Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

Military flags already have gone up behind the bench in Lancaster County District Judge John Colborn's courtroom, a visual hint that the state's newest Veterans Treatment Court soon will be up and running there. Lincoln's is the second of its kind in the state meant to keep veterans or active duty military members facing felony criminal charges out of a possible prison cell and to get them the support and services they need to stay out of trouble. Douglas County's kicked off in November. Get the news that matters most to you sent to you as it happens. But those involved want to see it grow across the state. "Probation's goal is to keep expanding and helping veterans throughout the whole state," said Jeff Curry, chief of Lancaster County adult probation. "So we're the second, but we're not going to be the last by any means, and it's going to keep growing." Later this spring, they'll start meeting to work on creating a mental health court, the next big goal in the works. But first, veterans court. Tony Conell, the coordinator in Lincoln, said soon they'll start screening potential candidates and go to the Veterans Court Committee with names to … Continue reading →

Features By Jim Miller, Tribune News Services Posted April 16, 2017 April 16, 2017 Updated April 16, 2017 12:05am COURTESY PHOTO Tinnitus is a common condition that affects around 45 million Americans, but is usually more prevalent in the 60-and-older age group. DEAR SAVVY SENIOR: Are there any new treatments you know of that can help with constant ear ringing syndrome known as tinnitus? Ive had it for years but its gotten worse the older I get. Ringing Louder at 62 DEAR RINGING: Tinnitus is a common condition that affects around 45 million Americans, but is usually more prevalent in the 60-and-older age group. Heres what you should know along with some tips and treatments that may help. WHAT IS TINNITUS? Tinnitus (pronounced tin-NIGHT-us or TIN-a-tus) is the sensation of hearing a ringing, buzzing, roaring, hissing or whistling sound in one or both ears when no external sound is present. Tinnitus itself is not a disease, but rather a symptom of some other underlying health condition. The best way to find out whats causing your tinnitus is to see an audiologist, or an otolaryngologist a doctor who specializes in ear, nose and throat diseases (commonly called an ENT). Causes include: … Continue reading →

AN ILMINSTER man who suffered a life-changing brain injury after a tragic car crash has thanked the public after they raised more than 10,000 to help him get treatment. Will Mieville-Hawkins NHS treatment was stopped in March and members of the public have since rallied round to raise thousands of pounds to help, including a stranger who ran in the Taunton Marathon for him. Will, 26, of Station Road, was involved in a car crash on A303 in April 2016 in which he sustained a life-changing brain injury. He said: I suffered a big brain injury but I am not sure of the actual details. It left me unable to walk and unable to use one of my arms. Will was in a coma for a month and also lost his memory from the crash until July. The latest fundraiser to support Will is Bonnie Bow-Thompson of Bradford on Tone, who ran the Taunton Half-Marathon on April 2, raising more than 500 to help Will pay for his latest treatment. I didnt know her at all and I had never met her before, Will said. I felt incredibly overwhelmed when I found out. I met her for the first time … Continue reading →

Medicortex Finland is raising money through crowdfunding to revolutionize brain injury diagnostics in soldiers and army personnel This press release was orginally distributed by SBWire Turku, Finland -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/14/2017 -- There is a void of point-of-care test that help diagnose acute traumatic brain injuries on the battlefields. But a crowdfund effort aims to change that. The public can now participate in the crowdfunding campaign and help in the development of the diagnostic kit currently being developed by a Finish-based firm called Medicortex using Invesdor's crowdfunding portal: http://www.invesdor.com/medicortex. Medicortex is issuing shares with a goal of raising capital to match funding from the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation (Tekes). TBI is an extremely serious and, unfortunately, increasingly common condition which, for combat veterans, is in most cases the direct result of the proximity to the concussive force of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), mortars, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and other explosive weaponry. The symptoms of TBI which occur because of the head trauma include sleep disturbance, problems with concentration, ringing in the ears, nausea, and seizures. When left untreated, these symptoms can develop into more severe neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Due to the concussive blasts of IEDs in Afghanistan … Continue reading →

WEST PALM BEACH The qualms of one juror blocked what could have been an eight-figure verdict for a former Wellington woman who has been in a permanent vegetative state since being treated at St. Marys Medical Center four years ago, an attorney for her family said Thursday. After a mistrial was declared last week in the multi-million medical malpractice case against the West Palm Beach hospital, four of the six jurors agreed to meet with the lawyers, said attorney Philip Gold, who represents 65-year-old Kwai Ling Chan-Leungs ex-husband, who is also her guardian. One juror admitted he refused to join the five others who agreed to a multi-million-dollar verdict against the hospital, Gold said. The lone holdout said he didnt think either side had proven exactly what caused Chan-Leungs catastrophic injuries, the lawyer said. During the roughly three-week trial, Gold argued that the hospital didnt have the proper equipment on hand when Chan-Leung was rushed into surgery in March 2013. She was brought to St. Marys in critical condition from Jupiter Medical Center after officials there agreed they were ill-equipped to deal with her brain hemorrhage. Attorney Michael Mittlemark, who represents the hospital, argued that Chan-Leungs condition was grave when … Continue reading →

AN ILMINSTER man who suffered a life-changing brain injury after a tragic car crash has thanked the public after they raised more than 10,000 to help him get treatment. Will Mieville-Hawkins NHS treatment was stopped in March and members of the public have since rallied round to raise thousands of pounds to help, including a stranger who ran in the Taunton Marathon for him. Will, 26, of Station Road, was involved in a car crash on A303 in April 2016 in which he sustained a life-changing brain injury. He said: I suffered a big brain injury but I am not sure of the actual details. It left me unable to walk and unable to use one of my arms. Will was in a coma for a month and also lost his memory from the crash until July. The latest fundraiser to support Will is Bonnie Bow-Thompson of Bradford on Tone, who ran the Taunton Half-Marathon on April 2, raising more than 500 to help Will pay for his latest treatment. I didnt know her at all and I had never met her before, Will said. I felt incredibly overwhelmed when I found out. I met her for the first time … Continue reading →

A nasal spray can limit damage to the brain from a seizure disorder called status epilepticus, a study in animals shows. The disorder can present itself as a single seizure that lasts longer than 30 minutes or a series of seizures between which the person doesnt regain consciousness. If it doesnt stop quickly, even one episode can cause brain damage, loss of cognitive function, and memory loss. Saving the brain from injury and disease is certainly one of the holy grails of medicine. Saving the brain from injury and disease is certainly one of the holy grails of medicine, says Darwin J. Prockop, chair in genomic medicine and professor at the Texas A&M College of Medicine and co-senior author of the paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Our paper suggests one way that this might be done, and not by a procedure that requires brain surgery or even injection into a vein: All that would be required is a nasal spray that a patient might receive in a doctors office. The compound in the nasal spray is anti-inflammatory exosomes, or extracellular vesicles, which Prockop and his team isolated from cultures of mesenchymal stem cells, a type … Continue reading →

AN ILMINSTER man who suffered a life-changing brain injury after a tragic car crash has thanked the public after they raised more than 10,000 to help him get treatment. Will Mieville-Hawkins NHS treatment was stopped in March and members of the public have since rallied round to raise thousands of pounds to help, including a stranger who ran in the Taunton Marathon for him. Will, 26, of Station Road, was involved in a car crash on A303 in April 2016 in which he sustained a life-changing brain injury. He said: I suffered a big brain injury but I am not sure of the actual details. It left me unable to walk and unable to use one of my arms. Will was in a coma for a month and also lost his memory from the crash until July. The latest fundraiser to support Will is Bonnie Bow-Thompson of Bradford on Tone, who ran the Taunton Half-Marathon on April 2, raising more than 500 to help Will pay for his latest treatment. I didnt know her at all and I had never met her before, Will said. I felt incredibly overwhelmed when I found out. I met her for the first time … Continue reading →

Researchers at Texas A&M University's Health Science Center are working to develop new ways to minimize brain damage in seizure patients using a nasally administered compound to decrease potentially harmful swelling. The team's research was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where the researchers explained the principles being used in the study. Texas A&M College of Medicine and Associate Director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine Ashok K. Shetty, who served as a co-senior author of the study, said the work specifically looked at the effects of a nasal compound using vesicles, isolated from adult stem cells, on preventing brain damage caused by the seizure disorder status epilepticus -- a condition that can causes single seizures of more than 30 seconds or a series of seizures during which consciousness is lost. "Clinically [status epilepticus] is a medical emergency," Shetty said. "Typically, neurologists give a combination of anti-epileptic drugs to stop the seizures, but whatever damage the seizures are doing leads to inflammation in the brain -- which those drugs do not typically treat...In this case, we nasally injected [the compound] and it resulted in suppression of the inflammation which caused multiple beneficial effects on the … Continue reading →

NEW YORK It was rebellion against parental expectations that led Indian American teen Indrani Das to embark on the brain research project that eventually won her the $250,000 Regeneron Science Talent Search award for high school students. Most Indian parents want their children to become doctors, but not her parents. Das, who calls herself a rebel, told IANS that her parents had said to her, "Whatever you do, don't be a doctor. Don't become a doctor, it's long and expensive." "So I decided I wanted to be a doctor," she said. That rebellion led her to her medical-oriented science project. Her parents Bidyut and Tanima Das, who are from Kolkata and now live in Oradell, New Jersey, are bankers by profession. The 17-year-old, who is in her final year of high school at the Academy for Medical Science Technology in Hackensack, New Jersey, said she wants to work both as a doctor and scientific researcher. "I want to be physician-scientist," she said. "I would like to see patients, but I would also like to do research." Her project, which explored ways to treat damage to the brain from injuries or disease, won her the top prize last month at the … Continue reading →