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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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