Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

The American Legion is seeking veterans with traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder to participate in an online survey to learn more about their injuries, treatment and care. Through Feb. 28, the Legion is soliciting veterans from all eras to take part in its survey to better understand what treatments they have sought at the Veterans Health Administration, Defense Department or in the private sector and the effects of those treatments on their recovery. The assessment is a follow-up to the American Legions 2013 report, The War Within, a study on traumatic brain injuries that concluded the Veterans Affairs and Defense departments were not doing enough to provide varying treatments for the conditions. Were asking veterans to participate so the American Legion can make more informed recommendations to VA and DoD on how to improve their health care for these conditions, said Daniel Dellinger, the Legions national commander. The survey asks for deployment history, details about injuries, information on access to care and treatment including alternative therapies such as hyperbaric oxygen therapy, acupuncture and yoga and meditation and self-assessments of progress. Legion deputy director for health care Jacob Gadd said the intent is to evaluate how effective treatment is … Continue reading →

Cambridge News Follow us on Monday 17 Feb 2014 7:00 PM Written byEMMA HIGGINBOTHAM 2 Images Ill never forget seeing myself for the first time: the front of my head had been shaved, and I had this great big scar, which was still a little bit bloody, and my face was frozen. I looked so tiny, so thin and emaciated, with these enormous, terrified eyes. I was just staring at myself, thinking Thats not me. I literally didnt recognise myself. Nat Barden was 24 when a devastating brain haemorrhage nearly killed her. It should have been a perfect day: it was August 2003, and she and her fiance had travelled to the Creamfields music festival in Liverpool to see their favourite band. By the end of the night she was in intensive care, with the odds stacked firmly against her. I woke up with a headache that morning, and it intensified throughout the day, recalls Nat, curled up on the sofa with her black cat, Simba. I took some paracetamol with my lunch, then we went to the site. It was a funny atmosphere; normally at festivals its very friendly, but people were walking around looking really miserable, so we … Continue reading →

For the common cold, a treatment can be a quick over the counter fix getting you back up and running in the matter of days. The course of treatment for a minor fracture can involve setting the limb in a cast with full recovery in roughly six weeks. However, for the survivor of a traumatic brain injury (TBI), the term treatment takes on an entirely different meaning. For those suffering a mild brain injury such as a concussion or a slight bump on the head, treatment can involve some pain medications and close observation to make sure persistent, worsening or new symptoms dont arise. For those suffering from a moderate to severe brain injury, treatment is much more comprehensive. What are the stages of treatment after a traumatic brain injury? There are several. The first stage, sometimes called the acute stage, involves immediate emergency medical care. This stage is often referred to as the golden hour because the type and timing of treatment in this stage is often critical to survival and prevention of further brain damage. Since the brain is one of the bodys main life-sustaining organs, it is critical at this point to make sure the brain is … Continue reading →

The Art and Science of Jazz The title above is not an abstract statement or a philosophical question. Hence, what follows is not a speculative or metaphysical piece. It is an evaluation of the concrete, experimental data on the merits of music therapy in the treatment of brain injury, particularly one due to a stroke. A stroke or a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) is a sudden event, much like a heart attack, due to either an obstruction in the blood flow or hemorrhage in a specific region of the brain. Various rehabilitative modalities are often required to help victims regain function. Although not a mainstay of post-stroke care, there is a robust, albeit small, body of scientific papers supporting the use of music therapy as an adjunct intervention in certain neurological illnesses. Dr. Michael Thaut of Colorado State University in Fort Collins has conducted pioneering research in this field for close to two decades now. In 2002 he demonstrated that a metronome like beat presented to stroke patients with right arm weakness improved both the speed and accuracy of tasks performed by the affected hand as compared to when the same exercise was attempted in the absence of any auditory cues. … Continue reading →

by Brooke Hasch WHAS11.com Posted on February 10, 2014 at 6:34 PM Updated yesterday at 8:24 PM LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Its estimated nearly one in four soldiers returning home from war suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury. Some will get help, but others will find themselves in the criminal justice system. For more than a year, the Veterans Treatment Court in Jefferson County has given incarcerated veterans a second chance, wiping their slate clean in just 18 months, but it doesnt come easy. William Morris spent 25 years in the military, served three tours in Iraq. "After I came back the first time, I wasn't normal. I didn't know what was wrong with me but there was some definite issues," Morris said. Morris threw himself into combat for years, as his internal wartime scars challenged him over and over again. Loud noises, I'd fall down, panic, Morris said. He was suffering from PTSD. I'd see something on the side of the road and it would remind me of an IED, and I'd black out," Morris said. Morris even opened up about the night he pulled a gun on his young daughter. "I pulled my … Continue reading →

Like much of what we know about the brain, knowledge of the areas involved in spoken and written language comes mainly from studying the loss of those abilities to trauma or disease. Plagie Beeson, who studies the neural substrates of written language, will talk Monday about The Literate Brain. She will describe where those language centers lie and how she and her colleagues formulate therapies to restore function after those areas are damaged. The lecture, part of the UA College of Sciences series The Evolving Brain, is at 7 p.m. in Centennial Hall on the University of Arizona Mall. Beeson is a professor and head of the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at the University of Arizona, with a joint appointment in the Department of Neurology. Speech and writing problems usually develop after damage to the left hemisphere of the brain, though a small number of people (usually left-handers) develop those skills in the right hemisphere, she said. Through years of cataloging symptoms and imaging the brain, specialists such as Beeson and her research group have developed a pretty good understanding of where those centers are and can usually predict, before the brain is imaged, where the damage … Continue reading →

NAPLES, FL - A third of veterans that come back from war suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Traumatic Brain Injury. Two groups are working to raise awareness right here in Southwest Florida. "You look at me and my clothes, you would never know there was anything wrong with me," said Naples Sergeant Brent Hernandez. Those invisible wounds Sgt. Hernandez will suffer from forever. "My body was torn in half, everything except for my skin and my spine." Hernandez is one of an estimated 76,000 veterans in Florida with a traumatic brain injury or post traumatic stress disorder. He suffers from both. "Nobody wants to say oh yeah that's me, I have it.' I didn't believe it," said Hernandez. According to health experts, both are severely under-reported. "It doesn't get better in time, it gets worse," said Retired Brigadier General Jack Hammond and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base program Executive Director, "If you don't get treatment, you're just going to have a very poor quality of life." Read more: Naples veterans host event for PTSD awareness … Continue reading →

The Pentagon is exploring the development of implantable probes that may one day help reverse some memory loss caused by brain injury. The goal of the project, still in early stages, is to treat some of the more than 280,000 troops who have suffered brain injuries since 2000, including in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, is focused on wounded veterans, although some research may benefit others such as seniors with dementia or athletes with brain injuries, said Geoff Ling, a physician and deputy director of Darpas Defense Sciences office. Its still far from certain that such work will result in an anti-memory-loss device. Still, word of the project is creating excitement after more than a decade of failed attempts to develop drugs to treat brain injury and memory loss. The way human memory works is one of the great unsolved mysteries, said Andres Lozano, chairman of neurosurgery at the University of Toronto. This has tremendous value from a basic science aspect. It may have huge implications for patients with disorders affecting memory, including those with dementia and Alzheimers disease. At least 1.7 million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with memory loss … Continue reading →

Interview subjects from the Goldfields will be part of a world-first research project looking at the effects of Acquired Communication Disorders in Aboriginal communities around WA. The project, Missing Voices: Communication Difficulties After Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury in Indigenous Australians, led by researchers from Edith Cowan University, will examine indigenous victims of strokes or trauma to discover how their brain injury has affected their access to health services and their lives. Communication disorders can impair not only everyday tasks like using the telephone or giving instructions, but also expressions of emotions or identity critical to connecting with family and community, with the potential to isolate sufferers from culture. Despite indigenous Australians being more than twice as likely than non-indigenous Australians to suffer a stroke or traumatic brain injury, both of which are leading causes of ACD, they are still less likely to be diagnosed and have access to treatment and support services. Researchers will look to interview Aboriginal people with an ACD, as well as GPs and health professionals from six sites around WA, but say they are still looking for people to interview in the Goldfields. The findings will be used to provide information on how indigenous communities … Continue reading →

Surgery for brain injuries Where contusions (bruised brain tissue) hematomas (ruptured blood vessels), clots, lesions, or other internal bleeding are found, its usually necessary to perform surgery to relieve the pressure these place on the brain. In the short time after a brain injury, a decompressive craniectomy may be performed, in which a section of the skull is removed temporarily to relieve the pressure. If the skull has been fractured a craniotomy may be required so that the fragmented area can be permanently removed. Around two thirds of people with moderate brain injury, and virtually all people whose injuries are classified as severe, will be left with some form of disability as a result of the damage to their brain. These range from speech and coordination problems to behavioural problems and mental health issues. A comprehensive suite of rehabilitation services is available to help people recover as much function as possible after suffering brain injuryand to help them to learn to cope with their disability. These include physiotherapists, speech therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Numerous drugs are also available to manage the symptoms of brain injury, including anti-depressants, anti-epileptics, and sedatives. In short, brain injury cannot be treated. Once the damage … Continue reading →