Brain trauma also called Traumatic brain injury is an international cause of concern on the health desk. Traumatic brain injury is considered a global epidemic of the twenty first century in the mould of malaria and HIV/AIDS. As one of the leading causes of death and disability in children and adults in their most productive years, it causes major economic and social costs and imposes considerable demands on health service provision. Brain trauma can be classified as mild, moderate or severe depending on whether injury causes unconsciousness, how long the unconsciousness lasts and the severity of the injury. In this paper the writers will closely look at the causal factors of the brain trauma like falls, motor vehicles crashes and traffic related accidents, interpersonal violence, sport and recreational related injuries, anorexia and the effects like Alzheimer diseases, behavioural effects, cognitive effects, perceptual effects and physical effects.
Younis, Younis, Hamid, Musmar and Mawson (2011) define brain trauma as ‘a non-degenerative, non-congenital insult to the brain from an external physical force, possibly leading to permanent or temporary impairments of cognitive, physical and psychosocial functions with an associated diminished or altered state of consciousness’.
Younis et al (2011) assert that the leading cause of brain trauma is falls. In the United States for example, falls contribute about 32.5% of brain trauma. The prevalence of falls in causing brain trauma is prevalent in the children from 1-14 age groups and the elderly, that is, from 65 years and older ( Younis et al, 2011). The falls rate in the aforementioned in childhood is mainly attributed to a combination of factors amongst which include curiosity, imm...
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...Families (2nd ed).New York, NY: HealthSouth Press.
Younis, R., Yuonis, M., Hamid, S.,Musmar, M., Mawson, A.R. (2011).Brain injury: Causes of traumatic brain injury to Rafidia, Al-Lttihad and the specialised Arab hospitals, Palestine 2006-2007, 25 (3), 282-291.
Johnson, D. (2014, April 04). Michael Schumacher shows 'moments of consciousness and awakening' following months in coma after ski crash. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/michael-schumacher/10744079/Michael-Schumacher-shows-moments-of-consciousness-and-awakening-following-months-in-coma-after-ski-crash.html Association of American Neurological Association (2011). Sports related injury. Retrived on
April10,2014fromhttp://www.aans.org/Patient%20Information/Conditions%20and%20Treatments/Sports-Related%20Head%20Injury.aspx Sports-Related Head Injury
This damage is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy and it occurs when individuals suffer from many concussions or any other form of head injury. This damage has a lasting affect and can cause people to die at an earlier age then which they should. The life expectancy goes down for people with chronic
I intend to explore the effects of a parietal brain injury from the perspective of a neuropsychologist; ranging from types of tests that are employed when trying to determine the extent of the damage, to gaining an understanding of how this damage will affect the rest of the brain and/or the body. I will also explore the effects of a brain injury from the perspective of the family members, and their experiences with the changes that occur during the rehabilitation process. According to The Neuropsychology Center, “neuropsychological assessment is a systematic clinical diagnostic procedure used to determine the extent of any possible behavioral deficits following diagnosed or suspected brain injury”(www.neuropsych.com). As mentioned previously, a brain injury can be the result of many types of injuries or disorders, thus a broad range of assessment procedures have been developed to encompass these possibilities.
Traumatic Brain Injury — Football, Warfare, and Long-Term Effects. New England Journal of Medicine. pp. 1293-1296. Doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1007051.
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, previously referred to as dementia pugilistica, can be understood as a tauopathic, neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disease. While there is no neurobiological or neuropathological explanation as to why CTE occurs, the majority of researchers believe the disease is strongly related to previous head injuries. An individual suffering from CTE will most likely experience changes in their mood, behavior and cognition. Because this is a relatively new area of research, there are still a vast amount of unknowns pertaining to the disease’s symptoms, pathology, and natural course.
Thesis: Concussions affect children and adults of all ages causing physical, emotional and metal trauma to a person and their brain.
Scientific American 306.2 (2012): 66-71. Print. The. Brady, Erik. “Changing the Game on Youth Concussions.”
An unnoticed fatal injury that countless athletes have experienced is a concussion. Many people have heard about concussions, but not about the underlying damage they cause the brain. A concussion is a minor traumatic brain injury that may occur when the head hits an object, or a moving object strikes the head. It can affect how the brain works for a whi...
A fall is an “untoward event which results in the patient coming to rest unintentionally on the ground” (Morris & Isaacs, 1980). When it comes to patient safety in health care, there isn’t any subject that takes precedence. Patient falls are a major cause for concern in the health industry, particularly in an acute-care setting such as a hospital where a patient’s mental and physical well being may already be compromised. Not only do patient falls increase the length of hospital stays, but it has a major impact on the economics of health care with adjusted medical costs related to falls averaging in the range of 30 billion dollars per year (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2013). Patient falls are a common phenomenon seen most often in the elderly population. One out of three adults, aged 65 or older, fall each year (CDC, 2013). Complications of falls are quite critical in nature and are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries including traumatic brain injuries and fractures. A huge solution to this problem focuses on prevention and education to those at risk. ...
A fall is a lethal event that results from an amalgamation of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors which predispose an elderly person to the incident (Naqvi et al 2009). The frequency of hospital admission due to falls for older people in Australia, Canada, UK and Northern Ireland range from 1.6 to 3.0 per 10 000 population (WHO 2012). The prevalence of senior citizen’s falls in acute care settings varies widely and the danger of falling rises with escalating age or frailty. Falls of hospitalized older adults are one of the major patient safety issues in terms of morbidity, mortality, and decreased socialization (Swartzell et al. 2013). Because the multi-etiological factors contribute to the incidence and severity of falls in older society, each cause should be addressed or alleviated to prevent patient’s injuries during their hospital stay (Titler et al. 2011). Therefore, nursing interventions play a pivotal role in preventing patient injury related to hospital falls (Johnson et al. 2011). Unfortunately, the danger of falling rises with age and enormously affect one third of older people with ravages varying from minimal injury to incapacities, which may lead to premature death (Johnson et al. 2011). In addition, to the detrimental impacts on patient falls consequently affect the patient’s family members, care providers, and the health organization emotionally as well as financially (Ang et al. 2011). Even though falls in hospital affect young as well as older patients, the aged groups are more likely to get injured than the youth (Boltz et al. 2013). Devastating problems, which resulted from the falls, can c...
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.
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:
When taking steps to analyze and apply intervention strategies for falls, we must examine the factors that cause these occurrences. There are numerous reasons that falls occur, such as intrinsic and or extrinsic risk factors. Intrinsic risk factors for falls may be due to changes that are part of the normal aging process and acute or chronic conditions. According to Zheng, Pan and Hua et al. (2013), about 35-45 percent of individuals who are usually older than 65 years and other 50 percent of the elderly individuals report cases of fall every year. Extrinsic factors are those related to physical environment such as lack of grab bars, poor condition of floor surfaces, inadequate or improper use of assistive devices (Currie). Patient falls is not an easy thing to eliminate. With many clinical challenges, there’s no easy answer to the challenges posed by patient falls; howe...
Should the fear of brain trauma, change the rules of sports for good? Athletes have been susceptible for brain injuries since contact sports were invented. Although some are familiar with this, many people are unaware of the long term ramifications that often come with these types of injuries. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, (ALS) is a disease that is slowly plaguing our nation, starting with athletes. It is one of the fatal repercussions of repetitive head trauma, that is often overlooked. CTE, also known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is also a disease caused by head trauma that can drastically impact one’s life. CTE’s have a subset of different associated diseases such as Alzheimer's, Dementia, Parkinsons, and Huntingtons disease.