WACO - There's a new condition the Department of Veteran Affairs Office is keeping their eyes out for, and it's starting to raise some questions. Traumatic brain injury, or also known as TBI is what the VA is seeing Iraq and Afghanistan veterans coming home with. VA hospitals, not only in Waco, but across the country are having a hard time properly rating it. TBI is trauma to the brain and it can cause a number of different symptoms. McLennan County Veteran Service Officer Steve Hernandez helps veterans with their TBI claims, and is seeing something new. "The problem with TBI, is that there's nothing that can be identified as traumatic brain injury," Hernandez said. "There's no rating there that just says TBI." Most of the disabilities are assigned a rating by the VA, up to 100 percent, to determine benefit payments and treatment. TBI is caused by an explosion and it isn't one of them. Also, in a recent audit released this week, errors were found in the processing of nine of 30 traumatic brain injury claims in the Waco VA Regional Office. "TBI's are causing a lot of symptoms and conditions that may not be able to be … Continue reading →

Effingham, NH (PRWEB) August 02, 2013 Highlighted in a recent issue of The Brain Injury Professional, Tina Trudel of Lakeview NeuroRehabilitation Effinghamn, NH speaks out on the advancement of neurorehabilitation through applied technology: According to Trudel, The World Congress is now the World Association of Neurotechnology and has evolved as an international on-line forum (http://www.waneurotech.org) covering the areas of neuroresearch, neuropsychiatry, neuroplasticity, neurooncology and neurosurgery. "Myself and others have sought a space for applied technology and neurorehabilitation within this realm of high-tech, heady science," stated Trudel. "In this arena, technology transfer, venture capital, clinical trials, government approvals and intellectual property rights are as passionately discussed as any scientific findings, and clinical rehabilitation applications share the screen with nanobots carrying designer molecules across the blood brain barrier." Technology is evolving far more rapidly than most of us realize. In 2010, Trudel presented clinical technology in applied neurorehabilitation pilot studies. These included projects with colleagues at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center-Charlottesville/University of Virginia on selection of GPS systems for community orientation; driving simulation and Lakeviews pilot study in use of computerized instruction technology. Other presenters at the 2010 World Congress of Neurotechnology were addressing early stages of device development, computerized … Continue reading →

SEATTLE In March 2007, Ronnie Grigsby was nearly killed while part of a convoy hit by enemy fire. The blast threw him more than 40 feet and he suffered multiple injuries, including a broken neck and a traumatic brain injury. They had to defibrillate me on the highway. When I woke up seven weeks later ,my brain was going 400 miles per hour and 45 years of my life were erased, said Grigsby. The brain injury left him unable to speak, write or walk skills he has had to learn all over again. He is an example of the 265,000 men and women like him who in the defense of their nation and in doing what they were told to do have come back to live a life with traumatic brain injury, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, former vice chief of staff of the Army, said. Chiarelli is now head of One Mind for Research, a Seattle-based lab focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of brain injured vets. Its absolutely essential not only because of suicide, its also important because researchers are showing a link between traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and things like Alzheimers, dementia, and Parkinsons, Chiarelli said. On … Continue reading →