Causes And Effect Of Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injury occurs when a person is hit in the head with a blunt force. This significant force to the head can happen playing recreational sports, on the playground, being in a car or motorcycle accident, falling down at home and your head impacting something, a blast or explosion. Traumatic brain injuries are also the leading cause of fatality rate and disability, especially in children, young adults and elderly. TBI is a devastating condition that affects millions of people nationwide, because it can affect the nervous system permanently, it also messes with the neurological, musculoskeletal, cognitive and much more. TBI force a family to deal with not just the physical disability, with the behavioral and emotional roller

As we all know, the human brain is the most insubstantial and vital organ in the human body as it is the command center for every other body part (newscientist.com). Any slight wound to this organ could lead to severe consequences usually encountered at that very moment. It may be an extremely low chance of a major head injury, but it does happen to millions of people annually. One single concussion, provided with the lack of healing, could lead to short-term and long-term memory loss, depression,

Some of the long term effects that are stated in the article Long Term Effects of Brain Injuries are server problems with attention and short-term memory, having difficulty performing daily tasks, and feeling “slower” overall are just some of the thing that I’ve learn to deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Medical and technological advances have led to greater survival rates in individuals suffering from various illness and injury throughout history. This includes individuals who suffer traumatic and nontraumatic brain injuries. Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States sustain a brain injury each year with the survival rate of over 90 percent making brain injury the leading cause for disability in the United States. (Mysiw, Bogner, Corrigan, Fugate, Clinchot, & Kadyan 2006). Cognitive, physical, sensory and behavioral changes are widely noted in individuals in the months and years following a brain injury. However, the psychosocial, psychological and emotional effects of these injuries are less discussed and therefore these aspects can be overlooked when anticipating a course of treatment. Individuals who sustain acquired brain injuries experience significant, lasting impairment in the psychosocial, psychological and emotional aspects of their lives and better understanding of these issues can lead to better treatment and coping skills for these individuals.

Suicide is another disturbing effect of brain trauma. One of the many disheartening examples of suicide from brain injuries is the case of Joseph Chernach. This young man hung himself in summer 2012. Chernach’s brain was later found to have

A traumatic brain injury (“TBI”) occurs when the brain is somehow injured, rattled, or wounded from an external source of force. The means of acquisition and the severity of TBIs are unique to each patient; therefore, symptoms and rehabilitation can vary greatly depending on the patient’s condition following the incident and how they sustained the injury. The severity of a TBI is generally classified into one of three categories: mild, moderate, or severe, and this type of diagnostic criteria influences how a patient with TBI is treated by medical staff and rehabilitation specialists. TBIs can affect a specific part of the brain that was directly impacted, leaving the patients with only one or a few areas of impairment, or the damage can

The brain is the most important organ in the body. It controls the thoughts and actions of humans. The brain is located within the skull, creating the idea that it is safe from any for of injury. This unfortunately is not the case. Concussions are defined by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as “A mild form of traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head.” In 2010 alone almost 2.5 million emergency room visits were for concussions or other forms of traumatic brain injury associated with it, forty percent of these injuries were sustained from falling accidents; while others were caused by motor vehicle accidents, being struck by an obstacle and assault.

For a long time, traumatic brain injury has been a large contributor to disabilities and death within the United States. Around 30 percent of these injuries lead to death, and those who survive these injuries may suffer from short-term side effects to long-term disabilities. It can range from a minor head injury to a major injury that you might suffer from a motorcycle accident.

The parts of the brain that are most at risk for traumatic brain injury are the frontal lobe and the temporal lobe. This may be attributed to the fact that they are up against rigid bone. The structure of the skull positioned anterior to the neck allows for greater distances and variances of movement. The frontal lobe influences personality, planning, initiating, and organizing; all of which that are needed for high level cognitive functioning. Damage to the frontal lobe may result in changes in an individual's personality and lower level organizing. Moreover, the temporal lobe is

Traumatic brain injuries are one of the leading causes for damage in the brain and lesions (TBI) (Wheeler, Nickerson, Long & Silver, 2014). Two types of injuries that occur following brain damage are open and closed head injuries. Open head injuries are often fatal and occur in such cases as when objects such as bullets penetrate the head of the victim. Closed head injuries result from blows to the head in situations such as car accidents or sports injuries. TBIs normally evolve in two forms: primary damage which occurs upon the impact of the cause and secondary brain damage which is progressive over the time of the trauma. Research has indicated that TBI greatly affects both cognitive and executive functions resulting in memory loss and reasoning problems. They encounter difficulties in solving problems, making proper judgments and decision-making. Underlying causes from TBI are what result in several writing deficits. Expressive writing is one of the major writing disorders that are caused by TBIs (Wheeler, Nickerson, Long & Silver, 2014). Research has shown that the general TBI population suffers from this and it is notable in school children because they engage in activities that are affected by this particular disorder. Those who suffer from TBI are subjected to a multitude of writing issues in both aspects of expressive writing: higher order skills and lower order skills. Higher order skills affect sequencing, planning, and organization of writing while

Scott (2000) suggests that closed head injury happens due to accident. When the skull has been knocked by a hard surface, the brain is twisted pushed against the skull which resulted contusion and damage to the frontal part of the left side of the brain which is dominant for language. Scott also emphasizes that the skull may be fractured due to the hit but the tissue coverings are unimpaired and there is no penetration of the skull. Nevertheless, patients with closed head injury will not be able to produce speech due to the damage. Therefore, their impairment can be considered as Broca’s aphasia. On the other hand, the other cause that can lead to Broca’s aphasia is open head injury. This injury is more severe than the closed head injury. Kaur and Wolff (2012) report that open head injury may cause diffusion of the skull because the shape of the skull is badly damaged and the tissue beneath it is completely destroyed. As a result, injured patient produces halting speeches which can be considered as Broca’s aphasia.

It is also unclear if it is the brain injury itself that causes the result and if it is the same for healthy people.

Imagine your sitting at home watching the news, a reporter talks about a man surviving a three-foot iron pole being blown through his skull and taking a chunk of his brain out. This was an actual story that happened to a man named Phineas Gage back in 1848, long before modern neuroscience and medication. Gage was a railroad track builder for the town of Cavendish, Vermont. While he was working, a man uses dynamite to blow away rocks that are blocking the way of the railroad tracks. The dynamite goes off to early and sends a tamping iron, a rod used for beating down earthly substance in tamping for blasting, straight through Gage’s head. The rob goes through his left cheek and his eye, it splits his optic nerve, and then comes out his forehead. Gage lived through this horrible incident and he's was still able to speak and move around, but he was not the same

The damaged brain is the result of a whiplash injury, typically cause by a vehicular accident. This injury can lead to cerebral vascular issues, brain lesions, neurological disorders, or traumatic brain injuries (Gazzaniga, Ivry, & Mangun, 2014). The textbook source provides background information on specific deficits to certain areas of the brain. The symptoms of the injury are the most difficult to live with, as they can show issues with concentration, sleep, depression, and menstruation (Benson et.al, 1992). This source provides the result of different symptoms from a whiplash injury, the duration, and the circumstances of improvement. Whiplash victims are evaluated by the level of severity according the Whiplash Associated Disorders, or

In our setting, there is an increasing rate of road traffic accidents. This is a result of over speeding and an increasing number of second hands vehicles which are affordable for most people but not always in good conditions for road safety. Due to this situation, the number of people sustaining traumatic brain injury is on the rise.