Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Highlight Dialysis drives progressive white matter brain injury due to blood pressure instability; however, patients who dialyzed at 0.5C below body temperature were completely protected against such white matter changes. Conventional dialysis can cause significant circulatory stress that damages multiple organs. Newswise Washington, DC (September 18, 2014) While dialysis can cause blood pressure changes that damage the brain, cooling dialysis fluids can protect against such effects. The findings come from a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The cooling intervention can be delivered without additional cost and is simple to perform. While dialysis is an essential treatment for many patients with kidney disease, it can cause damage to multiple organs, including the brain and heart, due to the sudden removal of bodily fluids. To characterize dialysis-induced brain injury and to see whether cooled dialysis fluids (called dialysate) might help reduce such injury, Christopher McIntyre, DM, and his colleagues randomized 73 new dialysis patients to dialyze with body temperature dialysate or dialysate cooled to 0.5C below body temperature for 1 year. (Dr. McIntyre was at the University of Nottingham in the UK while conducting … Continue reading →

THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Imaging technology has shed new light on how certain symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) manifest in the brain, according to a new study. PTSD is a mental health condition that can cause a wide range of debilitating symptoms, such as flashbacks to a traumatic event, being in a constant state of stress and avoiding certain situation and people, according to background information from the study. Researchers identified a specific opioid receptor in the brain linked to emotion that is also associated with a specific group of PTSD symptoms, including listlessness and emotional detachment. They suggested their findings could help doctors develop targeted, or personalized treatments for the condition. "Our study points toward a more personalized treatment approach for people with a specific symptom profile that's been linked to a particular neurobiological abnormality," explained the study's lead author, Dr. Alexander Neumeister, co-director of NYU Langone Medical Center's Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for the Study of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, in an NYU news release. "Understanding more about where and how symptoms of PTSD manifest in the brain is a critical part of research efforts to develop more effective … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 17-Sep-2014 Contact: Lorinda Klein lorindaann.klein@nyumc.org 212-404-3533 NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine @NYULMC NEW YORK, NY, September 17, 2014 - In a novel brain-imaging study among trauma victims, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have linked an opioid receptor in the brain -- associated with emotions -- to a narrow cluster of trauma symptoms, including sadness, emotional detachment and listlessness. The study, published online today in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, holds important implications for targeted, personalized treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, a psychiatric condition affecting more than 8 million Americans that can cause a wide range of debilitating psychiatric symptoms. "Our study points toward a more personalized treatment approach for people with a specific symptom profile that's been linked to a particular neurobiological abnormality," says lead author Alexander Neumeister, MD, director of the molecular imaging program in the Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology at NYU School of Medicine, and Co-Director of NYU Langone's Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for the Study of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. "Understanding more about where and how symptoms of PTSD manifest in the brain is a critical part of research efforts … Continue reading →

The local National Veterans Affairs Brain Rehabilitation Research Center of Excellence hosted an open house Tuesday in celebration of a $4.5 million award. The event featured research projects on brain rehabilitation by 28 VA-funded investigators and 16 affiliate investigators at the Community Living Center building on the campus of the Veteran Affairs medical center. The award will be dispersed over five years among the brain rehabilitation research consortium, which includes the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center, UF, UF Health Shands, UF Health Shands Rehab Hospital and the Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital in Jacksonville. Thomas Wisnieski, the director of the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System, congratulated researchers at the event for their dedication to enhancing the lives of veterans and all those affected by traumatic brain injuries. More than 150 people attended the event, including health science specialist Susan Leon, said Janis Daly, director of the Brain Rehabilitation Center. Leon researches treatment options for patients who have lost the ability to express their emotions due to brain injury. I wouldnt be able to do what I do if I didnt have the center, Leon said. At the event, Daly explained how out of the 15 centers of excellence around the … Continue reading →

By Rebecca Hubert Williams September 15 On Nov. 8, 2012, my son Dylan two months into his junior year at Tufts University was struck by a car in a crosswalk. His head punched a hole through the cars windshield, and he suffered a traumatic brain injury so severe that doctors initially warned he might be permanently disabled. He might never be able to feed himself again. When I got the call from the ambulance, I was sitting in a cozy chair reading The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, in which Nasim Nicholas Taleb argues that we should recognize the disproportionate effects of unexpected events on our lives. Dylans accident certainly made that case. An injury suffered in one second overwhelmed our family for months. Instead of studying abroad in Germany as he had planned, Dylan spent the rest of that academic year with doctors and therapists. Every year, millions of Americans suffer traumatic brain injury, or TBI. When the TBI is as severe as Dylans, most victims struggle for years to recover, with varying degrees of success. Dylan has made an extraordinary comeback, one that has surprised and inspired not only his family and friends but also … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 16-Sep-2014 Contact: Elizabeth Dowling newsmedia@mssm.edu 212-241-9200 The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine @mountsinainyc An experimental positron emission tomography (PET) tracer is effective in diagnosing concussion-related brain disease while a person is still alive, according to a case study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and at Molecular Neuroimaging (MNI) LLC in New Haven, and published September 16 in the journal Translational Psychiatry. Specifically, the study results suggest that an experimental radiolabeled compound called [18 F]-T807, which is designed to latch onto a protein called tau that accumulates in the brain with repetitive blows to the head, can be registered on a PET scanner to effectively diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The study results also argue the process can differentiate it from other forms of dementia while the sufferer is still alive. Until now, CTE diagnosis has only been possible by evaluating post-mortem brain tissue. "Our data suggest that PET imaging using the [18F]-T807 tau tracer is an effective method of diagnosing or ruling out chronic traumatic encephalopathy in a living brain," says Samuel Gandy, MD, Director of the Center for Cognitive Health and NFL Neurological Care at the Icahn … Continue reading →

Heal your concussion with our supplements. It sounds like the old advertisements for snake oilonly this particular dietary supplement company was promoting something called Skate Oil (which is fermented skate as in the fish liver oil) to help with the healing of a brain injury. Just in time for football season, the FDA has issued a statement on dietary supplements, specifically those claiming to heal or speed recovery from concussions and brain injuries. Were very concerned that false assurances of faster recovery will convince athletes of all ages, coaches and even parents that someone suffering from a concussion is ready to resume activities before they are really ready, said Gary Coody, FDAs National Health Fraud Coordinator. The FDA also cautions about claims that the products can prevent or lessen the severity of concussions or TBIs. (www.fda.gov) It is worth repeating these cautions about dietary supplements because the risk of long-lasting, permanent brain injury is especially real when appropriate medical treatment is not sought. The makers of dietary supplements would like for unsuspecting consumers to buy their potions and concoctions for a variety of ailments, including, in this instance, for the treatment of traumatic brain injuries. There are, however, many reports … Continue reading →

Williamsport, PA (PRWEB) September 12, 2014 U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) recently selected Susquehanna Health (SH) to voice a call for action on the Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization Act of 2014. Senator Casey has taken a leadership role in promoting the bill, which amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize resources, programs and research dedicated to traumatic brain injury (TBI) for fiscal years 2015 through 2019. Over 60,000 children will sustain brain injuries requiring hospitalization each year, said Senator Casey during the August 25 announcement at Williamsport Regional Medical Center. This bill will help improve the prevention, accurate diagnosis and treatment of victims of TBI so that students can safely return to the classroom and continue to learn effectively. The reauthorization of this legislation ensures that medical facilities have necessary resources to care for patients with TBI and focuses on research and management of brain injury specifically in children. Senator Caseys support of families and children is legendary and has often influenced his selection for key congressional committees. Among the most notable is the Committee on Health, Education and Finance, said SH President & CEO Steven Johnson. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a significant and expensive public health challenge. … Continue reading →

The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center in Silver Spring, Md., has released a 26-page guide that offers practical advice to parents on how to recognize the signs and symptoms of a concussion, information on treatment and recovery and what a parent can do to support a childs recovery and successfully return to school. The new Parents Guide to Returning Your Child to School After a Concussion helps parents of children who have been diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury, also known as a concussion, successfully return to school and related activities. A traumatic brain injury is a blow or jolt to the head that disrupts the normal function of the brain. The severity of the TBI is determined at the time of the injury and may be classified as mild, moderate or severe. Mild TBI, or concussion, is the most common form of TBI. This type of head injury may result in headache, visual disturbances, sleep issues, dizziness, poor concentration and memory problems in addition to changes to behavior, personality or mood. "Though written to help military Families, this parents guide contains detailed practical advice for helping your school-aged child recover from concussion and is very useful for … Continue reading →

Employing a measure rarely used in sleep apnea studies, researchers at the UCLA School of Nursing have uncovered evidence of what may be damaging the brain in people with the sleep disorder weaker brain blood flow. In the study, published Aug. 28 in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, researchers measured blood flow in the brain using a non-invasive MRI procedure: the global blood volume and oxygen dependent (BOLD) signal. This method is usually used to observe brain activity. Because previous research showed that poor regulation of blood in the brain might be a problem for people with sleep apnea, the researchers used the whole-brain BOLD signal to look at blood flow in individuals with and without obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We know there is injury to the brain from sleep apnea, and we also know that the heart has problems pumping blood to the body, and potentially also to the brain, said Paul Macey, associate dean for Information Technology and Innovations at the UCLA School of Nursing and lead researcher for the study. By using this method, we were able to show changes in the amount of oxygenated blood across the whole brain, which could be one cause of the … Continue reading →