Cooling of newborn infants with moderate to severe hypoxic brain damage reduces the risk of death and of long-term neurological disability. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA Wire Maternity services are again under the spotlight with the start of a formal inquiry into the management of women in labour at Ballinasloes Portiuncula Hospital. It follows the discovery of a spike in the number of newborns referred to Dublin maternity units for specialist treatment. The treatment involved head cooling, an established intervention designed to reduce the extent of brain injury in a baby found to have suffered hypoxia (a lack of oxygen) during delivery. It is available in the three Dublin maternity hospitals and in a unit in Cork. Ideally the treatment starts within six hours of birth and continues for 72 hours. Head cooling is designed to prevent the further death of brain cells after the initial hypoxic insult.The second stage of damage is called reperfusion injury which occurs after restoration of normal blood flow and oxygen to the brain, and is due to toxins released from the damaged cells. By cooling down the brain, doctors are essentially trying to get the brain cells to rest. After 72 hours of cooling the brain … Continue reading →

Brain injuries can cause permanent physical and mental damage. Determining the value of a person's injuries can often be complicated. Generally, damage awards in a personal injury case include two types of damages: compensatory damages and punitive damages. Punitive damages are typically reserved for cases in which a defendant's actions justify a monetary punishment as opposed to simply compensating a victim, and are generally awarded at the discretion of a judge or jury. In most injury cases, the value of your case will largely depend on the amount of compensatory damages you are awarded. How are these damages calculated in a brain injury lawsuit? Calculating Damages There are a number of different factors that may contribute to the amount of damages a court determines were caused by an accident or injury. In a case involving brain injuries, it may be important to consider not just damages that have already occurred, but also those that are likely to occur in the future as a result of a brain injury. For example, lost wages from work missed following an injury are one common type of damage recoverable in a personal injury lawsuit. But in a brain injury lawsuit, it will also be … Continue reading →

THURSDAY, Jan. 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Hearing their loved ones tell familiar stories can help brain injury patients in a coma regain consciousness faster and have a better recovery, a new study suggests. The study included 15 male and female brain injury patients, average age 35, who were in a vegetative or minimally conscious state. Their brain injuries were caused by car or motorcycle crashes, bomb blasts or assaults. Beginning an average of 70 days after they suffered their brain injury, the patients were played recordings of their family members telling familiar stories that were stored in the patients' long-term memories. The recordings were played over headphones four times a day for six weeks, according to the study published Jan. 22 in the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. "We believe hearing those stories in parents' and siblings' voices exercises the circuits in the brain responsible for long-term memories," study author Theresa Pape, a neuroscientist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Northwestern University's School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a university news release. "That stimulation helped trigger the first glimmer of awareness," she added. This increased awareness can help coma patients wake more easily, be more aware of their … Continue reading →

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online Hearing the soothing sound of a loved ones voice and listening to familiar stories can help awaken the unconscious brain and speed the recovery of coma patients, according to research published Thursday in the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. In the study, researchers from Northwestern University and the Hines VA Hospital found that coma patients who heard familiar stories stored in their long-term memory from family members four times a day for six weeks regained consciousness significantly faster and tended to have an improved recovery compared to those who did not hear such stories. We believe hearing those stories in parents and siblings voices exercises the circuits in the brain responsible for long-term memories. That stimulation helped trigger the first glimmer of awareness, said lead author Theresa Pape, a neuroscientist from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Hines VA Hospital. Its like coming out of anesthesia. Its the first step in recovering full consciousness, she added. After the study treatment, I could tap them on the shoulder, and they would look at me. Before the treatment they wouldnt do that. A coma is an unconscious state, typically caused by a … Continue reading →