Brain Injury Awareness

Since March is Brain Injury Awareness month, I will take a break from the series on Cancer and focus on this important topic.

Brain function is vitally important for our health, daily life, and fulfillment. When our brain is not functioning well, our life can be greatly affected. Although there are many types of brain diseases, ranging from injuries and infections to brain tumors and dementia, today I will focus on brain injuries.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

CAUSES
According to Wikipedia, Traumatic brain injury is defined as damage to the brain resulting from external mechanical force, where brain function is temporarily or permanently impaired. It can be mild, moderate, or severe. Causes include falls, vehicle collisions, sports injuries, violence, explosive blasts or other combat injuries. TBI can result in physical, cognitive, social, emotional and behavioral symptoms, and outcomes can range from complete recovery to permanent disability or death. [1]

SYMPTOMS
Symptoms are divided into physical and cognitive. Mild TBI:

Physical Symptoms
Headache
Nausea or vomiting
Fatigue or drowsiness
Problems with speech
Dizziness or loss of balance
Sensory problems, such as blurred vision, ringing in the ears, a bad taste in the mouth or changes in the ability to smell
Sensitivity to light or sound

Cognitive, Behavioral or Mental Symptoms
Loss of consciousness for a few seconds to a few minutes
No loss of consciousness, but a state of being dazed, confused or disoriented
Memory or concentration problems
Mood changes or mood swings
Feeling depressed or anxious
Difficulty sleeping
Sleeping more than usual

Moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries can include any of the signs and symptoms of mild injury above and more. See here for more information.

There is also Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS) also known as persisting symptoms after concussion. It is a set of symptoms that may continue for weeks, months, or years after a concussion. [2]

INTERESTING FACTS

• Direct impact to the head is NOT always the cause for a concussion. Other bodily impacts with a subsequent force transmission to the head can cause a concussion.
• A survey in 2005 suggested that more than 88% of concussions are unrecognized.[3]
• Imagining cannot always detect TBI.
• 40% of TBI patients deteriorate after being hospitalized.
• A large percentage die from brain trauma not immediately but rather days or weeks after the event.
• Secondary injury dramatically worsen the damage caused by the primary injury and accounts for the greatest number of TBI deaths in hospitals. [4]

More Information
There is too much information about TBI to cover in this newsletter, so here are some resources:

Traumatic brain injury – Wikipedia

Traumatic brain injury – Symptoms & causes – Mayo Clinic

Post-concussion syndrome – Wikipedia

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy – Wikipedia

Next week I will talk about what can actually help in the healing of TBI and not just treat the symptoms.