Frank Toral, President of the Brain Injury Association of Florida (BIAF), has been appointed to serve on the board of the Brain Injury Association of America. Mr. Toral’s term as President of BIAF ends on July 1, 2010 after which he will serve on the board as past president for the next two years.
For more on this story, visit http://www.torallaw.com/news.php/type/art/id/24
The Virginia Tech football team is part of a head injury study, which started during the 2007 football season, that keeps track of every blow to the head suffered by the players. Players wear helmets equipped with small accelerometers to record impacts, which allows the team physicians to follow concussions as soon as they occur. Oftentimes, players do not even realize that they have just suffered a concussion.
http://www.physorg.com/print95589115.html
Researches are working on an experiment using a diabetes drug combined with a gene-silencing technique that could prevent paralyzation that occurs with spinal cord injuries. Researches are also conducting trials to use this technique for strokes and traumatic brain injuries. The technique prevents bleeding from occurring.
Full article at http://bit.ly/ayqkvv www.reuters.com
The NFL is donating $1 million to the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, which is a nonprofit organization that is researching the effects of repeated brain injuries common to athletes. Researchers and doctors have found that repeat blows to the head can cause Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a brain disorder that can later lead to dementia.
Full article: http://bit.ly/cHYB7Q http://www.thedailytell.com/
The high schools in the Santa Maria area are being proactive about sports-related concussions. Before the start of a sports season, student athletes undergo a computerized test that measures cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, processing, and problem-solving, the purpose of which is to establish a baseline before a concussion injury occurs. Therefore, when a student suffers a concussion during the season, the student will undergo the test again so that doctors and coaches are able to compare the results. The results of these tests will help doctors and coaches determine whether the student is able to return to play.
Full article: http://bit.ly/dngD2v Website: http://santamariatimes.com/
Early detection of a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) is key to a patient's recovery. Due to the advancement in brain scan technology, military doctors now have the ability to diagnose servicemembers using diffusion tensor imaging, single photon emission computed tomography and functional magnetic-resonance imaging. In addition, the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury now uses an incident-based approach to diagnosis rather than symptom-based, in order to ensure early detection of TBI.
The U.S. Department of Defense will launch a trial in January 2011 to treat patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a hyperbaric chamber, which is commonly used to treat people who suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The study, which will test mostly soldiers and marines who have a TBI, involves sitting in the hyperbaric chamber for an hour a day, five days a week, for a total of 40 sessions.
Full article: http://bit.ly/aoZlhA
This month, the CDC released a report entitled, Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations and Deaths 2002-2006. The report provides data on TBI-related ER visits, hospitalizations and death categorized by age and race. The report also provides, among other data, statistics relating to the number of TBI suffered between 2002-2006.
To view the full report, visit http://bit.ly/aOtiGg
A common side effect of Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is spasticity in the upper and lower limbs. Muscle spasms are extremely painful and debilitating and can prevent patients from doing simple tasks such as standing, walking and getting dressed.
Botulinum toxin, popularly known as Botox, is now being used to treat muscle spasms. The Botox injection prevents the release of acetylcholine, a neurochemical, which reduces the muscle spasms. The FDA has recently approved the use of Botox to treat spasticity.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that approximately 1.7 million people suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year and 52,000 cases result in death. An estimated 75% of TBIs are concussions or some form of mild TBI. The total cost of TBI in the U.S., including medical costs and indirect costs totaled $60 billion in 2000.
For more statistics on TBI, visit http://www.cdc.gov/TraumaticBrainInjury/statistics.html
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