Brain Injury

 

 

Traumatic brain injury is caused by the sudden occurrence of physical damage to the brain. A somewhat common type of personal injury affecting young adults throughout Florida, brain injuries are divided into two main categories:

• Closed brain injuries
• Penetrating brain injuries

Closed brain injury results from blunt head trauma whereby the head collides with another object. Penetrating brain injury occurs when an object passes through the skull, piercing the brain. Closed brain injuries are often associated with auto accidents and are therefore more common.

Although brain injuries are linked with a variety of different causes, they are most often associated with head trauma resulting from car accidents, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents or sport accidents.

Studies have shown males aged 15 to 25 are more likely to incur a brain injury of some kind because of their increased likelihood of participation in a high-risk lifestyle. Toddlers and seniors also face increased risk of brain injury with falls-in-the-home representing the leading cause of injury for both groups.

Brain Injuries and Auto Accidents

Brain injuries most often occur as a result of some type of auto accident; one-half of all brain injury cases occur as a result of an automobile accident (approximately two million each year in the United States alone). Of those affected by brain injuries in the United States, 10% suffer from mild-to-moderate head injuries while more than 200,000 die each year. An additional 100,000 brain injury survivors are forced into long-term hospitalization and/or disability institutionalization.

Brain Injury Symptoms

Traumatic brain injuries are often classified as mild, moderate or severe brain injuries. This classification can be determined based on a victim’s level of physical, motor, behavioral, psychological and cognitive trauma.

Oftentimes, there may be no immediate signs or symptoms that a person has suffered a brain injury. Delayed brain damage can occur if head trauma leads to the development of a small hole in the blood vessels of the brain. Over time, blood can leak through the hole into the brain, leading to severe damage.

Brain injury victims are categorized based on a number of symptoms that are related with the condition:

• Headache: blunt head trauma often causes fluid buildup inside the head. As fluid increases, it puts pressure on the skull and causes significant pain.
• Nausea / vomiting: in addition to causing headaches, fluid buildups inside the head can also lead to nausea or vomiting. Concussions often result in headache and nausea / vomiting.
• Balance problems: brain injuries often affect a victim’s balance, making it difficult for them to function.
• Vision & hearing loss: the brain plays a large role in the management of visual and auditory systems. A disruption of blood flow or scarring caused as a result of head trauma can significantly impede vision and hearing.
• Behavioral / cognitive problems: significant head trauma can also lead to speech / language problems, mood swings, memory loss and personality changes.
• Seizures: one of the more common symptoms of brain injury, seizures occur when there is a blockage in the flow of electrical currents through which the brain cells communicate with one-another. Such blockages generate electrical bursts that cause seizures.

Brain Injury Treatments

One of the more promising developments regarding the treatment of brain injuries revolves around the production of drugs designed to protect brain cells from damage following a head trauma of some kind. Such drugs could be used at the scene of an auto accident to treat the victim of severe head trauma, limiting or even preventing the development of brain damage.