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According to the
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
there are 1 million cases of traumatic
brain injuries that occur in the U.S.
based on the years 1995-1996. A brain
injury constitutes sudden physical
damage to the brain. Brain injuries
can occur as the result of the head
either hitting an object or an object
hitting the head. A brain injury
can either result in a closed head
injury or an open head injury. A
closed head injury causes brain injury,
but there are no outward physical
signs of damage. Opposed to that
an open head injury also causes a
brain injury but the skull is visibly
pierced, for example by a gun wound.
The leading cause of brain injuries
are from motor vehicle accidents,
but other common accidents include
falls, violent crimes, sports injuries,
and child abuse.
Some brain injuries
are not always diagnosed and detected
properly, especially in the case of
a closed head injury because there
is no outward damage. Some CT scans
will show that there are proper brain
functioning despite existing brain
injuries. Symptoms from a brain injury
may not show up until much after the
accident, delaying diagnoses even
further and causing increased damage.
A neurologist is able to determine
through an evaluation and assessment
if a brain damage does exist, but
often times a neurologist will only
see patients with serious head injuries
that has either not been identified
by the regular physician, or is not
assumed because the accident was a
closed head injury.
A brain injury can
result in long lasting cognitive and
communication problems. The younger
the individual is, the better the
chances are for progression. The
severity of the effects depends on
the areas of the brain injured and
the extent of the brain injury. The
brain injury will most likely be the
worst directly following the accident
because of the swelling and contusions,
or bruising. Swelling and bruising
will affect brain functioning but
once it subsides the areas of the
brain that were altered will return
to normal.
It is hard to determine
the amount of damage and the resulting
problems that will come from a brain
injury within the first weeks after
the accident. There are certain brain
injuries that result in long-term
and permanent problems and some that
will heal. If there has been brain
damage to the focal area, for instance,
improvements can be made if the other
areas of the brain can learn to compensate
and take over the lost brain functioning
from the brain injury but the brain
damage may be long lasting.
The earlier the brain
injury has been treated for cognitive
and communication problems that arise,
the better the chances for regaining
lost brain functioning are. Of the
1 million cases of brain injury during
one year, 230,000 of the patients
were hospitalized and survived while
50,000 people died. Most of the brain
injury survivors suffered moderate
to mild injuries. Most affected is
the brainstem due to swelling that
causes pressure and affects consciousnesses
or wakefulness. Some moderate brain
injuries will lead to a coma. Many
of these brain injury patients will
need to undergo therapy and long-term
rehabilitation based on the severity
of the injury.
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