Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

Injury Treatment Corporate Video An introduction to Injury Treatment. By: Injury treatment … Continue reading →

By Susan Young While the fights and fumbles over the Affordable Care Act dominated headlines in 2013, the year was also heady with advances in biomedicine. In April, President Obama announced an ambitious federal initiative to map the activity of all the neurons in a brain circuit or, ideally, a whole brain. The $100 million Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) project will support neuroscientists, nanotechnologists, and others who propose to develop new technologies that can monitor thousands of neurons simultaneously. The hope is that such new innovations could help neuroscientists understand the biological origin of cognition and perception and speed the development of treatments for disorders such as autism or post-traumatic stress disorder. There was remarkable progress in the field of neuroscience this year, but researchers still struggle to understand and treat the brain. This year, the FDA approved the first artificial retina prosthetic for use in the United States following the California-made devices European approval in 2011. That light-detecting system can replace some of the visual information lost by patients whose retinas, which are an extension of brain tissue, have become damaged by genetic disease. A German company announced that an alternative retina prostheses system had helped … Continue reading →

Acquired brain injury can result from internal or external causes including external physical forces, hypoxia (lack of sufficient oxygen), stroke, disease, or tumor. It is not due to congenital (i.e., genetic or birth defects) or degenerative causes (e.g., Alzheimers Disease). Specific examples are: 1) Traumatic brain injury (TBI) or concussion from a blow to the head; (tramatic brain injury [sp.]) 2) Hypoxia due to near-drowning, prolonged seizures, or drug overdose; 3) Stroke due to hemorrhage (e.g., bleeding from a ruptured aneurysm or trauma) or ischemia (insufficient blood supply from a blockage of a blood vessel); 4) Disease due to inflammation (e.g., infections), toxicity, metabolic abnormalities (e.g., liver or kidney dysfunction), seizures, demyelinating disorders (e.g., multiple sclerosis), or increased intracranial pressure; 5) Tumors (malignant or nonmalignant). Regardless of the cause, parts of the brain are no longer able to function normally. This can result in cognitive, emotional, behavioral, or physical impairments. These may be either temporary or permanent and may cause partial or total functional disability or psychosocial difficulties. The Brain Therapy Center provides free information, neuropsychological assessment, treatment, current research information, and helpful tips. Currently, 5.3 million Americans are living with a disability caused by brain injury. Fortunately there are … Continue reading →

The degenerative brain disease being blamed for suicides and mental illness in pro athletes may have started when they were young athletic children and absorbing knocks in grade school and high school, experts say. The theory also suggests that many people who are not elite athletes playing contact sports, but did play sports as children, may be at risk for developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Recommended: Ryan Freel Had CTE, Parents Say "We don't know what the age of onset is with any of these cases," said Chris Nowinski, the co-director of the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. "There is reason to believe it can begin when a child is very young." The latest discussion of CTE arose after former Major League Baseball player Ryan Freel, who committed suicide at the age of 36, was diagnosed to have had the disease. CTE had not been associated with baseball players. Instead it is linked to the public's perception of more violent sports like football, ice hockey and boxing. Nowinski's colleague, Dr. Ann McKee, has dissected and studied more than 180 brains of athletes. Over 100 have been found to have CTE pathology. Nowinski noted that Freel … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 19-Dec-2013 Contact: Barbara K. Kennedy science@psu.edu 81-488-634-682 Penn State Researchers at Penn State University have developed an innovative technology to regenerate functional neurons after brain injury, and also in model systems used for research on Alzheimer's disease. The scientists have used supporting cells of the central nervous system, glial cells, to regenerate healthy, functional neurons, which are critical for transmitting signals in the brain. Gong Chen, a professor of biology, the Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences at Penn State, and the leader of the research team, calls the method a breakthrough in the long journey toward brain repair. "This technology may be developed into a new therapeutic treatment for traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other neurological disorders," Chen said. The research will be posted online by the journal Cell Stem Cell on 19 December 2013. When the brain is harmed by injury or disease, neurons often die or degenerate, but glial cells become more branched and numerous. These "reactive glial cells" initially build a defense system to prevent bacteria and toxins from invading healthy tissues, but this process eventually forms glial scars that limit the growth of healthy … Continue reading →

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FILE - This Sept. 21, 2012 photo provided by the U.S. Marine Corps shows Sgt. Eusebio Lopez, an Officer Candidate School instructor, during the Quantico Leadership Venture at OCS. Lopez, 25, gunned down 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Sara Castromata and Cpl. Jacob Wooley, 23, on Thursday night March 21, 2013 inside barracks at the Marine Corps Base Quantico in northern Virginia before committing suicide. A July report obtained Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013 by the Associated Press says Lopez had exhibited signs of traumatic brain injury that should have prompted greater concern. US MARINE CORPS, LANCE CPL. ANTWAUN L. JEFFERSON AP Photo Veterans suffering with traumatic brain injury the signature wound of the post-9/11 wars have new hope for the compensation they need and deserve. The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday that it is following the latest science and making it easier for veterans to receive additional disability benefits for illnesses, such as dementia and Parkinsons disease, linked to traumatic brain injury. For an agency that has made serious missteps in the treatment of veterans, this is a noteworthy stride in the right direction. The VA had been far too slow to deal with brain injury, even as it became prevalent … Continue reading →

A distraught Marine who fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and a colleague before killing himself at the Quantico Marine Corps base was suicidal, had signs of traumatic brain injury and should have received better psychological care, a military investigation found. Sgt. Eusebio Lopez was receiving treatment in North Carolina after his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Iraq, but his medical care stopped abruptly when he was transferred to Quantico in 2012, according to a report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The reason appeared to be two-fold: His new doctors didn't know about his previous treatment and he didn't speak up. The report also found problems with the response to the shooting because unarmed Marines were deployed to secure the perimeter around the barracks. Two of the bodies were not found until nearly four hours after the shots were fired. Lopez shot Lance Cpl. Sara Castromata, 19, and Cpl. Jacob Wooley, 23, inside a barracks at the Officer Candidates School after a night of drinking. Lopez was upset Castromata had ended a relationship with him and had begun dating Wooley, according to the report obtained Thursday. The day of the shooting, Lopez sent numerous despondent text … Continue reading →

WACO - Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury got some good news on Monday. New regulations from the Department of Veteran Affairs mean they could be getting benefit pay soon. TBI is becoming more and more of an issue in the VA. It's trauma to the brain and it's tied to a number of different diseases such as parkinson's, dementia, depression, blindness or seizures. Now, it can be caused by any explosion that impacts the brain. The problem with TBI is that there was no clear identifier in the VA for the syndrome, and that meant it was hard for veterans to receive benefits from it. "This concussive blast were occurring on a regular basis from IED's and I don't feel like anybody knew what the enemy was going to use and so when it started happening, it started causing a lot of unknown injuries," McLennan County Veteran Officer Steve Hernandez said. Most disabilities are assigned a rating up to 100 percent to determine payments and treatment. The Defense Department estimates that a quarter of a million veterans have experienced TBI since the year 2000. "The injury is caused from the shock wave of going into your … Continue reading →

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press McLEAN, Va. (AP) - A distraught Marine who fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and a colleague before killing himself at the Quantico Marine Corps base was suicidal, had signs of traumatic brain injury and should have received better psychological care, a military investigation found. Sgt. Eusebio Lopez was receiving treatment in North Carolina after his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Iraq, but his medical care stopped abruptly when he was transferred to Quantico in 2012, according to a report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The reason appeared to be two-fold: His new doctors didn't know about his previous treatment and he didn't speak up. The report also found problems with the response to the shooting because unarmed Marines were deployed to secure the perimeter around the barracks. Two of the bodies were not found until nearly four hours after the shots were fired. Lopez shot Lance Cpl. Sara Castromata, 19, and Cpl. Jacob Wooley, 23, inside a barracks at the Officer Candidates School after a night of drinking. Lopez was upset Castromata had ended a relationship with him and had begun dating Wooley, according to the report obtained Thursday. The … Continue reading →