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How do concussions affect the human brain? In order to know what affects the concussions does to the brain, we must first know what exactly a concussion is. A concussion a concussion is described as a complex pathophysiological process that affects the brain in the act of severe head trauma. Think of the brain as the yoke inside an egg, if the egg is shaken, the yoke will be obscured. This is exactly what a concussion is like. A concussion affects the brain in several ways, including physical, emotional, and cognitive. There are also long-term effects like increased risk for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s (“Concussion Treatment”). Physical effects are the most common with the less severe head trauma, but if not taken seriously can lead to much serious issues. The most basic physical symptom is just normal head and neck …show more content…
However, these pains are easily taken care of with just rest and taking things slowly and the symptoms will subside (“Bidmc). The second phase of physical symptoms is dizziness. Classifying what a person means by dizziness can severely affect the treatment of the symptom. A mild case of poor equilibrium like lack of balance is one thing, that can simply be cured with rest and patience. However, if the symptom is more serious, like not being able to walk or vomiting from the dizziness, this could be caused by a more serious injury to the brain and medical attention should requested. The best way for a patient to avoid dizziness is to not overdue activity, consistent rest, and slowly move into more physical activities. Nausea and motion sickness are fairly common such as migraines and queasiness. These are also related to equilibrium issues. The severity of the nausea and headaches differ between the severity of the head injury. Just upset stomachs and getting nauseous from car rides are caused from fairly mild brain trauma, but more severe sickness such as vomiting, not being able to eat and hold down
middle of paper ... ... 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.
According to The Mayo Clinic, “the most common symptoms of a concussion are headache or pressure in the head, confusion or feeling foggy, appearing dazed, fatigue and delayed response to questions.”
A concussion is a head injury that can have damaging effects on athletes of all sports and ages. Concussions are regularly caused by a hard hit to the head or body that causes the brain to shake inside the skull. While there is fluid within the skull to protect the brain, when an athlete is hit hard enough, the brain moves to the point of hitting the skull, causing a head injury otherwise known as a concussion (“Concussions”). Terry Adirim, a medical doctor who writes articles for Clinical Pediatrician Emergency Magazine, says that an individual may have many different symptoms after receiving a concussion. Symptoms can include headache, nausea, dizziness, loss of consciousness, and vomiting, but each of these symptoms do not necessarily happen with every concussion.
UB was only struck in the back of the head; however, as a result of countercoup movement, bleeding appeared in multiple areas of the brain. U.B. was jogging when a large truck struck him. Therefore, he was in motion when was hit on the back of the head by the side mirror of a truck moving in the same direction as him. Thus, he experienced an accelerating TBI (Walker, 1997, p. 9). In a closed head injury, the primary head injury occurred where he was struck in the back of the head, the coup, and the place that is point opposite of where he was struck (contra-coup). In U.B.’s case, the coup is the occipital lobe and the brain stem, as he was struck by the truck mirror on the back of the head. The contra-coup is the frontal lobe. Therefore, when
Concussions are an injury that falls under the Traumatic Brain Injury category. A concussion occurs when a force causes the brain to rock back and forth inside the skull, and hit the interior walls of the skull. When this happens it can result in bruising on two parts of the brain, the Coup and the Countercoup. This may result in Loss of consciousness, confusion, headaches, nausea or vomiting, blurred vision, and loss of short-term memory. I know from experience the nausea and blurred vision. I noticed that during what I thought was a concussion though after the initial hits my ears would ring and give me very painful headaches.
The only result from the testing consistent with a brain injury was the abnormal pupil response of the right eye (constriction) (Traumatic brain injury, 2015). The physical effects that could have pointed to a brain injury were the laceration to the right side of the gentleman’s head and the amount of blood loss. The complaints from the patient that may have insisted a brain injury included a severe headache, dizziness, and nausea (Traumatic brain injury, 2015).
The world of sports is filled with great memories, grand moments and at times complete mayhem. There are moments like hitting a Home Run in game 7 of the World Series or memories of scoring an overtime goal during the Stanley Cup finals. However, there are also incredibly low moments when mayhem occurs such as an action or incident that results in a concussion. An injury such as a concussion can ruin your sports career or potentially your ability to function normally in the future. Concussions are caused by blunt force trauma to the head, a fall or an injury that shakes the brain inside the skull. Recovering from a concussion can take weeks, months or even years to heal. For some, it can impair your mental or mobility functions for life.
Concussions are an injury to the brain caused by bump, or blow to the head or body. They can occur even when you haven’t even been knocked unconscious. Concussions can not be seen, but you can notice when someone has received one. (Center for Disease Control). The symptoms are Headaches, nausea, vomiting, balance problems, blurry vision, and memory problems or confusion. Also difficulty paying attention, bothered by lights or loud noises and feeling sluggish are sure symptoms of a concussion. (CDC 2). Even though concussions can’t be fully prevented, scientists are doing their best to find ways to decrease the amount of concussions that happen per year.
Some of the effects of having a concussion are not thinking clearly, feeling slowed down, and not being able to concentrate. “A concussion can be linked with later development of memory dysfunction and brain atrophy in corresponding regions.” More than three million concussions occur each year in the United States. The brain is still in development until age 25. There are more than 3 million injuries in the NFL in a ten year period.
Like I have stated before, trauma to the head that can impact your mental and physical state is nothing to joke around with. Having to live the rest of your life with the chance of being permanently impaired isn't worth the risk of having not the appropriate amount of time to
What can cause a traumatic brain injure like this you may ask. Well as stated earlier for my brother it was him landing on his head, but some other ways would be a blow to the head or a violent head movement. They don’t classify just and head injury or brain injure as a traumatic brain injury. It will be classifies a traumatic brain injury when there is evidence of total or partial functional disability.
In the United States, the incidences of the head injuries are estimated to be 200 cases per 100,000 persons per year. The rate shows that half a million cases reported every year, but it sad that 15% of the patients succumb to the injury. Traumatic injuries remain the leading cause of death in both children and the adults. Again traumatic brain injuries result in more deaths that other trauma to other body parts. Motor vehicles are the leading cause of the close head injuries, and alcohol contributes to up to 38% of all the severe cases involving the young patients. Annually mortality from the closed head injuries is about 100,000 patients, as that is not enough, permanent disabilities from the survivors ranges 10-100% depending on the severity of the accident producing 90000 newly disabled patients annually. “The head injuries cost the United States $75-100 billion annually as some of this injuries require
Head injuries are very serious and dangerous. Some head injuries can cause neurological brain damage. They are commonly found in the sports world, putting athletes at risk. There are a lot of head injuries that are dangerous or could cause serious damage brain and in turn, the body. Because of this, precautions, rules, and guidelines need to be in place to prevent and treat these athletes. If these things are not put in place, it could mean the difference between life and death for these athletes. There are many different injuries that can occur to the head and face. Facial injuries can be very dangerous as it can concern the eyes nose and mouth.
In order to understand how head trauma can affect us, the human race, one must first understand that there are multiple types of head trauma and that they can present different afflictions and medical problems in any given patient. Symptoms of brain injuries may not present
Rajendra, P.B., et al., Characteristics of associated craniofacial trauma in patients with head injuries: An experience with 100 cases. J Emerg Trauma Shock, 2009. 2(2): p. 89-94.