Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

A potential new treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI), which affects thousands of soldiers, auto accident victims, athletes and others each year, has shown promise in laboratory research, scientists are reporting. TBI can occur in individuals who experience a violent blow to the head that makes the brain collide with the inside of the skull, a gunshot injury or exposure to a nearby explosion. The report on TBI, which currently cannot be treated and may result in permanent brain damage or death, appears in the journal ACS Nano. Thomas Kent, James Tour and colleagues explain that TBI disrupts the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the brain. With the brain so oxygen-needyaccounting for only 2 percent of a person's weight, but claiming 20 percent of the body's oxygen supplyeven a mild injury, such as a concussion, can have serious consequences. Reduced blood flow and resuscitation result in a build-up of free-radicals, which can kill brain cells. Despite years of far-ranging efforts, no effective treatment has emerged for TBI. That's why the scientists tried a new approach, based on nanoparticles so small that 1000 would fit across the width of a human hair. They describe development and successful laboratory tests of nanoparticles, … Continue reading →

Candace Gantt bends over her Trek handlebars, her back racer-flat. She's concentrating on the stretch of pavement ahead as she negotiates the gentle hills and valleys of the narrow, two-lane road in Willistown Township. Biking is one of her fondest joys. Two weeks earlier, this tall and tanned 48-year-old, with a resting heart rate of 48, had completed her first Half Ironman at Lake Placid, N.Y. On this clear day, July 21, 2005, while daughters Carter, 11, and Morgan, 4, are at camp, Gantt and her training buddy Mary Wood are four miles into a new 15-mile route. Biking 100 yards behind, Wood loses sight as Gantt crests the brow of a hill on Goshen Road. Catching up a few seconds later, she is stunned. Her friend is splayed on the pavement. Hit by a truck and thrown from her bike, Gantt banged into a telephone pole and ricocheted into a split-rail fence. She suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, known as TBI - not unlike what happened to former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona, who was shot in the head. Each year, 1.7 million people go to the ER for a TBI, according to the Brain Injury Association … Continue reading →

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) A teenage Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting girls' education has responded well to treatment and impressed doctors with her strength, the British hospital where she was being treated said Tuesday. Experts are optimistic that 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was airlifted Monday to Britain to receive specialized medical care, has a good chance of recovery because unlike adults, the brains of teenagers are still growing and can adapt to trauma better. "Her response to treatment so far indicated that she could make a good recovery from her injuries," the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in central England's Birmingham said in a statement. Despite the early optimism, the full extent of Malala's brain injuries has not been made public and outside experts cautioned it is extremely unlikely that a full recovery of all her brain's functions can be made. Instead, they could only hope that the bullet took a "lucky path" going through a more "silent," or less active part of the brain. "You don't have a bullet go through your brain and have a full recovery," said Dr. Jonathan Fellus, chief scientific officer at the New Jersey-based International Brain Research Foundation. Malala was returning … Continue reading →

Public release date: 15-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Courtney Karayannis courtney.karayannis@monash.edu 61-408-508-454 Monash University Improving treatment and outcomes for people with life-threatening head and neck injuries is the aim of a comprehensive new book by one of Australia's eminent neurosurgeons. Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld AM has drawn on forty years of experience, his own research and the latest evidence based treatment from recognised world experts, in his new book Practical Management of Head and Neck Injury. In his text, Professor Rosenfeld provides a comprehensive account of the diagnosis and management of head and neck injury. Unique to any other text available, it details the entire patient journey from immediate emergency care and specialist treatment through to rehabilitation, in an accessible and engaging format. Head of Monash University's Department of Surgery and Director of the Department of Neurosurgery at The Alfred hospital, Professor Rosenfeld said he hoped for improvements in care of traumatic brain injuries, which affect more than 10 million people a year. "Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major global health problem, and sadly more than half of all severe TBI cases either die or suffer lifelong disability," Professor Rosenfeld said. "A patient doesn't usually come into … Continue reading →

Australian troops are to receive better and faster treatment after being caught in an explosion thanks to a new device being rolled out in Afghanistan. The blast gauges measure the pressure wave created by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have the potential to collapse lungs and cause massive brain damage even if a soldier is not caught in the blast itself. Unveiling the devices in Sydney on Monday, Defence Science and Personnel Minister Warren Snowdon said the gauges would help medics provide faster and better treatment. 'This is very important because when people are involved in an IED they may not have any physical manifestations of the blast, but depending on the nature of the blast they may have internal injuries or brain injuries,' the minister said. Mr Snowdon said the gauges, which are about the size of a 50-cent coin, would light up in red, amber or green after an explosion - red indicating a very high danger of internal or brain injury. About 400 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan have already received the devices, with another 10,000 of the items due to be rolled out over the next year. Each soldier will wear three devices - one on the … Continue reading →

GLEN ALLEN, Va., Oct. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Star Scientific, Inc. (STSI) through its wholly owned subsidiary, Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals Inc., reports that scientists from its research partner, the Roskamp Institute, presented new research yesterday and today indicating that supplementation with anatabine, the active ingredient in the Company's Anatabloc dietary supplement, has the potential to alleviate the negative consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI). These findings were presented during a press conference and also at a nanosymposium presentation at Neuroscience 2012, the 42nd annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, attended by more than 32,000 neuroscientists from around the world. Those scientists are gathering in New Orleans, Louisiana, this week to observe and participate in presentations relating to more than 16,000 new discoveries in science and health. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120301/NE62741LOGO) On Sundaymorning,Dr. Fiona Crawford,Associate Director and VicePresidentof theRoskamp Institute,was one of four presenters participating ina press conferencetitled,"'Invisible' Wounds: From Soldiers to Citizens", which focused ontraumaticbrain injury research working to improve the lives of citizens and soldiers. In the press conference, Dr. Crawford described the Roskamp Institute's larger traumatic brain injury research program and the Institute's work investigating anatabine's effect in laboratory models of TBI. On Monday morning, Dr. Scott Ferguson, also of … Continue reading →

Australian troops in Afghanistan are being issued with cutting-edge technology that quickly identifies any internal or brain injuries caused by an explosion. The blast gauges measure the pressure wave created by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have the potential to collapse lungs and cause massive brain damage even if a soldier is not caught in the blast itself. Unveiling the devices in Sydney on Monday, Defence Science and Personnel Minister Warren Snowdon said the gauges would help medics provide faster and better treatment. "This is very important because when people are involved in an IED they may not have any physical manifestations of the blast, but depending on the nature of the blast they may have internal injuries or brain injuries," the minister said. Mr Snowdon said the gauges, which are about the size of a 50-cent coin, would light up in red, amber or green after an explosion - red indicating a very high danger of internal or brain injury. About 400 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan have already received the devices, with another 10,000 of the items due to be rolled out over the next year. Each soldier will wear three devices - one on the chest, another on … Continue reading →

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah State University has been a pioneer in treating and preventing concussions for more than a decade and Dale Mildenberger, head athletics trainer, is largely responsible for the approach. "We're adding to the global body of knowledge on concussions," Mildenberger said. Logan For Dale Mildenberger, the issue of chronic concussions in sports cant be solved by better treatment, better equipment or better awareness of the damage a head injury can cause. Treatment must start at the source of the issue: battling a belief ingrained in the culture of sports that downplaying injuries is not just an expectation, but a requirement. Too often in sports, terms such as "headaches" and "dings" are used to minimize the seriousness of what amounts to a brain injury in order to rush players back onto the field. Mildenberger, Utah State Universitys head athletic trainer, finds that part of sports culture both puzzling and unacceptable. "Its amazing to me that if a kid breaks a leg, there is no question if he should return [to play]. But if he breaks his brain, all of a sudden we want to find ways to put him back in [the game]." Mildenberger … Continue reading →

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works. After the original blow, the brain then hits the skull in a counterblow that causes the head and brain to move quickly back and forth. In more severe cases, often as the result of twisting the neck during the blow, pressure is put on the brain stem. This is particularly worrisome, as the brain stem is where all basic involuntary life functions are controlled, including heart rate, breathing, sleeping and eating. Bleeding or other damage may occur. Often, people who sustain a concussion cannot remember the events surrounding the blow. Symptoms of a concussion include: drowsiness, difficulty waking up or similar changes, headaches, loss of consciousness, memory loss (amnesia) of events immediately before or after the injury, nausea and vomiting, seeing flashing lights or even feeling like you have "lost time." Sometimes, the symptoms may even be severe enough to require immediate medical attention. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), patients should seek immediate medical care if there are: … Continue reading →

Apple Inc.s largest contract manufacturer has been pushing for a Chinese worker left brain-damaged in a factory accident to be removed from the hospital in a case that throws a harsh new spotlight on labor rights in China. Zhang Tingzhen, 26, an employee of Taiwan firm Foxconn, had nearly half his brain surgically removed after surviving an electric shock at a plant in southern China a year ago. He remains in the hospital under close observation by doctors, unable to speak or walk properly. However, Foxconn, which is paying Zhangs hospital bills, has been sending telephone text messages to his family since July, demanding they remove him from the hospital and threatening to cut off funding for his treatment a move the firm says would be justified under Chinese labor law. Foxconn confirmed it had sent the messages, saying that under Chinese law the worker must submit himself to a disability assessment a process that in Zhangs case would require him to be discharged from the Shenzhen hospital and travel 70 km (43 miles) to Huizhou, where he was first hired by Foxconn. The firm said in response to emailed questions that it would be prepared to return Zhang to … Continue reading →