Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

Morristown, NJ (PRWEB) May 15, 2014 Brain tumors are the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in children and young adults ages 15- 34. For over 50 years, Atlantic NeuroSurgical Specialists (ANS) has maintained their core value that the needs of their patients come first. This means constantly striving toward the application of leading-edge research to their clinical practice. Their neurosurgeons incorporate the most advanced surgical technology and neurosurgical techniques available for the treatment of brain tumors, back pain, stroke, brain aneurysms, spinal disorders, traumatic brain injury, and more. ANS is affiliated with New Jerseys leading healthcare systems and with a number of offices throughout the region, their reputation has made them the largest private neurosurgical practice in the state of New Jersey. ANSs expansion gives all New Jersey residents access to exceptional neurosurgical care with groundbreaking treatment options right around the corner. Early detection is extremely important when dealing with brain tumors. The most important thing you can do when it comes to brain tumor awareness is to educate yourself, states Dr. Kyle Chapple, one of several ANS brain tumor specialists. Most believe that you only go to a neurosurgeon when surgery is needed, but it is also … Continue reading →

In 2011, former Olympic hopeful and traumatic brain injury survivor Kevin Pearce visited the High Country to snowboard for the first time since the crash that nearly killed him. Now, the 26-year-old, who spent a week and a half in a coma and four months at a Denver hospital relearning how to walk and talk, has returned. Pearce will speak Friday, May 17, at the regions second annual Brain Injury Conference. He also will present The Crash Reel, a documentary about his accident and recovery. Its really cool to come to mountain towns and ski communities where his story hits home for locals, Pearce said. It feels much more like my people. The medical community, traumatic brain injury survivors and their family members and caregivers are encouraged to attend the conference. Hosted by the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado and St. Anthony Summit Medical Center, the event will be from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The conference and screening are sponsored by the alliance, the Summit Medical Center Health Foundations injury prevention programs (ThinkFirst, TBI and Safe Kids), High Country Health Care and Breckenridge residents Howard and Sue Carver. The documentary screening will start at 7 p.m. Though the movie … Continue reading →

SEREMBAN, Malaysia - Sister Julianna Lim may have irreversible brain injury after being attacked with a helmet in the compound of a church here early on Wednesday. The 69-year-old from the Holy Infant Jesus order based in Kampung Pasir has several blood clots in the head after being repeatedly struck with the helmet at the Church of Visitation here. Members of the Roman Catholic order "specialise" in helping the poor and homeless and is famous worldwide for reaching out to the marginalised, making sure they get opportunities to make a better life for themselves. Church member P. Mary Josephine, 65, said doctors had conveyed this to church officials as Lim's condition had not improved since she was wheeled after the attack. "Her pressure was extremely high when she was brought in but has since dropped. Doctors are trying their best to stabilise her but there are no signs of recovery yet," she said. Several church members have been praying by Lim's bedside at the hospital since she was brought in for treatment. Josephine said Lim suffered severe internal head injuries and bleeding. "It is a painful time for the family, relatives as well as church members. We are praying that … Continue reading →

People who have limited mental capacity need better help with making decisions according to a clinical psychologist at Lancaster University. Dr Stephen Weatherhead says the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act by health and social care professionals is often inadequate. Research he supervised, conducted by Irram Waji is published in the journal Social Care and Neurodisability. The research found gaps in training and misunderstandings in the implementation of the complexities of the Act. Stephen said: "With an aging population and more people surviving serious injury, this Act will affect nearly everyone at some point. Whether from Alzheimer's, autism or brain injury, people can lack the mental capacity to decide things like where to live or whether to have hospital treatment." He said that professionals often veered between being too empowering or too restrictive when helping with decisions. "For example, when a lady with Alzheimer's says she wants to leave everything to her two grandchildren when she actually has four grandchildren, what do you do ? This lady had forgotten about the other two so someone needs to help her make that decision." He said specialist training is needed to ensure that professionals understand the subtle provisions of the Act. "We … Continue reading →

Concussions are a growth industry for hospital emergency rooms in the U.S., according to a new report. Between 2006 and 2010, the total number of visits to emergency departments in a nationwide sample of hospitals grew by 3.6%. During that same period, the number of visits by patients seeking treatment for a traumatic brain injury grew by 29.1%, researchers report in Wednesdays edition of the Journal of the American Medical Assn. The eight-fold increase in TBI patients could be due to a number of factors, the researchers wrote. There may be an actual increase in the number of head injuries suffered by patients, or the figures may be a sign that Americans are taking these injuries more seriously and getting treatment for things they would have blown off in the past. Its certainly possible that both factors are at play, they wrote. The researchers, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School, used data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample to assess visits to ERs. The sample includes information from more than 950 hospitals across the country. The researchers zeroed in on patient visits for concussions, skull fractures, cerebral lacerations and contusions, various types of hemorrhages, … Continue reading →

A blood clot like the one Hillary Clinton suffered in December 2012 may occur for many people throughout life, a Washington neurologist said Tuesday, and patients can have a fabulous recovery without any lingering effect. Responding to comments by Republican strategist Karl Rove, whom the New York Post quoted as suggesting the clot caused brain damage, neurologist Alexander Dromerick said there was no outward sign the former secretary of state had any permanent injury from her 2012 health problems. I dont see a hint that theres anything of a brain injury, Dromerick, the vice president of research at Medstar National Rehabilitation Hospital, said during an interview. He was not involved in her treatment. (Also on POLITICO: Rove vs. Clinton) Dromerick said the kind of blood clot Clinton sustained can commonly be caused by a concussion or dehydration both of which were reported at the time. Based on what her doctors described, Dromerick said Clintons clot wasnt technically in the brain itself but in a vein draining blood from her brain. Although such an occurrence can cause a stroke, there was no public evidence of that in her case, he said. And her official work and public appearances since then all … Continue reading →

Published: Tuesday, May 13, 2014, 4:30p.m. Updated 20 hours ago Hospitals reported about 30 percent more emergency visits for traumatic brain injuries over four years as Americans learn more about the often-dangerous injuries, a UPMC researcher said on Tuesday. Now that we know more about traumatic brain injury, people are being appropriately more conservative and seeking treatment, said Dr. Jennifer R. Marin, an emergency medicine physician at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC in Lawrenceville. The study found about 2.5 million emergency visits nationwide for the brain injuries in 2010, an increase of 29 percent in the visit rate from 2006. Total emergency department visits climbed 3.6 percent in the same period, according to their analysis, which cites data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample database. The majority of the increase occurred in visits coded as concussions and other unspecified head injuries. The findings will be published in a research letter Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Marin said growing public attention to brain injuries in the past decade led researchers to explore whether hospitals are logging more cases. She said 2010 marked the most recent data available, which do not examine localized trends in individual states … Continue reading →

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP/Pablo... Karl Rove's suggestion that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may be suffering lingering effects from a December 2012 brain injury has been slammed by Clinton's camp and other Democrats -- as well as many in the media -- but it's no different from concerns raised about veterans who suffered similar injuries in Afghanistan and Iraq. In fact, medical research by the military and others over the past decade has led to a much better understanding of how even moderate brain trauma can have lingering effects, including post-traumatic stress, causing military officials to institute mandatory screenings for troops involved in such incidents. The New York Post on Monday reported that Rove stunned a conference audience on Thursday when he suggested that -- as the paper reported -- Clinton "may have brain damage." Thirty days in the hospital? And when she reappears, shes wearing glasses that are only for people who have traumatic brain injury? We need to know whats up with that, Rove was quoted as saying. Actually, Clinton, 66, was hospitalized for three days for a potentially dangerous blood clot in her head after suffering a … Continue reading →

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - Twenty to forty percent of people who suffer a severe brain injury do not survive. Of those that do, a diagnosis can often be hard to reach. With no proven treatment to improve or speed up recovery from a minimally conscious state, many families are told there is "no hope." There is however, a medication that for some, has the remarkable side effect of "waking" patients up. Roughly 300,000 people in the U.S. are trapped in a vegetative or minimally conscious state. Causes range from bad accidents to falls, violence and other types of brain trauma. Unlike a coma, a vegetative state is classified as being unconscious except for some eye opening and periods of wakefulness. The patient may moan when their muscles are stretched, may cry or smile, track objects with their eyes and react to sounds. About 50% of patients who are in a vegetative state one month after traumatic brain injury recover some degree of consciousness, yet in many cases they drift in and out and only make minimal progress. As a result, doctors without experience in treating this type of trauma often rule out the possibility of recovery and patients end up … Continue reading →

About a third of all people who suffer from severe brain injury, do not survive. For those who do, they either drift in and out of consciousness, or are in a complete coma. Their future is mostly uncertain. Many families are told there is no hope because there is no treatment proven to speed up or improve recovery. For some patients,however, a medication given for an unintended use, is opening the eyes of patients, doctors and researchers. There are nearly 300,000 people in the United States who are trapped in avegetative or minimally-conscious state as a result of an accident, fall, violence, or some other type of brain trauma. Their mind is shrouded beneath the shell of a rigid body, drifting in a realm that even many medical professionals believe can't be reached. Dr. Lori Grafton is the director of the Brain Injury Program at Carolinas Rehabilitation, one of the nation's most comprehensive rehabilitationfacilities in the country. Grafton is physiatrist which is a medical doctor with specialized training in physical medicine, rehabilitation and pain medicine. She says a dose of Ambien may be the solution for some brain trauma patients. Ambien is a pharmaceutical drug designed to help an individual … Continue reading →