Awareness of Traumatic Brain Injuries - Law Firm Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P.A. Attorneys Edina, Minnesota

Awareness of Traumatic Brain Injuries

The brain is a complex and vital organ that shapes who we are. It allows us to understand questions and solve intricate problems, it produces our emotions while crafting our personality, and it helps us to live on both a biological and spiritual level. If it should experience damage than the essence of who we are could be lost forever. This is why traumatic brain injuries can cause grave damage to the life of its victim.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a traumatic brain injury (also known as TBI) is an affliction that 1.4 million Americans sustain each year, 50,000 of which don't survive. While TBI's have differing levels of severity (ranging from mild to severe), they are usually acquired from a simple injury to the head and/or neck. Falls are the leading cause accounting for 28% of TBI's, while motor vehicle accidents account for 20%. However, motor vehicle accidents have a higher frequency when it comes to TBI hospitalizations, which studies have shown effect over 280,000 people each year. The causes of the injury are wide in variety and can occur from open or closed head injuries to deceleration injuries (also known as a diffuse axonal injuries), but its complexities delve much deeper.

A traumatic brain injury can have life-altering effects on a victim's emotional and physical well-being, but can also do severe damage to the physical nature of the brain. The injury may require years, if not decades, of special care and rehabilitation from care facilities like CareMeridian. The impairments from a brain injury can affect speech, vision, coordination, the short term and long term memory, and may even result in mood swings and behavioral changes in personality. Considering that every brain injury is different, rehabilitation depends on the individual person and injury; yet, prevention is possible.

For an injury as debilitating as TBI, prevention is essential. Luckily, prevention is not difficult. When driving, the best way to avert a TBI is by wearing a seatbelt and not being under the influence of alcohol. In fact, according to the Brain Injury Association of America more than 50% of people with a brain injury were intoxicated at the time of their injury. It's also smart to always wear a helmet when riding a bike, thus reducing the risk of a head injury by almost 90%. If the right precautions are taken, the severity of TBI's can be reduced.

There is a lot that is still unknown about the inner workings of the human brain. However, one thing known for certain is the life changing affects that a TBI can have on its victims as a result of irreversible damage to a person's function.

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI. The severity of a TBI may range from "mild," i.e., a brief change in mental status or consciousness to "severe," i.e., an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury.

How many people have TBI?

TBIs contribute to a substantial number of deaths and cases of permanent disability annually.

Of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States:

50,000 die;
235,000 are hospitalized; and
1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department.¹

Among children ages 0 to 14 years, TBI results in an estimated:

2,685 deaths;
37,000 hospitalizations; and
435,000 emergency department visits annually.¹

The number of people with TBI who are not seen in an emergency department or who receive no care is unknown.

For more information about TBI in the United States, including the groups at highest risk, CDC's surveillance activities, and the numbers of TBI cases in each state, see Overview.

What causes TBI?

The leading causes of TBI are:

Falls (28%);
Motor vehicle-traffic crashes (20%);
Struck by/against events (19%); and
Assaults (11%).¹

For more information on the leading causes of TBI, see Causes.

What are the signs and symptoms of TBI?

The signs and symptoms of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be subtle. Symptoms of a TBI may not appear until days or weeks following the injury or may even be missed as people may look fine even though they may act or feel differently.

For a list of common signs and symptoms of TBI, see Signs and Symptoms.

What are the long-term outcomes of TBI?

CDC estimates that at least 5.3 million Americans, approximately 2% of the U.S. population, currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of a TBI.²

TBI can cause a wide range of functional changes affecting thinking, sensation, language, and/or emotions. It can also cause epilepsy and increase the risk for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other brain disorders that become more prevalent with age.³

To learn more about the potential outcomes of TBI, see Outcomes.

What are the costs of TBI?

Direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost productivity of TBI totaled an estimated $60 billion in the United States in 2000.⁴

References

Langlois JA, Rutland-Brown W, Thomas KE. Traumatic brain injury in the United States: emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2004.
Thurman D, Alverson C, Dunn K, Guerrero J, Sniezek J. Traumatic brain injury in the United States: a public health perspective. Journal of Head Trauma and Rehabilitation 1999;14(6):602-15.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Traumatic brain injury: hope through research. Bethesda (MD): National Institutes of Health; 2002 Feb. NIH Publication No.: 02-158.
Finkelstein E, Corso P, Miller T and associates. The Incidence and Economic Burden of Injuries in the United States. New York (NY): Oxford University Press; 2006.