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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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