Traumatic brain injury affects people from all walks of life. Form military personal to the elderly that get injured when they fall or even athletes in relation to the injuries they acquire. Traumatic brain injury progressively leads to complex pathophysiological events that may lead neurodegenerative complications. For those that have experienced traumatic brain damage are more susceptible for the development of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, epilepsy, posttraumatic stress disorder, and neuropsychiatric disorder. The progression of these diseases can occur in a span of a few weeks, months, or even decades after trauma, so it is important to look over the underlying pathophysiology that traumatic brain injury can cause after the injury
Being home and at school are the primary locations for students and adolescents and where they spend the most time of their day. When a student is diagnosed with a TBI, it can dramatically affect their school performance. After a student experiences a TBI, school is one one of the many stepping stones where recovery and development is offered and can be used as an intervention. For schools to be able to offer the appropriate educational measures adjusted for the needs of the student, the appropriate support and recovery process for the student, schools having the appropriate documentation and knowledge about the student’s injury.
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
Concussion, also known as minor head trauma or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is the most common type of traumatic brain injury. It is typically defined as a head injury with a temporary loss of brain function. Symptoms include a variety of physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms, which may not be recognized if subtle. A variety of signs accompany concussion including headache, feeling in a fog, and emotional changeability. In general, the signs can be categorized into physical signs (such as loss of consciousness or amnesia), behavioral changes (such as irritability), cognitive impairment (such as slowed reaction times), and sleep disturbances.[1] Fewer than 10% of sports-related concussions among children are associated with loss of consciousness.[2]
In today’s society, many problems and questions exist. The only way to solve these problems and questions is to study them. One problem that has been constantly studied, but still has no clear solution is concussion injuries. The issue of concussion injuries has many questions not answered. These questions include methods of treatment and the long term effects of the injury. Suffering first hand from a concussion, I understand the toll it has on someone. However, I’ve been to many doctors, and not one of them had the same answer to how to treat a concussion. This is due to not having another information. Treatment is one of the many topics on concussions that has been heavily debated in the medical field and rightfully so. I’ve heard
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
Concussions can seriously alter one’s life. Concussions are the result of moderate to severe impact to the head with another object. These impacts shake the brain, which is suspended in cerebral fluid, and cause it to scrape against the skull. Concussions can have mild to severe symptoms including insomnia, an inability to concentrate and headaches. Symptoms manifest both physically and mentally and may appear days after the initial trauma, with the possibility of lasting for months. Concussions are extremely prominent in contact sports such as football and hockey at all ages of play, professional to amateur. Multiple concussions may be accompanied by CTE, a neurodegenerative disease associated with
Traumatic brain injury in general is characterized by the changes in brain function due to some sort of a biomechanical force induced by either directly or indirectly as a hit or blow to the head (Facts and Prevention, 2015). Mild traumatic brain injury, which will be considered as equivalent term with concussion, was defined by the International Conference on Concussion in Sport as a complex pathophysiological process induced by biomechanical forces (Mccrory et al., 2013). This penetrating head injury will disrupt the normal function of the brain. The cause of sports-related brain injury can be induced by a direct or indirect blow to the head. Injury can also be caused by the force of impulse due to impacts on other parts of the body being
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects 1.7 million people annually in the U.S. with 275,000 hospitalizations and 52,000 deaths. In 2010, the medical cost for treating TBI patients in the U.S. was $76.5 billion and rising annually. Primary causes for TBI include the following: motor vehicle crashes, falls, assaults and sports or recreation-related injuries (concussions). Finding the right treatment to reduce mortality rates and improve the clinical outcomes in TBI patients has been elusive.
Dementia produces physical changes in the brain and some areas shrink and other widen. Dementia is a term used to describe symptoms of mental or communication impairment found in a variety of brain conditions including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In approximately 20% of the cases dementia can be reversed with the other 80% being irreversible. Dementia is generally marked by memory loss, forgetting appointments, forgetting the day of the week, which are all signs of cognitive impairment. Irritability and language difficulties are manifested in people with dementia. (Alzheimer’s Association, n.d.).
An expanding area of occupational therapy (OT) practice that I have considerable interest in is the rehabilitation of veterans who have suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The field of occupational therapy made considerable advances and experienced a boom in theory advancement internationally following World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War when servicemen were returning with considerable physical and cognitive disabilities (Peloquin & Punwar, 2000). Unable to financially contribute to their households, as well as socially readapt, veterans were in need of professionals who could provide new avenues of productivity, as well as strategies for daily
Will the Army Soldier be able to resume a normal life along with their military career?
According to the CDC (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), there are approximately 1.5 million people in the U.S. who suffer from a traumatic brain injury each year (CDC, 2003). Also, the CDC reports that nearly 50,000 people die from TBI each year and 85,000 people suffer long-term disabilities and slowly growing. Traumatic brain injury, also well known as TBI, is when severe change(s) in a normal functioning brain has abruptly changed due to a plethora of different MOI’s, some include: open or closed head injuries, deceleration injuries, chemical/toxic, hypoxia, tumors, infections and stroke. Car accidents, firearms, and falls often cause many TBI’s. Consequences of a brain injury vary from person-to-person because no two injuries are alike. A brain injury is different from a broken leg or punctured lung. Brain injuries do not heal like other injuries; once the brain is damaged it's hard to heal the damaged areas in the brain. Once the areas in the brain are affected it can lead to limited use of specific body parts, alter your personality, mental abilities, abnormal speech/language, impaired or loss of thinking and emotions (depression) and sensation (vision or hearing.)
The brain is a complex and curious organ; despite extensive research, scientists still know little about it. William Allman described the brain as “a monstrous, beautiful mess.” He went on to say that “its billions of nerve cells – called neurons – lie in a tangled web that display cognitive powers far exceeding any of the silicon machines [scientists] have built to mimic it” (faculty.washington.edu). Imagine this mess of neurons experiencing a simple disruption, one that creates a domino effect that effortlessly damages this intricately created organ. Some of the most disastrous disruptions to this complex organ, traumatic brain injuries, most commonly occur in the frontal lobe. Injuries to
Over ten million traumatic brain injuries occur throughout the world each year (Kim et. al.). In the United States, there are 3.8 million traumatic brain injuries annually relating to sports injuries, and approximately 10% of military veterans have suffered a traumatic brain injury with persistent symptoms (Tan, Meehan, et. al.). Although traumatic brain injuries are most common in war or athletic injuries, anyone is at risk for a traumatic brain injury from random traumatic events. Traumatic brain injuries are the leading cause of death in individuals under the age of 24, most of which are caused by car accidents. The annual medical costs of traumatic brain injuries are estimated to be $60.4 billion, including $51.2 billion lost each year
en traumatic brain injury occurs to the frontal area, it is impacting the brain’s largest lobe. Located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere, this lobe is responsible for conscious thought, voluntary movement, and individual personality characteristics. When you are searching for just the right word to say, it is this section of the brain upon which you rely.