Definitions:
Traumatic Brain Injury
(TBI) is an insult to the brain, not of a degenerative or
congenital nature, caused by an external physical force that may
produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness, which
results in an impairment of cognitive abilities or physical
functioning. It also can result in the disturbance of
behavioral or emotional functioning.
Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)
is an injury to the brain which is not hereditary, congenital or
degenerative. An acquired brain injury is an injury to the brain
that has occurred after birth. Causes of ABI include external forces
applied to the head and/or neck (traumatic brain injury),
anoxic/hypoxic injury (e.g., cardiopulmonary arrest, carbon monoxide
poisoning, airway obstruction, and hemorrhage), intracranial
surgery, vascular disruption, infectious diseases, intracranial
neoplasms, metabolic disorder, seizure disorders and toxic
exposure).
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Scope of the Problem
An estimated 5.3 million Americans – a little more
than 2% of the population – currently live with disabilities
resulting from brain injury (Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC))
Each year 2 million people sustain a brain injury.
Every twenty-one seconds an infant, child, teenager or adult
sustains a traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injury is the
leading cause of death and disability among children and young
adults and the leading cause of death until the age of 44. It is
also the 4th leading cause of death over all. Each day
5,500 individuals sustain a traumatic brain injury which results in
1 ½ times more deaths each year than AIDS. Between 1981 and 1993
more Americans died as a result of TBI than have been killed in all
the wars in our history combined.
Alcohol is involved in more than 50% of all motor
vehicle crashes and each year 230,000 individuals are hospitalized
with TBI and survive. For people ages 65 and older falls are the
leading causes of TBI and transportation related injuries lead among
persons ages 15-64. Of the fall-related TBIs 11% of them prove
fatal. Of these traumatic brain injuries fewer than 1 in 20 people
will receive the rehabilitation that they need.
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Who Gets a Brain
Injury?
Anyone can get a brain injury!
Yet, some are more at risk than others
In 1995 the highest rates of injury were for males
age 15-24, who are two times more likely than females to sustain a
brain injury. Older adults are at risk from falls and are more
likely to fall a second and third time once they receive a traumatic
brain injury. Individuals who have already sustained one or more
concussions are more likely to receive another.
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Mild Brain Injury-
75% of all brain injuries are mild
A mild brain injury is also known as a
"concussion". Loss of consciousness may be less than fifteen minutes
or not at all. The person may have a dazed, vacant stare right after
the injury, delayed response to questions or commands,
disorientation and foggy memory, headaches, dizziness or nausea,
slurred speech and usually will not have any major complications
such as a hemotoma. The person will usually receive a normal
neurological exam.
Often, people with mild brain injury do not even
go to the hospital or seek any treatment. It is often misdiagnosed
because the signs and symptoms of mild brain injury are similar to
other problems. Post Concussive Syndrome is when symptoms such as
temporary headaches, dizziness, mild mental slowing and fatigue
appear at a later time following a brain injury. Symptoms of mild
brain injury will usually improve over 1-3 months.
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Moderate Brain
Injury
When a person has a moderate traumatic brain
injury they will have a loss of consciousness that will last from a
few minutes to a few hours. Their confusion will last from days to
weeks and their physical, cognitive and/or behavioral impairments
last for months or are permanent. The person can generally make a
good recovery with treatment or successfully learning to compensate
for their deficits.
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Severe Brain Injury
Severe brain injury almost always results in
prolonged unconsciousness or coma lasting days, weeks or even
longer. It can also be classified into subgroups such as coma,
vegetative state, persistent vegetative state, minimally responsive
state, akinetic mutism and locked-in syndrome.
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Coma
Coma is defined as a state of unconsciousness from
which the individual cannot be awakened. The person will not respond
to stimuli and initiates no voluntary activities.
For more information on Coma click here:
http://www.biausa.org/Pages/coma.html
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