Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

RACINE The term polytrauma is defined as a serious injury to two or more body systems which result in physical, cognitive or psychological impairments that limit a persons ability to function. Traumatic Brain Injury frequently occurs in polytrauma. It can be difficult to navigate the maze of benefits information at the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration. Fortunately, case management is an integral part of the Polytrauma System of Care. A clinical case manager will work with veterans, service members and their family to help: n Transition from a military hospital to a VA medical center. n Communicate between veteran/service member, family and VA rehabilitation team. n Identify various VA, DoD, and community resources. n Apply for appropriate VA benefits. Early into a service members admission to a treatment facility, they will meet various points of contact. Some POCs will focus mostly on clinical (medical) issues. Others will focus on non-clinical services. Information on services and benefits changes from time to time. It is therefore important to check with the appropriate POCs at the Veterans Benefits Administration periodically for updates. The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center Family Caregiver Giver Course provides extensive information on how to navigate services and … Continue reading →

Sports medicine physician Joseph H. Rempson, MD, received several concussions as a soccer player in high school and college in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At the time, such head injuries commonly were dismissed as getting your bell rung. After the dazed feeling wore off, we just got back in the game and played, said Dr. Rempson, chief of the Dept. of Rehabilitation at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, N.J. We had persistent headaches [and] we had A students who became C students, but we didn't know what the problem was. In recent years, the medical community and the rest of the nation have gotten a better understanding about the severity of such injuries and their lasting impact. During the past decade, public awareness and concerns about traumatic brain injuries have surged, due in part to the identification of a progressive brain disease among more than 40 former National Football League players and reports of more than 200,000 cases of TBI in members of the U.S. military. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advocated that TBIs, including the more mild cases known as concussions, should be considered a serious public health problem. Although efforts have been made … Continue reading →

DURHAM, N.C. It can happen in an instant and change lives forever. Close to two million people are affected by traumatic brain injury every year. Worldwide, its a major cause of death and disability. Now, researchers are hoping something that our body produces naturally can help bring the first ever TBI treatment to those who need it. As I was driving, I blacked out behind the wheel and the car went into the back of a parked 18 wheeler, Lester Talley told Ivanhoe. Health issues lead to Lester Talleys near fatal accident. The husband and father of two suffered a serious traumatic brain injury. My brain had started swelling, Lester said. There really is no definitive therapy for the treatment of acute brain injury, Daniel Laskowitz, MD, MHS, Professor Medicine (Neurology), Neurobiology, & Anesthesiology, and Director, Neurovascular Laboratories at Duke University Medical Center, told Ivanhoe. Lesters wife Ashley feared the worst. Seemed like my world was coming to an end, Ashley told Ivanhoe. While in a coma, Lester was enrolled in a phase three trial called SyNAPSe. The study is testing if progesterone could help treat TBI. Its a natural hormone produced in men and women, thats most often associated … Continue reading →

VALHALLA, N.Y., July 30, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Thermopraxis, LLC, (http://www.thermopraxis.com/) an early stage, innovative medical device company with emergency treatment for concussions/traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury is proud to announce that it will continue expansion of its US operations and base its new headquarters at New York Medical College's (NYMC) Valhalla campus in Westchester. Thermopraxis continues to advance a highly collaborative, creative "praxis" (meaning the act of applying, or practicing ideas or concepts) designed to engage their expanding network of entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and partners, who are working together to make meaningful change in health through the development of therapies for traumatic or hypoxic-ischemic brain and spinal cord injuries, and other systemic injuries (contusions) using the recognized therapeutic effects of hypothermia or cooling. "We are excited to retain our headquarters in New York and leverage the abundant resources in the growing cluster in and around the Hudson Valley," stated Renato Rozental, MD, PhD, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of Thermopraxis. "We are equally excited about our ongoing developments with Thermocrown, the first device that will enable emergency thermotherapy care out in the field to confer brain protection post-traumatic injury. At current, there are … Continue reading →

Life with a Traumatic Brain Injury My sister Emily is 29 and has lived the past 10 years of her life with a traumatic brain injury after she was in a car accident. This is her life and recover... By: saranade25 … Continue reading →

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WANE) - Officials confirmed that one of the two girls injured in a Florida parasailing accident on July 1 received a second brain surgery at IU Health Methodist hospital on Thursday after being released from a rehab hospital. Alexis Fairchild, 17, of Huntington County, was driven to the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana from a Florida hospital on July 11. Treatment included physical therapy, neuropsychology treatment, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Fairchild's parents, Michael and Angela Fairchild, said she received surgery to treat complications from her injuries on Thursday at IU Health Methodist hospital. They released the following statement on Friday: Alexis was admitted to IU Health Methodist hospital yesterday. She is being treated for complications from treatment of her injuries. Alexis has gone through surgery today and is in recovery. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts during this difficult time. Alexis still has a long road to recovery. The following statement was also released Friday from Fairchild's physician, IU Health Neurosurgeon Dr. Richard Rodgers: Alexis had a postoperative complication from an emergency surgery she had at the time of her injury. This required a second surgery to treat a wound and will likely require … Continue reading →

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Rising costs and low patient volume have prompted the federal government to close the Charlottesville location of a facility that treated military members and veterans with traumatic brain injuries. The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center released its last patient at its city location in May, and most of its staff left last month, a spokeswoman confirmed. The center, which was located on East High Street, had been in the area since 1999. The Brain Injury Center is part of the U.S. militarys health system and is component of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. Because the facilities were unique and intensive, they handled a small number of patients and incurred high costs compared to other facilities, the centers website states. The government also closed a similar facility in Johnston, Pa., last month. University of Virginia Health System Dr. Jeffrey Barth, who served as the centers primary neuropsychology consultant, said he was disappointed to see the center close. Our job at [the Brain Injury Center] was to help to normalize these folks to introduce them [back] to daily activities, said Barth. The center employed 26 contracted staff members who filled about 18 … Continue reading →

Charlottesville brain injury center closes CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The federal government has closed a center in Charlottesville that provided treatment for military members and veterans with traumatic brain injuries. The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center says on its website that the Charlottesville facility had a low patient volume and high costs compared to other facilities. A similar facility in Johnson, Pa., also has been closed. Kathleen Taylor, a spokeswoman for the national organization, told The Daily Progress that the Charlottesville center needed more than $4 million in technology upgrades to ensure compliance with Department of Defense standards. "This program focused on community reintegration activities and targeted skills necessary for return to duty/military service and community reintegration," Taylor told the newspaper in an email. "It offered interactive therapy programs designed to address the individual needs and goals of each patient." She said these services are provided elsewhere in the military health system. U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the center's closing is an example of why Congress needs to find a budget resolution that preserves such facilities and programs. "I know a Virginian who received superb treatment for their brain injury at this facility," he said in a statement. "I have … Continue reading →

Rising costs and low patient volume have prompted the federal government to close the Charlottesville location of a facility that treated military members and veterans with traumatic brain injuries. The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center released its last patient at its city location in May, and most of its staff left last month, a spokeswoman confirmed. The center, which was on East High Street, had been in the area since 1999. The Brain Injury Center is part of the U.S. militarys health system and is a component of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. Because the facilities were unique and intensive, they handled a small number of patients and incurred high costs compared to other facilities, the centers website states. The government also closed a similar facility in Johnston, Pa., last month. University of Virginia Health Systems Dr. Jeffrey Barth, who served as the centers primary neuropsychology consultant, said he was disappointed to see the center close. Our job at (the Brain Injury Center) was to help to normalize these folks ... to introduce them (back) to daily activities, Barth said. The center employed 26 contracted staff members who filled about 18 full-time … Continue reading →

Astrocytes, which are brain cells that transport key nutrients and form the blood-brain barrier, can reduce disability due to stroke and other ischemic brain disorders. That's the finding of a University of California-Davis study published July 23rd in the journal Nature Communications A release from the university quotes senior author Wenbin Deng as saying, "Astrocytes are often considered just 'housekeeping' cells because of their supportive roles to neurons, but they're actually much more sophisticated. They are critical to several brain functions and are believed to protect neurons from injury and death. They are not excitable cells like neurons and are easier to harness. We wanted to explore their potential in treating neurological disorders, beginning with stroke." Deng added that the therapeutic potential of astrocytes has not been investigated in this context, since making them at the purity levels necessary for stem cell therapies is challenging. In addition, the specific types of astrocytes linked with protecting and repairing brain injuries were not well understood. The release reports that the team began by using a protein that turns on genes, known as Olig2, to differentiate human embryonic stem cells into astrocytes. This approach generated a previously undiscovered type of astrocyte called Olig2PC-Astros. … Continue reading →