury treatment program originally designed for military veterans injured on the battlefield has been updated to include professional athletes. Representatives with the Eisenhower Center announced Tuesday that it will be the primary facility used by the NFL Players Association for treating brain injuries and other neurological issues through the After the Impact program. The residential neuro-rehabilitation facility is based in Ann Arbor. The program provides intense treatment for soldiers and athletes recovering from concussions, mild traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems. It evolved from the Eisenhower Center's transitional treatment program to help military members deal with brain injuries. The NFL expects 6,000 of nearly 20,000 retired players -- or 28 percent -- to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or at least moderate dementia someday. Former players have sued. Current Detroit Lions tight end Joseph Fauria and former quarterback Eric Hipple attended Tuesday's announcement. "Nearly one-third of all retired NFL players will suffer from a long-term cognitive problem," Hipple said. "The players and veterans who have gone through the After the Impact program have learned a lot from each other and helped each … Continue reading →

Using a new technology which tracks eye movements of patients viewing music videos just under four minutes, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have developed a new way to assess the location and impact of a brain injury. The research was published Dec 16 in the Journal of Neurosurgery. The research offers promise that such eye tracking technology may serve as a biological marker for evaluating brain function and monitoring recovery for patients who sustain traumatic brain injuries (TBI), with the hope of extending this to evaluation of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), commonly referred to as concussions. For the study, researchers evaluated 169 patients. 157 were neurologically normal, while 12 demonstrated specific abnormalities in cranial nerves controlling eye movement or brain swelling close to those nerves. These nerves affect eye movement sideways as well as up and down. For the study, researchers, employing a new technology developed at NYU Langone, had participants watch a music video or television content for 220 seconds while they measured the ratio of horizontal to vertical eye movements. In the neurologically normal participants, the ratios were nearly to1:1, with horizontal movements essentially equaling vertical movements. However, the 12 participants with nerve damage or swelling … Continue reading →