It’s incredibly difficult to surmise what might have pushed one American sergeant to allegedly massacre 16 Afghan civilians. But new details about the still-unnamed staff sergeant’s background suggest that brain damage, wrought by a traumatic brain injury during an earlier deployment, might have been a contributing factor. It would be misleading, and downright reductionist, to suggest that TBI sufferers will commit murders. But scientists have linked brain trauma to some violent episodes. In an interview with ABC News on Monday, an unnamed source claimed that the sergeant suffered a TBI sometime in a past deployment, either by “hitting his head on the hatch of a vehicle or in a car accident.” A subsequent story from Reuters reported that the TBI occurred as recently as 2010. The alleged shooter is said to have later undergone TBI-specific treatment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, [...] Read more »
Brain injury is not an event or an outcome. It is the start of a misdiagnosed, misunderstood, under-funded neurological disease. Individuals who sustain brain injuries must have timely access to expert trauma care, specialized rehabilitation, lifelong disease management and individualized services and supports in order to live healthy, independent and satisfying lives. A brain injury can happen anytime, anywhere, to anyone. Brain injuries do not discriminate. It is estimated that 1.7 million people will sustain a brain injury in 2012. Injuries that happens in an instant can bring a lifetime of physical, cognitive and behavior challenges. Early, equal and adequate access to care will greatly increase overall quality of life. Through advocacy, education and research, it is possible to bring help, hope and healing to millions of individuals living with brain injury, their families and the professionals [...] Read more »
Assembly member Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) introduced a bill last Friday to increase concussion knowledge and first aid response in high school athletics. AB 1451 will add training on concussions and other potentially catastrophic injuries, including asthma attacks and heatstroke, to the CPR and first aid certification required of all California high school coaches. “Concussions pose a serious health threat to our young athletes, and it’s critical that coaches receive training that will help them better respond to head injuries in high school sports,” stated Assembly member Mary Hayashi. AB 25, was signed by the Governor in 2011 and went into effect this year. It requires a school district to immediately remove an athlete from a school-sponsored athletic activity if he or she is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury. Students are prohibited from [...] Read more »
Sports-related concussions have been estimated to be between 1.6 million to 3.8 million players each year in the United States. To address this health issue, California lawmakers have enacted a new statute for 2012: school sports teams must bench an athlete suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury until cleared by a healthcare provider. California State’s youth sports concussion safety law (AB 25) was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on October 4, 2011. Key provisions of the law include” Broad coverage: The law covers all athletes participating in school-sponsored athletics and organizations that use public school facilities for youth sports. Education: In order to participate in athletics, students and a parent or guardian must sign and return to the student’s school each year a form acknowledging receipt and review of a concussion and traumatic brain injury [...] Read more »
San Francisco General Hospital has set the bar for brain injury treatment. The brain injury program has become the first in the country to be certified for the treatment of traumatic brain injury. The Joint Commission, an independent hospital accreditation organization made the certification after and intensive review process. San Francisco’s public hospital, which received national attention for caring for Giants fan Bryan Stow after he was brutally beaten outside Dodger Stadium in March of this year. As well as 9 year old Ryan White who was struck by a drunk driver while on vacation in San Francisco. The certification for traumatic brain injury was based on the hospital’s medical skills, neuro-monitoring capabilities, imaging technologies and research, said Dr. Geoff Manley, San Francisco General’s chief of neurosurgery. He said he hopes other hospitals will seek [...] Read more »
After congressional hearings, increased media attention and revised rules, the NFL’s concussion firmly moved into the litigation phase. More than 125 former pro football players are suing the league — and, in most cases, helmet-maker Riddell — via at least five complaints brought in state or federal courts over the past few months and as recently as last week. They say the NFL should have done more to warn about the dangers of head injuries and should do more to help retired players. There also are at least three personal-injury cases against the NFL pending in California, along with a case filed in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania. They’re believed to be the first examples of former players joining together to file concussion-related lawsuits against the NFL. Many players’ wives also are plaintiffs. “We have [...] Read more »
With the possibilities of concussion, neurotoxin exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder among service members, the need for accurate and widespread assessment of brain function is critical. An individual’s performance on standardized cognitive tasks can reveal the extent of injury, even when other signs and symptoms are not immediately apparent. This enables healthcare staff to start treatment earlier, monitor its effectiveness more closely, and make more accurate return-to-duty decisions. Participants at a national workshop on the biological assessment of brain dysfunction held last spring discussed recent advancements in neurocognitive testing, including the use of virtual reality. The event was funded by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, or TATRC. Workshop co-chair and TATRC director Col. Karl Friedl noted that cognitive assessment must become unobtrusive and even fun. “If [...] Read more »
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ staff and Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey have teamed up to close any “treatment gap” for those with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to be covered by the federal Affordable Care Act. Giffords, a Democrat serving the 8th District in Arizona, was shot in the head in January and has been undergoing rehab for her devastaing brain injuries ever since. Pascrell, a Democrat representing the 8th District in New Jersey, is an advocate for making TBI be covered under President Barack Obama’s health care reform. Pascrell is also co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force. On Tuesday Pascrell held a press conference at the Kessler Institute in West Orange, N.J., lamenting the fact that TBI victims across the nation are being denied access to medical treatments that could change their lives, according to The Star-Ledger of Newark. [...] Read more »
Football coaches and school administrators at John C. Birdlebough High School Monday, for a painful and unusual review of game video. They examined every play that one student was involved in. They were trying to discern which collision of the many on Friday night might have caused Ridge Barden, a 16-year-old defensive tackle, to fall to the turf in the third quarter and die within a few hours. The coroner attributed Barden’s death to a subdural hematoma, also referred to as a brain bleed. Although through training, medical response and equipment has vastly improved and the contact sports are touted as being safer than ever the death Ridge Barden shows yet again that the human brain remains vulnerable, and even the most ordinary collisions on the field can kill. Teenagers are especially susceptible to having [...] Read more »
If you suffer traumatic brain injury, your risk of having a stroke within three months may increase tenfold, according to a new study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. “It’s reasonable to assume that cerebrovascular damage in the head caused by a traumatic brain injury can trigger either a hemorrhagic stroke [when a blood vessel bursts inside the brain] or an ischemic stroke [when an artery in the brain is blocked],” said Herng-Ching Lin, Ph.D., senior study author and professor at the School of Health Care Administration, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University in Taiwan. “However, until now, no research had been done showing a correlation between traumatic brain injury and stroke.” It is the first study that pinpoints traumatic brain injury as a potential risk factor for subsequent stroke. Traumatic brain [...] Read more »
