Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Can you prevent traumatic brain injury?
Prevention measures include use of protective technology in vehicles, such as seat belts and sports or motorcycle helmets, as well as efforts to reduce the number of collisions, such as safety education programs and enforcement of traffic laws. Depending on the injury, treatment required may be minimal or may include interventions such as medications, emergency surgery or surgery years later. Physical therapy, speech therapy, recreation therapy, occupational therapy and vision therapy may be employed for rehabilitation. Counseling, supported employment, and community support services may also be useful.
The Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization Act of 2013 () is a bill that would reauthorize appropriations for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) projects to reduce the incidence of traumatic brain injury and projects related to track and monitor traumatic brain injuries.
H.R. 1098 would amend provisions of the Public Health Service Act that authorize the United States Department of Health and Human Services to conduct activities related to traumatic brain injury. Those activities, including the study and surveillance of traumatic brain injury and the awarding of grants that support access to services, are carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Faculty provides care for thousands suffering from mild to traumatic brain injuries. The concussion clinic at Medstar NRH focuses primarily on this form of brain injury and is regarded as one of the best in the country according to U.S. News & World Report. 75 percent of all traumatic brain injuries that occur are concussions. Traumatic brain injuries contribute to a third of all deaths in the United States with over 1.5 million brain injuries occurring each year. During their stay, patients are also educated on precautions they can take to prevent a future incidence.
On March 12, 2013, Pascrell introduced the Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization Act of 2013 (H.R. 1098; 113th Congress), a bill that would reauthorize appropriations for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) projects to reduce the incidence of traumatic brain injury and projects related to track and monitor traumatic brain injuries. He is the Co-founder and Co-chair of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, which was founded in 2001 and now includes more than a hundred members of Congress.
Head and neck injuries can include a variety of pathologies from sprains, strains and fractures to traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries. Sprains and strains can occur from an abrupt rotation or whipping motion, such as whiplash. Stress injuries (stress fractures and stress reactions) of the lumbosacral region are one of the causes of sports-related lower back pain in young individuals. The onset of the observed cervical fractures in sports injury were likely due to continued momentum that transferred loads superiorly through the neck, which likely exacerbated the injuries the injuries to the occipital condyles and the upper cervical vertebrae. Researchers have reported that 3-25% of cervical spine injuries actually occur after the initial traumatic event and are caused or exacerbated by improper handling during early stages of management or patient transport. One of the more common head or neck injuries that occurs in sports is a concussion. A concussion is a type of mild traumatic brain injury resulting in a chemical change in the brain and has potential to cause damage to brain tissue. This can occur when a person sustains a hit or blow that cause the head and brain to move quickly, causing the brain to bounce in the skull. According to an epidemiological study published in the Journal of Athletic Training, the incidence of concussions from 27 high school sports was 3.89 sports-related concussions per 10,000 athlete exposures.
Certain facilities are equipped to handle TBI better than others; initial measures include transporting patients to an appropriate treatment center.[45][86] Both during transport and in hospital the primary concerns are ensuring proper oxygen supply, maintaining adequate blood flow to the brain, and controlling raised intracranial pressure (ICP),[4] since high ICP deprives the brain of badly needed blood flow[87] and can cause deadly brain herniation. Other methods to prevent damage include management of other injuries and prevention of seizures.[16][69] Some data supports the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to improve outcomes.[88]
A concussion is defined as a stunning, damaging, or shattering effect from a hard blow; especially: a jarring injury of the brain resulting in disturbance of cerebral function. Concussions are also sometimes referred to as mTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury). Concussions are injuries to the head which cause a temporary lapse in the normal operation of brain function. Concussions have many symptoms which could be displayed in a physical, psychological or emotional manner. Concussions symptoms can sometimes be hard to determine because they present in a subtle manner. A symposium was held in 2008 in Zurich, Switzerland where a definition for concussions was developed. A concussion is now defined as “a complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces.”
The Brain Injury Research Institute (BIRI) is a center for the study of traumatic brain injuries and their prevention that was founded in 2002.
Traumatic Brain Injury
Hemiballismus can also occur as a result of a traumatic brain injury. There are cases in which victims of assault or other forms of violence have developed hemiballismus. Through these acts of violence, the victim’s brain has been damaged and the hemiballistic movements have developed.
The Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization Act of 2013 would amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize appropriations for FY2014-FY2018 for: (1) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) projects to reduce the incidence of traumatic brain injury, and (2) traumatic brain injury surveillance systems or registries.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as intracranial injury, occurs when an external force injures the brain. TBI can be classified based on severity, mechanism (closed or penetrating head injury), or other features (e.g., occurring in a specific location or over a widespread area). Head injury is a broader category that may involve damage to other structures such as the scalp and skull. TBI can result in physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral symptoms, and outcome can range from complete recovery to permanent disability or death.
 Traumatic brain injury is defined as a “direct physical impact or trauma to
the head followed by a dynamic series of injury and repair events”. Recently, neuroproteomics have been applied to studying the disability that over 5.4 million Americans live with. In addition to physically injuring the brain tissue, traumatic brain injury induces the release of glutamate that interacts with ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs). These glutamate receptors acidify the surrounding intracranial fluid, causing further injury on the molecular level to nearby neurons. The death of the surrounding neurons is induced through normal apoptosis mechanisms, and it is this cycle that is being studied with neuroproteomics. Three different cysteine protease derivatives are involved in the apoptotic pathway induced by the acidic environment triggered by glutamate. These cysteine proteases include calpain, caspase, and cathepsin. These three proteins are examples of detectable signs of traumatic brain injury that are much more specific than temperature, oxygen level, or intracranial pressure.
Proteomics thus also offers a tracking mechanism by which researchers can monitor the progression of traumatic brain injury, or a chronic disease such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Especially in Parkinson’s, in which neurotransmitters play a large role, recent proteomic research has involved the study of synaptotagmin. Synaptotagmin is involved in the calcium-induced budding of vesicle containing neurotransmitters from the presynaptic membrane. By studying the intracellular mechanisms involved in neural apoptosis after traumatic brain injury, researchers can create a map that genetic changes can follow later on.
In the event that the brain strikes the inside of the skull, there is a risk of a minor traumatic brain injury (concussion). This type of injury can alter brain function, cause memory loss, headaches an or nausea. A minor traumatic brain injury can be followed by post concussion syndrome.
The capacity of an adult human cranial cavity is 1,200–1,700 cm.
TBI is one of two subsets of acquired brain injury (brain damage that occur after birth); the other subset is non-traumatic brain injury, which does not involve external mechanical force (examples include stroke and infection).[5][6] All traumatic brain injuries are head injuries, but the latter term may also refer to injury to other parts of the head.[7][8][9] However, the terms head injury and brain injury are often used interchangeably.[10] Similarly, brain injuries fall under the classification of central nervous system injuries[11] and neurotrauma.[12] In neuropsychology research literature, in general the term "traumatic brain injury" is used to refer to non-penetrating traumatic brain injuries.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI, physical trauma to the brain) can cause a variety of complications, health effects that are not TBI themselves but that result from it. The risk of complications increases with the severity of the trauma; however even mild traumatic brain injury can result in disabilities that interfere with social interactions, employment, and everyday living. TBI can cause a variety of problems including physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral complications.
The tapping rate is a psychological test given to assess the integrity of the neuromuscular system and examine motor control. The finger tapping test has the advantage of being a relatively pure neurologically driven motor task because the inertial and intersegmental interactions are so small that biomechanical influences on movement are reduced. Finger tapping involves three important features: time, spatial amplitude, and frequency. Studies have reported that the average number of taps per 10-second interval can be used to distinguish between patients with mild traumatic brain injury and healthy controls, is slower in people one month after sustaining a mild traumatic brain injury, and in experienced boxers and soccer players who frequently "headed" the ball. The speed of finger tapping has also been found to be related to severity of initial traumatic brain injury, and can be used to help assess recovery from mild and moderate traumatic brain injuries.
Other disorders and injuries of the brain that can lead to AOS include (traumatic) dementia, progressive neurological disorders, and traumatic brain injury.
Rules exist within each sport to help prevent cerebral contusions and traumatic brain injuries. However, individual athletes are the best prevention against their own injuries. In a game, athletes notice when they have the symptoms of a cerebral contusion and should take themselves out of the game. It may be hard for medical personnel or coaches to notice when a player has a traumatic brain injury, so it is in the player’s best interest to be removed from play. In hockey, traumatic brain injuries constitute 10%-15% of all head injuries. With the high percent of injuries being traumatic, extensive design improvements have been made to helmets. These improvements reduce the risk of cerebral contusions by providing more padding around the skull and a chin strap that keeps the helmet snug. In baseball, major improvements to helmets have been made to protect batters from the impact a baseball can have when hitting their head. Helmets, before this major improvement, were designed to withstand a velocity of 70 mph from a pitch or foul ball. Since the company Rawlings’ new design, helmets can withstand a velocity of 100 mph and have further padding around the softer parts on the side of the skull.
Research at UTSW's Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair focuses on various types of brain injuries and conditions, including traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, and Alzheimer's disease. The Institute also promotes brain injury education and prevention. The Texas Legislature provided $15 million for the current biennium – the largest allocation for a brain injury initiative in state history.
Closed-head injuries can range from mild injuries to debilitating traumatic brain injuries and can lead to severe brain damage or death. Common closed-head injuries include:
The National Association of State Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA) supported the bill, calling the programs supported by the bill "critical in helping states to address" the unique needs of individuals with traumatic brain injuries. NASHIA supported the bill for allowing states their own flexibility to address needs in their own states and applauded the CDC's work in public education, trying to prevent bad falls by the elderly, and trying to stop sports related traumatic brain injuries.
Traumatic brain injury happens when the head suffers from a sharp blow, or suddenly accelerates or decelerates. In these cases, the brain gets churned around, and can be damaged by the bony bumps and knobs inside the skull, or by the twisting and tearing of fibres in the brain. If the traumatic brain injury is severe enough, it can lead to an initial coma, which is then followed by a time of post-traumatic amnesia. Post traumatic amnesia typically resolves itself gradually, however it will leave a mild, but permanent deficit in the patient's memory.
Traumatic brain injury modeling attempts to replicate certain aspects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in order better understand what is physically happening to the brain. A variety of models can be used for this process with different models able to replicate certain aspects of TBI while also producing their own limitations.
Brain damage or injury to the brain can manifest in many ways. Traumatic brain injury, for example received in contact sport, after a fall, or a traffic or work accident, can be associated with both immediate and longer-term problems. Immediate problems may include bleeding within the brain, this may compress the brain tissue or damage its blood supply. Bruising to the brain may occur. Bruising may cause widespread damage to the nerve tracts that can lead to a condition of diffuse axonal injury. A fractured skull, injury to a particular area, deafness, and concussion are also possible immediate developments. In addition to the site of injury, the opposite side of the brain may be affected, termed a contrecoup injury. Longer-term issues that may develop include posttraumatic stress disorder, and hydrocephalus. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy can develop following multiple head injuries.