Overview
Brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in children and adults from ages 1 to 44. Motor vehicle crashes, sports injuries, or simple falls commonly result in brain injuries, events causing brain injury frequently occur on playgrounds, at work, or in the home. There are two different types of brain injury: traumatic brain injury and non-traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injury happens when a force acts rapidly on the head or neck of an individual causing direct physical injury to the brain. Non-traumatic brain injury occurs when a person experiences the physiological event leading to a disturbance in normal brain function i.e. Loss/increase of oxygen, or blood flow. Every year, approximately 52,000 deaths occur from traumatic brain injury.
Both types of classifications happen in a two-stage process, primary and secondary damage. Primary injury can be the result of numerous factors such as Skull fracture, contusions, and bruises, hematomas, lacerations, or nerve damage. Secondary Brain damage happens shortly after the initial primary trauma. Most deaths in emergency rooms happen due to secondary brain damage.
Because the brain and brainstem are very easily injured there has been much research and development of technology in efforts of prevention. The first line of defense against TBI is educating the public about Health and safety, this effort, if acknowledged can greatly reduce the risk of TBI. Sports Brain injuries can range from complete rehabilitation, short or long-term Motor function loss, and even in extreme yet somewhat common circumstances, death. Because TBI is so prevalent in professional sports, there is much research developing or improving technologies to protect athletes.
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...elf-monitoring, and evaluation. A person may lose the ability to think critically, concentrate on one task at hand for any extended period of time, process information quickly, retain recent memories, and overall the ability to take care of one’s self.
Works Cited
https://www.braintrauma.org/tbi-faqs/tbi-statistics/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traumatic_brain_injury
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/tbi/
http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-TBI.htm
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/117/4/e25.long
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/326510-overview
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0003684/
http://www.strokecenter.org/patients/about-stroke/ischemic-stroke/
http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/AboutStroke/TypesofStroke/IschemicClots/Ischemic-Strokes-Clots_UCM_310939_Article.jsp
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...oermann et al, 2005). This has a tendency to lead to an insecure sense of one’s self. (Hoermann et al, 2005) A person with this disorder has a difficult time being reliable. This can be from constant career change, relationships and goals. These essential changes occur without any warning. (Hoermann et al, 2005)
...time the athlete is just fine, but there is the small chance that the brain injury is worse than it appears. If I were in this situation, to me the health of the athlete is more important than winning a game. If the blow was an extremely hard hit than I would be worried for further injury of the brain, such as swelling and bleeding.
In recent years, there has been an increase in research investigating the long-term effects of repeated head trauma on the brain, especially in athletes. Following his discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), Dr. Bennet Omalu inspired a movement of research aimed at establishing better safety standards and protocols in football. It was not until 2002 that the initial connection between repetitive head trauma, such as concussions, and brain injury was suspected (Ott, 2015).
The first one is the direct mechanism, is when the athlete gets hit exactly in the head suffering the blow on impact. For example, Mia Ortiz she suffered from a direct mechanism injury, she hit her head in the floor after being push by the rival player. Her head made contact first to the head instead of any other body part. The other mechanism is the indirect injury mechanism, is when the hit to the head comes from another body part and injures the body. Such as, when I used to play soccer I suffered from hits to the head all the time. The worst one was when the rival player knee me in the face and I lost consciousness. The injury I suffered was indirect, because the hit was to the face no exactly to the head. “An athlete who is conscious and alert represents a less complicated case than does a player who appears to be unconscious and not breathing”(Pfeiffer 125). A concussion or a mild traumatic brain injury is divided in three categories mild, moderate, and severe. In the first category the athlete did not lost consciousness, and the symptoms of the hit only last less than thirty minutes. The second category the athlete lost conciseness for less than a minute, and the symptoms lasting more than thirty minutes but less than twenty four hours. In the last category the athlete lost consciousness for more than a minute, and the symptoms last more than twenty four hours. Depending on the symptom and evolution
Did you know, that someone suffers from a brain injury every 21 seconds (Haas)? Children get concussions all the time, and most of the time they go unnoticed. The majority of concussions happen when one is playing a sport such as football, hockey, or lacrosse. Many famous athletes have had their careers, even their lives cut short due to concussions. Brain damage and death can result from serial concussions (Schafer). When one suffers from a concussion, one’s brain needs time to recover physically and mentally. Between 2002 and 2006, statistics showed that 52,000 people died from concussions and about 275,000 were hospitalized (Fundukian). Everyone’s recovery process is different (“Injury and Pain Care”). Although concussions seem minor, they are very serious brain injuries that may result in severe damage to one’s brain.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease attributed to single, sporadic, or repetitive brain trauma, including concussions and subconcussive hits (Baugh et al., 2012; Wortzel et al., 2013). This disease was originally referred to as dementia pugilistica, and nicknamed “punch drunk,” because individuals suffering from this disorder would present symptoms that were similar to someone’s mannerisms while being intoxicated (Wortzel et al., 2013). This “drunken” behavior is thought to be attributed to the cognitive, mood, and behavioral alterations as a result of the repetitive hits to the brain over an extended period of time. Because individuals suffering from this disease are often exposed to conditions that allow them to sustain blows to the head multiple times, the populations most often examined in these studies are athletes (football, boxing, rugby) and/or individuals in the military (McKee et al., 2009). Individuals can be symptom free for several years (Baugh et al., 2012). The onset of symptoms are sometimes seen about eight to ten years after an individual retires from their sport, which roughly equates to someone aged thirty to fifty yeas old (Baugh et al., 2012; Wortzel et al., 2013; Karantzoulis and Randolph, 2013). As with all diseases, symptoms can range from mild to severe. Researchers have found a positive correlation between the number of brain injuries sustained during a length of time playing a sport and the severity of symptoms (McKee et al., 2009).
Thesis: Concussions affect children and adults of all ages causing physical, emotional and metal trauma to a person and their brain.
"A concussion is a type of brain injury. It 's the most minor form. Technically, a concussion is ashore loss of brain function in response to a head injury” (Concussion). Concussions are the least severe of all brain injuries. In addition, a concussion is a temporary loss of brain function because of the impact to the head. This injury could happen anywhere all that would be needed is an impact to the head. More often than not, people think that concussion only happen in sports. However, these injuries could occur in real life situations such as: "A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), often sustained in sports, falls, motor vehicle accidents, assault, and other incidents. Concussion cannot be seen on CT or MRI scans, but it’s a very real brain injury” (Cornell). Concussions are a moderately traumatic brain injury. This injury often happens during sports, falling, and car accidents.
Traumatic brain injury or TBI occurs when a child has a head injury that causes damage to the brain. These injuries can be caused from being hit in the head or violently shaken. The results of TBI can change how a person’s brain develops, how they act, move, and think. It can also affect how they learn in school (NICHCY, 2012). TBI can affect the way a child thinks, retains information, attention span, behavior, speech, physical activities (which includes walking), and the way a child learns.
Concussions and the effect they have on people ranging from the young to the old has become a very popular discussion in recent years. Generally people watch sports for entertainment and then there are those who engage in high impact sports from a very young age on. The people at home know how fun playing in a sport is, however they may not know the brutal consequences for some participating in that sport. Injuries to the brain are a main concern among those in the world of high impact sports. Football, soccer, wrestling, lacrosse, and rugby are among sports that athletes receive injuries in. The injuries vary from sprains, to fractures, to torn MCL or ACL, and bruised organs. Concussions are a severe type of injury endured by athletes in the sports world and this life changing injury is one that people are becoming more aware of.
Today, many professional, college and high school athletes throughout our country suffer from a common injury. It is an injury with serious side effects that can permanently change their lives. This injury is a concussion. Concussions are a constant threat in the game of sports. Coaches and athletes were under the assumption that a head injury that didn’t require a trip to the hospital could be ignored. We have been raised in a culture that celebrates hard knocks as a rite of passage, we don’t think twice about the bandages around our heads. (Carroll and Rosner 11). According to the Disease Control and Prevention Center, there are an estimated 1.6 to 3.8 million sports related head injuries in the United States each year. With the increasing number of concussions, the issue is relevant in today’s society. Concussions are a traumatic brain injury. In order to understand this growing issue, we need to become aware of what a concussion is, the testing and treatment that is used and the lifelong effects that concussions can cause. It is important for athletes to know this vital information about concussions in order to keep safe.
Following behind motor vehicle crashes, traumatic brain injury in sports is the second leading cause of traumatic brain injuries for people fifth-teen to twenty-four years of age. Immense concerns follows given that American football accounts for the highest incidence of concussions (Rowson and Duma 2130). In addition, th...
Over 1.7 million traumatic brain injuries are reported each year. According to reports the leading cause of brain injuries are from falls followed by motor vehicle accidents, and accidents that were a result of being struck by something. Falls account for 32.5% of traumatic brain injuries in the United States. 50% of all child brain injuries are from falling. 61 % of all traumatic brain injuries among adults are 65 years old or older. Traumatic brain injuries are very violent blows or jolts to the head or body that result in the penetration of the skull. Mild traumatic brain injuries can cause brief dysfunction of the brain cells. Serious brain injuries can cause bleeding, bruising, physical damage to other parts of the body and torn tissues. Brain injuries are more prevalent with males rather than females. Causes of brain injuries include:
Centers for Disease Control Injury Center May 30, 2007 Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/tbi_in_us_04/tbi_ed.htm
The mental status exam investigates global and limbic brain functions, left and right parietal functionality and language. This is achieved through tests such as, level of consciousness, memory, and language assessment (Blumenfeld, 2010). Yanagawa and Miyawaki (2012) highlight the importance of obtaining reports from witnesses to assist with a mental status examination. They state that pre-hospital patients can deteriorate quickly into unconsciousness, limiting the ability for para...