Brain Trauma and Traumatic Brain Injury - understanding the
effects and secondary effects
Brain trauma injury is
unfortunately a major cause of death as well as disability
worldwide, especially in children and young adults. The causes
of brain injury are vehicle accidents, as well as falls, and
violent attacks. There are steps that can be taken to reduce
the chance of serious injury, for example the wearing of
protective helmets when rollerblading or riding motor cycles,
and using seatbelts when riding in vehicles, but education also
plays its part. The public needs information about brain and
head injuries and how they can be prevented, and children
should be encouraged to get used to wearing protective headgear
at an early age. It will then be easier for them to continue
this practice as they get older.
Traumatic
brain injury, or TBI, is also called intracranial injury, and
occurs when some kind of outside force causes traumatic injury
to the brain. The TBI classification depends on the severity of
the brain trauma, whether it is a closed or open head injury,
or whether injury covers a wider area than just the brain,
for example affecting the rest of the face and head, not just
the brain itself.
TBI
usually refers to head injuries, but it covers a broader
category because it can include injuries to the nose, ears,
scalp and skull.
Direct
impact can cause brain trauma, but so too can acceleration of
the body, for example injuries caused by a fall. But it is not
only the initial injury that is the problem, brain trauma
injury can cause secondary injuries, symptoms that occur after
the initial injury, such as pressure building in the skull
which can cause more damage in addition to the original injury.
Other secondary injuries such as a change in personality, the
slurring of speech, sleep disturbances and more can occur
days weeks, or even months after the original injury to the
brain. It is important to inform your physician about any
changes in the normal behaviour of a brain trauma
patient.
The
results of brain trauma injury can be varied, affecting
physical well being, causing cognitive problems as well as
emotional, and recovery is not always possible. In fact there
are many cases of TBI that result in permanent disabilities, or
death. During the last century, medical breakthroughs and
scientific inventions have played a major part in enabling a
decrease in death rates, and an improvement in treatment.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MRI, can now provide better
indications of what is happening in the brain, and helps to
decide whether surgery is needed immediately, or whether
medications alone will bring about
improvement.
The
recovery period for brain injury patients varies considerably,
depending on the severity of the injuries, obviously, and each
case is different in its needs. Some patients may require
physical therapy to help them, while others need speech
therapy. For people employed before their injury, occupational
therapy may be needed to retrain them for a job more suited to
their abilities after injury.
To
conclude, brain trauma injury can cause a host of symptoms and
health problems for the injured person, which in turn can cause
enormous problems for the family of the patient too, as they
learn to cope with the injuries and their
results.
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