Tag: Brain Injury News

SFGate.com reported a story about a woman who has just left the hospital after spending the past six weeks in a coma. Tara Berendes, 20, fell into a coma after she and her husband were involved in a head-on vehicle crash. Tara suffered a traumatic brain injury in the crash and was sent to SCVMC Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center so that she could be close to family. She has now woke from the coma, left the hospital and has begun rehabilitation. Read the full story here

When a person suffers a traumatic brain injury, the strain on the rest of the family can be extreme. This is especially true for children whose sibling is injured. Griffith University psychologists have co-authored a book designed to fill a much needed gap in assisting families where one child has suffered a traumatic brain injury. News-Medical.net has published a story which discusses the newly published book. The book’s story is told from the perspective of the family cat, and covers common occurrences that siblings of brain injured children regularly experience. Some topics covered in the book are increased chores, changes in family meals, reduced attention from parents and changes in personality or physicality of their injured sibling.

A recent study examining the outcomes following a childhood brain injury was recently published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry (75:737-42, 2004). The study entitled “Outcomes Following Childhood Head Injury: A Population Study” sought to identify outcomes following head injury among the population of children admitted to one hospital center and to compare outcomes between different severity groups. Children between the ages of 5 – 15 years at injury were followed up in a mean of 2.2 years post injury. 526 children (419 mild, 58 moderate, 49 severe and 45 controls) were assessed. Read More about Childhood brain injury study results

Next May, the International Brain Injury Association (IBIA) will be holding its 6th World Congress in Melborne, Australia. The conference will run from May 6 through May 8, 2005. I have just learned that there will be a medico-legal workshop examining “Access to Rehabilitation and Compensation. Who pays/how much/when/who cares?” I have been asked, and am proud to accept, the honor of representing the United States at this workshop.

The workshop will consist of an expert panel representing legal, medical and consumer interest who will debate the advantages and disadvantages of various compensation schemes for road accident injuries in Australia, which range from compensation through proving fault through to no fault schemes or hybrid schemes of both.

In an automobile accident, passengers are two and a half times more likely to suffer a traumatic brain injury in a side-impact crash than in a head-on collision, according to a recent study at the University of Rochester.

After analyzing 1,115 accidents nationwide in that took place in 2000, researchers also discovered that not only is brain injury more likely in side-impact crashes, the injuries were more severe, according to an article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

“Your head is very close to the window or another object the car is striking. The door doesn’t absorb much energy,” said Jeffery J. Bazarian, an author of the study, which appeared in the Annals of Emergency Medicine Aug. 1. Read More about Study: Higher Risk of Brain Injury in Side-Impact Crashes

Below is an excerpt from an email I received from CapWiz regarding the status of funding appropriations for the TBI Act.

In July the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Health provided the TBI Act with an increase of $1 million for TBI programs under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for fiscal year 2005. Yet, the House of Representatives did not provide any increase for either the State Grant Program or for Protection and Advocacy Services. The Senate has not yet decided on what its levels for the TBI Act for fiscal year 2005, and consequently,no numbers have been finalized yet by Congress. Therefore, now is a pivotal time to call your Senators and Member in the House of Representatives and urge them to provide proper funding for the TBI Act for fiscal year 2005. Read More about TBI Act update

Forbes Magazine has published an article entitled, After the Accident which goes into great detail about a promising new treatment for people who suffer a traumatic brain injury. A new drug named dexanabinol is being developed by an Iselin, New Jersey firm named Pharmos. In studies which have been completed, the drug, if administered within the first six hours of injury, has been shown to assist in minimizing the damage caused by a traumatic brain injury. Dexanabinol has been shown to prevent swelling of the brain, act as an antioxidant and block damage by neurotransmitters which are released following an injury. I encourage you to follow the link above to read this encouraging article.

What I also found interesting about this article was some of the numbers which were presented. It was a sobering assessment of how pervasive traumatic brain injuries are in our society. I have excerpted these numbers in order to share them with you:

5.3 million Americans suffer from a traumatic brain injury related disability

9 out of 10 marriages end in divorce when one partner has suffered brain damage from an accident

News-Medical.net posted an overview of a University of Rochester study which found that side-impact crashes are three times more likely to produce a traumatic brain injury than a head-on crash. I believe that as more studies looking at brain injuries and auto accidents are conducted, the results will force the auto industry to equip more automobiles with side-impact air bags. There are some vehicles on the market that do have side-impact air bags, but many only have frontal air bags.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on July 26, 2004 about the progress that doctors and scientists are making in the use of deep brain stimulation. The article explains that the process was first approved by the FDA in 2002 for treating Parkinson’s disease. There are also encouraging signs that this procedure will be able to help people suffering from a multitude of neurological diseases and injuries. Currently, both the Cleveland Clinic and Cornell are embarking on a clinical trial of deep brain stimulation for patients in a minimally conscious state after a severe brain injury.

MENAFN.com reported today that nearly 2/3 of the soldiers injured in Iraq, and sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries.