Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

Citing increased competition,decreased occupancy and financial issues, the Crotched Mountain Foundations Board of Trustees voted Monday to close the Crotched Mountain Specialty Hospital. David Johnson, director of marketing at Crotched Mountain, saidthe hospital, which focuses on neuro-rehabilitation for people with brain injuries among other conditions, is projected to cease operations by Aug. 31. Johnson said if the board hadnt made the decision to close the specialty hospitals doors, it would have lost $4.8 million this year. On a whole, the foundation has had to absorb a $20 million loss because of thespecialty hospital. And you just cant absorb that, Johnson said. Its just an unsustainable operation. The hospital currently serves 30 patients, who will all have to be moved elsewhere in order to receive the treatment they need. Our priority is to discharge outpatients safely and smoothly, Johnson said soon after the decision was made. And well work with families, and guardians to make sure its as smooth as possible. The closure will also leave about 130 staff members in flux, according to Johnson. The foundation employs about 1,100 people, meaning the closure will affect about 12 percent of its workforce. This decision was not made lightly, Michael Coughlin, president … Continue reading →

GIFFORD-JONES: What surprised me about treatment for concussion Niagarathisweek.com Unfortunately, our Maker didn't use screws to anchor the human brain inside its skull. So, without this protection, sudden blows to the head toss the brain against a formidably hard skull, causing various degrees of injury. But there's a problem. It's ... View original post here: GIFFORD-JONES: What surprised me about treatment for concussion - Niagarathisweek.com … Continue reading →

A man has suffered a 'serious' head injury and three people have been arrested in an incident outside of Sainsbury's. Police sealed off a section of road outside of the supermarket on Saturday, June 3 and traces of blood was reportedly seen on the road within the taped-off area. The corner of Heneage Road and Granville Stree in Grimsby was closed off for some time and an ambulance was called to the area. READ MORE: Convicted child rapist found living with 16-year-old girl A police spokeswoman has now confirmed: "We were called to Heneage Road at the junction with Welholme Road at 1.11pm today by the ambulance service, who were treating a man found with a head injury. "He is now in hospital receiving treatment, where the extent of his injuries is currently being assessed. "The injury is being treated as a serious injury." Scenes of crime officers have been there as part of the investigation. The spokeswoman added: "Police are on the scene obtaining witness accounts and ask if anyone has information to call 10, quoting log 277 of June 3." READ MORE: 'I feel like an idiot' - 170 cyber crimes in Lincolnshire on kids A 58-year-old man, … Continue reading →

While crossing a street in Houston in July 2013, Mallory Mayeux was hit by a drunk driver, thrown 45 feet through the air and sustained a serious brain injury. She was put into a medically-induced coma and at one point was not expected to survive. Now, almost four years after that near-fatal incident, Mallory is literally the poster child for the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) and an innovative treatment using a patients own stem cells to repair their injured brain. Mallory, 32, is a native of Longbridge and the daughter of Steve and Vickie Mayeux of Longbridge. She is a 2002 graduate of Avoyelles High. It is very confusing to wake up in a different month and not be fully aware of what happened, Mallory said. This was a huge turning point in my life. I think of everything in my life as either before the accident or after the accident. While she is now fully recovered and living and working in Baton Rouge, her image is featured on a billboard at a busy Houston intersection as part of UTHealths ad campaign, entitled The many faces of UTHealth. The billboard was erected in early May and is … Continue reading →

There was a time when his eyes and brain were at odds with one another. He would try reading a book and found he couldnt follow the words beyond four pages or even remember what he had just read. He was perpetually tired. He needed help. So Dennis Polonich, the former Detroit Red Wings forward who decades earlier was left broken and bloodied on the ice after being smashed in the face with an opponents stick, ended up walking into Stuart Donaldsons Myosymmetries Clinic in Calgary for biofeedback and psychological services. Mr. Polonich may not have understood all the science and technology behind his treatment, but this much he knows for certain: I walked out of that office feeling more comfortable than I was going in. I feel better. I feel happy. Im reading again. Biofeedback is not a new form of alternative therapy the Biofeedback Research Society was formed in 1969 in Santa Monica, Calif. but it is controversial. Dr. Donaldsons use of detailed data collected by a quantitative electroencephalograph (qEEG), however, is at the leading edge of assessing and treating brain-injury symptoms. Using sensors in contact with a patients scalp, qEEG technology maps out the brain, producing charts … Continue reading →

There is a saying in the brain injury community: If youve seen one brain injury, youve seen one brain injury. The premise of this saying is that no two brain injuries are the same, no two recoveries are the same, and no two treatment plans are the same. TBI is a complex and grossly misunderstood injury. After sustaining a traumatic brain injury from a fall on the ice in February of 2014, I have become an active advocate for the brain injury community. I have witnessed first hand the many ways that TBI is misunderstood, and I have also witnessed the many different personality changes that can result from it. Depending on where the brain has been injured, survivors can exhibit an array of behavioral and emotional symptoms including anger, rage, sensitivity, apathy, depression, lack of focus, loss of filtering, to name just a few. I have noticed that I myself am much more sensitive, and I am also more aware of the abusive behavior in other, seemingly well-meaning people. As the administrator of a fairly large Facebook group for those with TBI, I have had my share of struggles in dealing with personal attacks from fellow brain injury survivors. … Continue reading →

By: Dr. John Conde DC, DACNB Special to the Boca and Delray newspapers The definition of neuroplasticity is as follows; the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience. In laymans terms this means that the brain can increase or decrease the number and strength of its connections in specific areas in response to the environmental experience it undergoes. For example, if you start using your non-dominant hand exclusively, you will increase the density and strength of connections on the side of the brain opposite of the predominant hand that is being used. The basic mechanism of plasticity is relatively easy to understand. Say you have neuron A which forms a connection with neuron B which then also forms a connection with neuron C (A-B-C). If neuron A is activated by you moving your arm then subsequently neuron B gets activated which then in turn does a wonderful thing and activates neuron A reciprocally as well as neuron C. In essence neuron A is activated twice. The activation process in the neuron unleashes a robust number of genetic events including producing new proteins and energy which in turn allows the neuron … Continue reading →

There is growing public interest in marijuana as a useful medicine for a number of physiologic conditions. It should be no surprise that more doctors are asking if the noble weed may hold some answer for those with traumatic brain injury that currently need better therapeutic solutions. A recent study shines a brighter light on this possibility. Traumatic brain injury or TBI is just that, damage to the brain caused by an external force. Although much of the mention of this condition has been recently related to football players and veterans of war zones, it affects people of ages, from all walks of life. Although the brain is housed in our hard, protective skull, even one sudden blow can mean profound changes for an individual. Over 2 million visits to the ER each year are related to TBI events like concussion from auto accidents, falls and assaults. Falls account in 50 percent of TBI in children under 14 years old and over 60 percent of seniors. It is the leading cause of disability and premature death in the world. The economic impact in the US alone has been estimated at $75 billion a year. The impact to peoples lives cannot … Continue reading →

The American College of Radiology (ACR) is working with the nonprofit research organization Cohen Veterans Bioscience to create a reference library for neuroradiologists, neurologists, emergency docs and all others diagnosing, treating or researching mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). The program will produce standardized MRI scans of thousands of adult volunteers, as well as neurocognitive assessments, to offer comparative data reflecting population-level variations in brain structure and function, according to a news release. The work will initially roll out at Lackland Air Force Base, the University of Virginia, Baylor College of Medicine and the San Antonio Military Medical Center. Magali Haas, MD, PhD, chief executive of Cohen Veterans Bioscience, says the library will provide a diagnostic standard by which all individuals who suffer from a TBI can be assessed and receive immediate treatment. Alexander Norbash MD, chair of ACRs Head Injury Institute, calls the development a transformative opportunity. Click here to read the full announcement. Read this article: Imaging library launched for traumatic brain injury - Health Imaging … Continue reading →

DAVENPORT Sept. 18, 6:45 p.m. The date and time are not memories for Rod Becker. He learned the details after the fact. Mr. Becker and his wife, Kathy, were walking around Vander Veer Botanical Park in Davenport only a block from their home. They were crossing Harrison Street when a car going about 35 miles per hour struck both of them Rod Becker suffered life-threatening injuries. I don't remember any of this," he said. "I always walked closest to the traffic, but Kathy got hit, too. I was up on the cars windshield. Kathy looked like she went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. Mr. Becker, 55, sustained a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma. He was airlifted to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City where he was diagnosed with a skull fracture, bleeding in his brain and a blood clot. The day after the accident, his wife, his son, Zachary, and his niece, Gillian, a nurse, heard a frank, disheartening prognosis. The doctors said he might not ever wake from the semi-coma, he may never recover from the brain injury, or he may need months of inpatient rehabilitation and still might not gain full function," … Continue reading →