Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

STAMFORD, CT (PRWEB) February 05, 2014 While the controversy over the eventual outcome of the NFL concussion lawsuit continues post-Super Bowl, the Brain Injury Alliance of Connecticut (BIAC) will hold its annual conference on traumatic brain injury (TBI) at the Hilton Hartford, 315 Trumbull St., Hartford, CT, on March 7. Silver Golub & Teitell LLP is the presenting sponsor of the conference. The NFL lawsuit has raised the visibility of concussions dramatically in the mind of the general public, but we have been very aware of the importance of treatment, education and sharing information about brain injuries for many years, said Paul A. Slager, a partner at the Stamford trial law firm of Silver Golub & Teitell LLP and former president of the BIAC. We are delighted to once again support this very important conference and the work of the BIAC in raising awareness of both the prevention and treatment of brain injuries. The BIAC annual conference brings together hundreds of medical professionals, educators and service providers who will experience a full day of compelling discussion and education about brain injuries. Keynote speaker John D. Corrigan, Ph.D., Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ohio State University, will discuss Epidemiology and … Continue reading →

Dr. Dewleen Baker, lead investigator for Marine Resiliency Study at La Jolla VA stands next to the startle room. The room is used to measure the startled response to a visual as well as audiotory response. Why do some U.S. combat veterans get debilitating emotional scars and others simply dont? How come people with even mild blast injuries complain about chronic headaches and back pain? Early results from a four-year study of Camp Pendleton Marines reveal that the strongest predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, the shell shock acknowledged after World War I is a blast injury to the brain. Its the first research to determine that brain trauma increases the risk of getting the psychological disorder, according to the lead investigator of the Marine Resiliency Study. This is one of two recent studies by San Diego researchers with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that chip away at questions surrounding the signature wounds of the Iraq and Afghanistan war generation PTSD and traumatic brain injury. Moderate or severe brain trauma raised PTSD symptom scores by 71 percent, according to research findings. Mild brain trauma increased PTSD scores by 23 percent. Other factors, such as the heat of combat … Continue reading →

Gendrihs Kuplovs-Okinskis jailed for crash which left baby with brain injury 6:39pm Tuesday 4th February 2014 in News A WAREHOUSE worker who crashed a lorry into a familys car and left a baby girl with a brain injury has been jailed. Gendrihs Kuplovs-Okinskis claimed his bosses told him to drive the bread delivery lorry or lose his job at Peacock Foods in Halstead. He had veered into the path of oncoming traffic in Coggeshall Road in Earls Colne and smashed into a Vauxhall Zafira car. The crash on September 6 2012 at 7pm left the lorry on its side and the car, being driven by off-duty police officer David Moon, was destroyed. Mr Moon, who has advanced driving experience, was left with a broken rib and his daughter Ella suffered cuts and bruises. Her younger sister Maisie, aged 15 months at the time, suffered serious head injuries and had to be flown to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge for life-saving treatment. Read the full story in tomorrow's Gazette. Read this article: Warehouse worker jailed for crash which left baby girl with brain injury … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 3-Feb-2014 Contact: Daphne Watrin d.watrin@iospress.com 31-206-883-355 IOS Press Amsterdam, NL, February 4, 2014 There is a growing need for Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy (CRT) due to the huge influx of soldiers returning from war zones with brain injuries, athletes with sports-related head injuries, and the growing population with age-related cognitive decline. This special collection of articles in NeuroRehabilitation illustrates the art and science of restoring mental functioning in those who have suffered a debilitating injury or who may otherwise have problems with attention, comprehension, learning, remembering, problem solving, reasoning, and processing. CRT has its origins in the development of therapy for wounded soldiers during the two World Wars. This same need continues today with the influx of soldiers with brain injuries who are returning from the Middle East and Afghanistan. The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine defines the primary goal of cognitive rehabilitation as "to ameliorate injury-related deficits in order to maximize safety, daily functioning, independence, and quality of life. Progress is achieved in a stepwise manner, with an emphasis on following long term goals that include problem orientation, awareness and goal setting, compensation, internalization, and generalization." "There has been a virtual explosion of interest in CRT techniques … Continue reading →

As the country prepares for the Broncos and Seahawks to go head to head the NFL is working with scientists and bio-engineers to protect players under their helmets. Time Warner Cable News Reporter Erin Billups filed the following report. Football remains America's favorite pastime, but as the science surrounding brain injuries advances, concern has been growing over the long term damage caused by multiple concussions. "What we now have to clarify is the significance of mild traumatic brain injury as it relates to multiple events and how it could affect your long term development," says Dr. Philip E. Stieg, Weill Cornell Medical College's Chief of Neurosurgery. With the public demanding stronger protection for players, and parents wary of allowing their kids to continue the tradition the NFL and General Electric launched an initiative, the Head Health Challenges, to help advance understanding of traumatic brain injury and improve diagnostic tools. "Not only are we going to get better at the diagnosis, but we're going to make a difference in the prognosis and the treatment. And people are going to get better," says NFL Commissioner Roger Goodall. Ahead of the Super Bowl, and while currently entangled in a head injury lawsuit with … Continue reading →

Physicians have long known that oxygen deprivation to the brain around the time of birth causes worse damage in boys than girls. Now a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center conducted in mice reveals one possible reason behind this gender disparity and points to gender-specific mechanisms of brain repair following such injury. The results of the study, to appear in the February issue of the journal Neuroscience, show that inherent differences in the way newborn brains react to the sex hormone estradiol may be behind the sex-specific response to brain damage and cell repair. "Our observations reveal intriguing differences in the way male and female brains respond to injury following oxygen deprivation and in the manner in which they recover following such injury," says lead investigator Raul Chavez-Valdez, M.D., a neonatologist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. In addition, the researchers say, neurons in male and female brains undergo different type of cell death following oxygen deprivation that may be due to the presence of certain receptors that trigger sex-specific pathways of cell demise. Lastly, the scientists say, their results clarify an earlier observation that the brains of male mice, while sustaining worse damage overall, tend to … Continue reading →

By Andrea Billups 01/31/2014 at 12:50 PM EST Dr. Zenko Hrynkiw, a 62-year-old brain surgeon (who has had a liver transplant), was working in Birmingham's Brookwood Medical Center when he was contacted by another hospital. There, a patient was desperate for emergency surgery for a traumatic brain injury. Hrynkiw set off across town to operate, but his vehicle could only go so far in traffic and snow-stalled roads. His cell phone service went in and out as he tried to communicate with nurses. So he made a brave decision to get out and walk for more than six miles, in a massive snowstorm a feat that has earned praise at Trinity Medical Center where he operated, as a hero, NBC reported. "He had a 90 percent chance of death, and the nurses and the ER physicians called me when I was walking and told me he was deteriorated and went into unconsciousness," Hrynkiw told the Associated Press about the desperate patient. "He was dying. If he didn't have surgery, he would be dead. It's not going to happen on my watch." Atlanta gridlock on Jan. 29 David Tulis / AP "It was not just a walk in the park," Keith … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 30-Jan-2014 Contact: Ekaterina Pesheva epeshev1@jhmi.edu 410-502-9433 Johns Hopkins Medicine Physicians have long known that oxygen deprivation to the brain around the time of birth causes worse damage in boys than girls. Now a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center conducted in mice reveals one possible reason behind this gender disparity and points to gender-specific mechanisms of brain repair following such injury. The results of the study, to appear in the February issue of the journal Neuroscience, show that inherent differences in the way newborn brains react to the sex hormone estradiol may be behind the sex-specific response to brain damage and cell repair. "Our observations reveal intriguing differences in the way male and female brains respond to injury following oxygen deprivation and in the manner in which they recover following such injury," says lead investigator Raul Chavez-Valdez, M.D., a neonatologist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. In addition, the researchers say, neurons in male and female brains undergo different type of cell death following oxygen deprivation that may be due to the presence of certain receptors that trigger sex-specific pathways of cell demise. Lastly, the scientists say, their results clarify an earlier observation that … Continue reading →

And on Thursday the newspaper revealed Schumacher had blinked during the first stage of brain tests. The newspapers deputy editor Jrmie Arbona said the publication was 100 per cent sure that its story was correct. The paper wrote: After gradually reducing the sedation of the patient, the team of Professor Emmanuel Gay [the medic overseeing Schumachers treatment] has been doing neurological tests since Monday. During this first stage, the patient blinked. Sky News quoted sources saying Schumacher was responding to instructions. It is not known if the information from the two separate reports is linked and therefore whether Schumacher blinked on command. But Professor Jean-Luc Truelle, the former head of the neurology department of the Foch hospital in Suresnes, told LEquipe that once the patient opens their eyes there would be a re-establishment of some kind of communication, which we verify through simple commands, such as open your eyes, shut your eyes, squeeze your hand". "Schumacher appears to show this type of reawakening, wrote LEquipe. The newspaper said it was undoubtedly the best news since his accident. Earlier in the day, following intense media interest worldwide, Schumachers manager Sabine Kehm was forced to confirm that Schumacher was being brought round … Continue reading →

MISSOULA Tissue samples provided by a Boston brain bank helped two University of Montana researchers identify biomarkers stemming from traumatic brain injuries that closely matched their work with animals. The discovery gained the attention of the National Football League and General Electric, and it won UM research professors Sarj Patel and Tom Rau a $300,000 grant to help speed the diagnoses and treatment of TBI in athletes and members of the military. The Head Health Challenge announced the grant last week and promised more funding for research that continues to show promise. Its surprising but exciting, said Patel. Its a little different from the kinds of grants were used to applying for. GE and the NFL want to advance both treatment and diagnosis, and understand how TBI affects the brain. Theyre looking for new and exciting science. Brain samples provided by Boston University enabled Patel and Rau to identify biomarkers that were similar to those theyd witnessed in their research on animals. Early efforts have shown that a traumatic brain injury changes how the brain operates. More importantly, Patel said, it also changes the level of certain proteins and ribonucleic acids, or RNAs, present in the brain after injury. Were … Continue reading →