Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) November 18, 2014 The Carrick Brain Centers (http://carrickbraincenters.com), a cutting-edge rehabilitation facility that provides highly effective treatments for those suffering from severe brain injuries, announced a partnership with the Move2Improve Foundation (http://m2i.org). Together the organizations aim to raise $250,000 in crowd source funding for 21 year old Autumn Hampton, a young woman who suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in 2010. The money raised in this effort will allow Autumn to receive the treatment that she needs to improve her quality of life. Three weeks before her 18th birthday, Autumn Hampton suffered a severe head injury due to a fluke horse riding accident. After three years of marginal rehabilitation services, the Hamptons insurance coverage was cancelled, leaving Autumn unable to walk or speak clearly with no options for therapy. Thanks to the support of Move2Improve, Autumn underwent three weeks of intense rehabilitation at the Carrick Brain Center in Dallas, Texas during September of this year. Autumn is now walking short distances and is able to see clearly with both eyes for the first time in four years. We are very pleased with Autumns progress and excited to partner with M2I in order to make her recovery a … Continue reading →

On April 2, 2013, President Obama announced a new public-private partnership to develop new tools and technologies that will enable the research community to obtain a dynamic picture of the brain in action. Initially, 3 federal agenciesthe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA, $50M), the NIH ($40M), and the National Science Foundation (NSF, $20M)were charged with initiating new plans for the Brain Research through Advanc-ing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative activities. That list recently grew to include the FDA and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (IARPA).1 Those activities complement work supported by the initial private sector partners, the Allen Institute for Brain Science ($60M), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute ($30M), the Salk Institute for Biological Studies ($28M), and the Kavli Foundation ($4M). In most cases, the funding amounts indicate investments made in 2014. In addition to these investments in the American BRAIN Initiative, there is a significant investment by the European Commission in a related effortthe Human Brain Project.2 That project is focused on developing new modeling and computing technologies to understand the brain. The Japanese have recently announced an initiative that will fund research on the marmoset as well as on tool and technology development.3,4 Other countries seem to … Continue reading →

Denver, CO (PRWEB) November 18, 2014 CereScan Corp. is proud to announce a groundbreaking neuroimaging partnership agreement with Diagnostic Imaging Services (DIS) in Metairie, Louisiana. This collaborative effort will expand CereScans sophisticated brain diagnostic products and DISs state of the art neuroimaging capabilities to adults and children who are suffering from invisible brain issues. This partnership creates a powerful combination of cutting edge technologies focused on identifying specific brain related problems in areas such as traumatic brain injury, Alzheimers disease, and attention deficit disorder. The State of Louisiana and the southeast region of the country now have easy access to the capabilities that these two companies can deliver to medical professionals who are focused on finding solutions for patients with chronic brain disorders. CereScan is the nations leader in providing statistically measured brain diagnostics based on a new generation of imaging software and SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) neuroimaging technologies. Since 2009, patients from all over the country and throughout the world have consulted Denver-based CereScan and its leading physicians concerning chronic neurological and psychiatric issues. By partnering with DIS and their extensive experience in nuclear imaging, this Metairie-center will now offer unmatched functional brain imaging capabilities in the … Continue reading →

A tangle of protein (green) in this scanning electron micrograph of a brain cell of an Alzheimer's patient lies within the cytoplasm (blue) of the cell. The tangle consists of clumps of a toxic form of tau. Thomas J. Deerinck/Corbis hide caption A tangle of protein (green) in this scanning electron micrograph of a brain cell of an Alzheimer's patient lies within the cytoplasm (blue) of the cell. The tangle consists of clumps of a toxic form of tau. After years of setbacks, Alzheimer's researchers are sounding optimistic again. The reason: a brain protein called tau. At this year's Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington, D.C., there are more than 100 papers on tau, which is responsible for the tangles that form in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. In the past, tau has received less attention than another protein called amyloid beta, which causes the sticky plaques associated with Alzheimer's. "Many people focused on amyloid beta for many years," says Julia Gerson, a graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Texas Medical Branch, who presented a paper on tau at the neuroscience meeting. "Now it's coming out that tau might be more important." If we could figure out … Continue reading →

How is a head injury diagnosed? As with most injuries and illnesses, finding out what happened to the patient is very important. The health care professional will take a history of the events. The information may be provided by the patient, people who witnessed the event, emergency medical personnel, and if applicable, the police. The circumstances are very important since it is important to find out the severity and intensity of the trauma sustained by the head. Please be aware, even small head bumps or shaking can cause a brain injury. Physical examination begins with assessing the ABCs (airway, breathing, circulation) to make certain that the patient is stable and does not need emergent life-saving interventions. This is especially important in those patients who are unconscious and may not be able to maintain their own airway or breathe on their own. If the patient is not fully awake, the examination will initially try to determine the level of coma. The Glasgow Coma Scale number is useful in tracking whether the patient is improving or declining in function over time. If no other injuries are found on examining the body, attention will be paid to the head and the neurologic exam. … Continue reading →

The U.S. military is taking a hard look at how to treat veterans with severe brain injuries, and some of the most groundbreaking research is happening in Dallas. The number of Americans with traumatic brain injuries went up dramatically during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It peaked in 2011 and has been declining slowly since. But last year alone, there were still more than 27,000 new cases. Many of the worst brain injuries are combat-related, like the case of one former Navy SEAL who shared his story with FOX 4. It's hard to say what's more incredible the survival of retired SEAL Sr. Chief Mike Day, or the unorthodox therapy that might just become the future solution to the treatment for people suffering from PTSD and traumatic brain injury. Day suffers from what's called the invisible wounds of war, but his body is riddled with very visible scars from a 2007 battle with al-Qaida operatives. "I got into a gunfight with these four guys, said Day. I was shot 27 times. I got shot in both legs, both arms, my abdomen, my buttocks, my scrotum, my left thumb, and my right scapula was shattered in about 30 pieces. A … Continue reading →

Vienna, VA (PRWEB) November 14, 2014 The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) is pleased to announce that the House of Representatives passed the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Reauthorization Act of 2014 and the bill is on its way to President Obama for his signature. The TBI Act reauthorizes existing TBI programs within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and provides appropriations for those programs through FY2019. The legislation also provides new authority for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to review brain injury management in children, identify ongoing and potential opportunities for research, and instructs the CDC to report back to Congress on their findings. This is the day we have worked toward for several years, said Susan Connors, President and CEO of BIAA. The passage of this reauthorization of the TBI Act means that research relating to children with brain injuries will gain more attention. TBI prevention and surveillance programs at CDC will continue, as will the state grant program and the protection and advocacy grant program currently administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), she added. I would especially like to recognize all of our grassroots advocates, without whom this … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 14-Nov-2014 Contact: University of Maryland School of Medicine Public Affairs dkohn@som.umaryland.edu 410-706-7590 University of Maryland School of Medicine @ummedschool Baltimore, Md., November 14, 2014--Most research on spinal cord injuries has focused on effects due to spinal cord damage and scientists have neglected the effects on brain function. University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) researchers have found for the first time that spinal cord injuries (SCI) can cause widespread and sustained brain inflammation that leads to progressive loss of nerve cells, with associated cognitive problems and depression. The research, published recently in two articles, one in of the Journal of Neuroscience, the other in Cell Cycle, highlights the close links between spinal cord injury and loss of brain function, and suggests potential treatment to prevent such changes. "Animal studies have shown that traumatic brain injury, even mild repeated injuries, can result in progressive brain tissue damage and cognitive decline, as well as widespread brain inflammation. But little research has examined whether these problems occur after spinal cord injuries," said UM SOM anesthesiology professor and noted neurobiologist Alan Faden, MD, who led the study. "Our studies the first to show that isolated SCI can cause progressive loss … Continue reading →

A US congressman prominently involved with traumatic brain injury issues wants the NCAA to penalize schools that violate concussion management guidelines. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.) sent a letter Wednesday to NCAA president Mark Emmert urging the association to create mandatory guidelines about how to care for concussions, according to a copy released by Pascrell's office. Pascrell previously wrote to Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany asking the Big Ten to investigate Michigan's mishandling of concussed quarterback Shane Morris and to assess penalties for violating the conference's concussion protocol. "In his response to me, Commissioner Delany declined to address that request," Pascrell wrote in his letter to Emmert. "If individual conferences are not going to monitor and penalize concussion management protocol violations, the NCAA must step in and assume that responsibility." Pascrell is co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force. He helped get legislation passed in 2010 after the death of a New Jersey high school football player. The law called for the US Department of Health and Human Services to develop guidelines and protocols for the management and treatment of sports-related concussions. In September, NCAA chief medical officer Brian Hainline said the association continues to discuss the … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 11-Nov-2014 Contact: George Hunka ghunka@aftau.org 212-742-9070 American Friends of Tel Aviv University @AFTAUnews As football players are learning, a violent blow to the head has the potential to cause mild to severe traumatic brain injury -- physical damage to the brain that can be debilitating, even fatal. The long-term effects run the gamut of human functioning, from trouble communicating to extensive cognitive and behavioral deterioration. To date, there is no effective medical or cognitive treatment for patients with traumatic brain injuries. But a new study from Tel Aviv University researchers points to an "enriched environment" -- specially enhanced surroundings -- as a promising path for the rehabilitation of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients. The research, published in Behavioral Brain Research, was led by Prof. Chagi Pick of TAU's Sagol School of Neuroscience and Sackler Faculty of Medicine and conducted by a team of researchers from both TAU and TAU-affiliated Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. Mice move on up The study, conducted on mice at a TAU laboratory, followed two groups of animals with minimal traumatic brain injury. The first group was kept in standard cages and maintained under routine conditions, while the second enjoyed "enriched environments," … Continue reading →