Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI)

 

What is a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is also known as a head injury. It is an injury to the brain most often caused by external force the the skull.

Types of Head Injuries

The two basic types of head injury are: "open head injury" and "closed head injury." Open head injuries are caused by penetrating objects. Closed head injuries are the most common and are usually caused by a rapid movement of the head during which the brain is whipped back and forth, bouncing off the inside of the skull. Another major cause of brain injury is "anoxia" or loss of oxygen to the brain.

Moderate to Severe Brain Injury

Almost always results in loss of consciousness lasting days to weeks or longer. Although persons surviving moderate to severe TBIs can make significant improvements in the first year after injury and continue to improve at a slower pace for many years, they are often left with some permanent physical and/or cognitive impairments.

Mild Brain Injury, or "Concussion,"

The person may feel dazed or experience a brief loss of consciousness. Mild brain injury can lead to headaches, dizziness, mild mental slowing, and fatigue.

What are the Causes of Traumatic Brain Injury?

  • In Mississippi, motor vehicle accidents cause 48% of all TBI’s, violence 33%, and 19% falls.
  • Child abuse is the most common violent cause of TBI in infants and toddlers.
  • Each year in the United States, 130,000 children sustain bicycle related brain injuries, and of these, 900 die.

 

A Stroke is a Brain Injury!

A stroke is a medical emergency.  A stroke, also called a brain attack, happens when blood flow to parts of the brain is reduced or cut off.  This can happen when a blood vessel gets blocked or burst.  Without a blood supply, brain cells begin to die within minutes.

When a stroke happens, every minute counts.  It is important to:

  • know the warning signs.
  • get medical help as quickly as possible.

FAST stands for face, arms, speech and time, and is being used as part of a campaign by the Stroke Awareness Foundation to educate the public about warning signs of stroke and seek proper medical services immediately. If you think a person is having a stroke, call 9-1-1, especially if the person has trouble with these basic commands.

 

 

Face - Does one side of the face droop?  

                   Ask the person to smile

 

 

 

 

Arms - Is one arm weak or numb?  Ask the person to raise both arms. 

                      Does one arm drift downward?

 

 

 

 

Speech - Is speech slurred? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence.

                           Is the sentence repeated correctly?

                          

 

 

Time - If the person shows any of these symptoms, CALL 9-1-1 Immediately!                                Ask to be Transported to a Certified Stroke Center.

 

 

 

For additional information about strokes you may call the BIA of MS at 601-981-1021 or click on a link below.

 

TBI and Veterans

 

Brain injuries occur during combat. From previous wars it has been estimated that approximately 20% of all military casualties have sustained a brain injury. The rate of brain injuries in soldiers returning from the Middle East appears to be higher than expected. Blast injuries can result in a TBI.

Soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan are at risk for blast injuries from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), rocket-propelled grenades and land mines. It has been estimated that over 50% of all combat injuries are blast injuries. During four months in 2003 the Defense and Veterans Head Injury Program (DVHIP) at Walter Reed Army Medical Center screened 155 injured soldiers who had returned from Iraq and were deemed as being at risk for brain injury. A brain injury can last a lifetime.

Click HERE for more information regarding TBI in the military.

 

TBI and Athletes

A traumatic brain injury is caused by a blow, jolt or other injury to the head which causes disruption or trauma to the normal function of the brain. While TBIs are often caused by accidents, they can also result from professional and contact sport injuries.

In the professional sports field, boxing injuries are a common cause of TBIs. Boxing injuries are different from other sports injuries because most boxing injuries result in blows to the head, which are generally considered illegal in other sports. Boxing injuries are especially common for professional boxers. Amateur boxers just don't suffer the amount or severity of head injuries that professional boxers do. Professional boxers accept blows to the head and accompanying injuries as just "part of the game." Cuts, bruises, repeated blows, and falls are all expected injuries that one may anticipate when entering the ring.

Unfortunately, as a result, professional boxers, as well as other athletes, often suffer brain damage. In the case of a boxer, when he is knocked out, he has generally suffered a concussion. Over time, multiple punches to the head can cause a case of "punch drunkenness" in a fighter who exhibits signs of inhibited thinking ability, headaches, blurred vision, or memory loss. In more serious cases, a boxer can be killed by a blow to the head, or suffer a lifetime of disability and diminished capacity due to brain damage. This is becoming more and more seen in other contact sports as well, especially football.

View the video below to see how suffering a sports concussion can change your life.  In 2008, Wesley Ward, a Central Hinds Academy student, suffered significant damage to his brain after sustaining multiple concussion during a high school football game.  Miraculously, Wesley lived to tell his story.  This can happen to you. Injuries don't discriminate.  If you think you have sustained a concussion, please don't continue in the game.  Tell someone immediately.  Click here to find out more information on sports concussions.

                                                                                  

 

Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

Approximately 11,000 Americans are hospitalized for a spinal cord injury (SCI) each year. SCIs cost the nation an estimated $9.7 billion each year. Approximately 145 Mississippians are hospitalized for spinal cord injury (SCI) each year. More than half of the people who sustain SCIs are 16 to 30 years old. Males, especially young black males, are at highest risk and are four times more likely than females to sustain a spinal cord injury.

A spinal cord injury is damage to the spinal cord resulting in loss of sensation and motor control. The extent to which movement and sensation are damaged depends on the level of the spinal cord injury. Approximately 10,000 new spinal cord injuries (SCI) occur each year in the United States. About 250,000 people are currently affected. Spinal cord injuries can happen to anyone at any time in life. The typical patient, however, is a man between the ages of 19 and 26. Approximately 145 Mississippians are hospitalized each year due to a spinal cord injury.

Short-term costs for hospitalization, equipment, and home modifications are approximately $140,000 for a SCI patient capable of independent living. Lifetime costs may exceed $1 million. Costs may be three to four times higher for the SCI patient who needs long-term institutional care. Overall costs to the American economy in direct payments and lost productivity are more than $10 billion per year.

Major Causes of Spinal Cord Injury

Motor vehicle accidents 45% are the leading cause of SCI’s nationwide as well as in Mississippi, following motor vehicle accidents are violence 28%, falls 21%, and sporting or recreational accident 6%. People over the age of 65 sustain SCIs due to falls.

Recreational activities, especially diving accidents are the leading cause of SCIs for people under the age of 25. Alcohol or other drug abuse plays an important role in a large percentage of all spinal cord injuries. 6% of people who receive injuries to the lower spine die within a year, and 40% of people who receive the more frequent higher injuries die within a year.

More than 95% of all traumatic spinal cord injuries are preventable. The only known cure for spinal cord injuries is prevention.

Seven Things Families Need to Remember

  • Reinforce the behaviors you would like to see increase. Like a garden "water the behaviors you'd like to grow."
  • When safety is not an issue, ignore the behavior you would like to decrease.
  • Model the behaviors you would like to see.
  • Avoid situations that provoke behaviors you are trying to reduce.
  • Structure the environment, use cues for positive behaviors and plan rest periods.
  • Redirect the person rather than challenging them.
  • Seek professional help sooner than later