Brain Damage Hot Topics

Brain Injury Awareness Month

March 2007 has been labeled this year's brain injury awareness month.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control wants everyone to keep in mind that a blow or jolt to the head can result in a traumatic brain injury (TBI), which can disrupt the function of the brain.

Have you or someone you love suffered a brain injury?  If so, contact a TBI Attorney in your area today!

Of the 1.4 million individuals who sustain a traumatic brain injury each year in the United States:

• 50,000 die
• 235,000 are hospitalized
• 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department

Among children ages 0 - 14 years of age, traumatic brain injury results in an estimated:

• 2,685 deaths
• 37,000 hospitalizations
• 435,000 emergency department visits

The leading causes of a traumatic brain injury include:

• Falls (28%)
• Motor vehicle traffic accidents (20%)
• Struck by/against events (19%)
• Assaults (11%)

Have you or someone you love suffered a brain injury?  If so, contact a TBI Attorney in your area today!

Everyone also must understand that the signs and symptons of a traumatic brain injury or consussion may be subtle.  The symptoms of a traumatic brain injury may take days or weeks following the injury to appear.

Symptoms of a concussion in adults include:

• Headache or neck pain that won’t go away
• Trouble with such mental tasks as remembering, concentrating or decision-making
• Slow thinking, speaking, acting or reading
• Getting lost or easily confused
• Feeling tired all the time, having no energy or motivation
• Mood changes, changes in sleep patterns
• Feeling light-headed or dizzy or losing balance
• An urge to vomit (nausea)
• Increased sensitivity to lights, sounds or distractions
• Blurred vision or eyes that tire easily
• Loss of sense of smell or taste
• Ringing in the ears

Symptoms of a concussion in children include:

• Feeling tired or listless
• Being irritable or cranky (will not stop crying or cannot be consoled)
• Changes in eating (will not eat or nurse)
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Changes in the way the child plays
• Changes in performance at school
• Lack of interest in favorite toys or activities
• Loss of new skills, such as toilet training
• Loss of balance, unsteady walking
• Vomiting

Have you or someone you love suffered a brain injury?  If so, contact a TBI Attorney in your area today!