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Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injury (TBI), is broadly defined as brain injury from externally inflicted trauma. It may result in significant impairment of an individual’s physical, cognitive, and psychosocial functioning.
There are two forms of brain injury: open injury and closed head injury. Open injury involves penetration of the skull. Closed head injury is not penetrative, but it often leads to neurological problems. Car collisions or fall downs may result in TBI. The sudden change of momentum of a car, resulting in the whipping back and forward of the head can cause brain tissue to be damaged inside the skull. Any blow to the head can cause TBI. Acquired brain injury (ABI) is injury to the brain that is not hereditary, congenital or degenerative.
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An estimated 1.5 to 2 million people incur TBI each year in the United States. According to the National Institutes of Health, The numbers of people surviving TBI with impairment has increased significantly in recent years, which is attributed to faster and more effective emergency care, quicker and safer transportation to specialized treatment facilities, and advances in acute medical management. TBI affects people of all ages and is the leading cause of long-term disability among children and young adults.
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Each year, approximately 70,000 to 90,000 individuals incur a TBI resulting in a long-term, substantial loss of functioning. The consequences of TBI include a dramatic change in the individual’s life-course, profound disruption of the family, enormous loss of income or earning potential, and large expenses over a lifetime. There are approximately 300,000 hospital admissions annually for persons with mild or moderate TBI, and an additional unknown number of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) that are not diagnosed but may result in long-term disability.
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Symptoms of TBI include:
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Aggression
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Anxiety
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Cognitive impairment
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Depression
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Diminished state of consciousness
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Frustration
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Impulsive or other unusual behavior
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Irritability
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Labile emotions
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Loss of ability to cope with stress
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Loss of desire
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Restlessness
TBI can cause a wide range of changes affecting thinking, sensation, language, and/or emotions. It can cause epilepsy and increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other brain disorders.
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Lawsuits relating to traumatic brain injury can bring substantial verdicts or settlements. If your client has suffered a traumatic brain injury as the result of someone else’s carelessness (or a defective product), the law provides a solution. To obtain full compensation for a TBI, you must prove the injury and its relationship to the negligence through a neurologist, neuro-psychologist, occupational therapist, and/or rehabilitation specialist.
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Individuals with brain injury often experience problems with both vision and hearing. According to Carolyn Rocchio of the Brain Injury Association:
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Hearing problems can occur for a number of reasons, both mechanical and neurologic, particularly when the inner ear and/or temporal lobes have been damaged. All patients should have an otoscopic examination and hearing screening followed by behavioral testing. External bleeding in the ear canal, middle ear damage, cochlear injury, and/or temporal lobe lesions can cause auditory dysfunction. (Rocchio 1998)
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According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, currently at least 5.3 million Americans have a long-term or lifelong need for assistance to perform activities of daily living because of traumatic brain injury. One year after a TBI injury, an estimated 40% of hospitalized patients have at least one unmet need for services. Most frequently, these are:
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Improving memory and problem solving
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Managing stress and emotional upset
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Controlling temper
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Improving job skills
Families of TBI sufferers are integral in effectively implementing the rehabilitation process. An exceptionally informative book on this subject is Successfully Surviving a Brain Injury: A Family Guidebook by Garry Prowe. See: www.braininjurysuccess.org.
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Listed below are additional brain injury resources: