A couple of decades ago, all a doctor attending to a person with symptoms of brain injury had to work with were the symptoms as described by the patient.  Then, scientists discovered that when a person suffers a loss of oxygen in the blood, a chemical called troponin is released in the blood.  Now, a quick blood test confirms the presence of this chemical.  If a new study is successful, physicians will soon be able to use such biomarkers to detect that a person has suffered a brain injury.

Early diagnosis of brain injury and treatment as quickly as possible are the key factors in limiting the damage caused by these catastrophic injuries.  Unfortunately, very often, doctors fail to diagnose brain injury, like when a person continues to remain conscious after an injury.  Just because a person has remained conscious does not mean that there is no injury.  Currently, doctors are also not in a position to be able to correctly diagnose immediately whether the person has suffered a brain injury, or is having a stroke or some other condition.  This frequently leads to a wrong diagnosis, delayed treatment and ultimately, a lifetime of severe mobility for the patient.

That unfortunate situation could soon change, however.  The US Defense Department is funding a study of brain injury biomarkers in more than 1,000 patients.  The study will be conducted across 20 hospitals both inside the US and abroad.  It is believed to be the first study of its kind anywhere in the world, and California brain injury lawyers believe could revolutionize the way physicians diagnose brain injuries.  The US military is pinning its hopes on the locating of biomarkers to diagnose brain injury.  If that happens, a simple blood test and a physician would be able to detect the presence of a brain injury, and could begin treatment immediately. 

It’s being hailed as a groundbreaking discovery by scientists who revealed this new possible spinal cord injury treatment at the World Congress for Hair Research in Australia. The scientists believe that mice hair could be a possible new source of healthy stem cells which can help repair damaged cells in patients who suffer from spinal injury.

The discovery of the cells occurred by chance. Scientists at the research lab AntiCancer, in San Diego, were examining the skin of mice and found that the cells in these mice hairs could heal spinal cord injury in mice. Mice with spinal cord injuries that left them paralyzed were able to walk again after being treated with these healthy stem cells from their hair. The scientists placed the hair stem cells into the damaged nerve of the mouse, and found that the nerve soon rejoined. Very soon, the nerve was functioning almost normally again. The scientists backed up their theories with solid proof at the conference. A video was shown of a mouse with a severed spinal cord, which soon began scurrying about after being treated with the hair stem cells.

Spinal cord injury treatment research is an ongoing process and, to California spinal cord injury lawyers, it often seems like there are supposed “breakthroughs” that ultimately lead nowhere. However, this particular breakthrough could be different. The scientists have found that similar stem cells are also found in the hair of humans, suggesting a high likelihood that the treatment could work in humans too.

Obviously, transferring these benefits to human beings is not going to be simple. However, the fact that such dramatic improvements have been seen in mice, and that the cells are found in human beings, is definitely encouraging. It will be a while before California spinal cord injury attorneys and patients with spinal injuries learn if these treatments can be successfully replicated in human beings too.

You don't need a study to learn certain facts. But solid research can confirm the kind of long-term health impacts that brain injury patients suffer. A new study shows that patients who suffer a massive brain injury have a risk of suffering depression that is up to eight times higher than for persons without a brain injury.

The study was conducted by a team at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. The team studied a total of 559 patients who had suffered a traumatic brain injury. Of these patients, approximately 53% had suffered major depression after the injury.

The risks of suffering severe depression were not the same for all brain injury patients. For instance, patients who already suffered from depression at the time of their injury or just before the injury, were more likely to fall into a major depression soon after the head injury. Younger patients were also at a higher risk for depression after brain injury. Patients, who had a dependence on alcohol and substance use, were also more likely to suffer major depressive disorders after brain injury. Brain injury patients, who suffered from major depression, were also at a high risk for anxiety disorders.

The study also threw some light on the lack of proper care for brain injury patients who also suffered from depression. The study found that just about 44% of the brain injured patients who suffered from depression received any treatment for their depression. This only exacerbated their symptoms, and negatively impacted their quality of life.

Many brain injured patients can expect a diminished quality of life. The lucky ones may be able to perform routine daily tasks without much help, walk, and even go back to a job. The unfortunate ones however, find it difficult to perform even routine daily activities, and may be unable to play sports, or go back to work. In a situation like this, it's not hard for California brain injury lawyers to see how depression can set in.

A Cheyenne, Wyoming, resident has filed a federal civil suit against the city, claiming that city police caused a man lasting brain damage in a 2007 arrest that violated his constitutional rights.

Iva McClinton filed the complaint on behalf of her son, Daris R. Peters. The suit alleges that three Cheyenne officers held Peters face down on the ground while handcuffing him during the arrest on April 16, 2007. This cut off the flow of oxygen to his brain, causing him to stop breathing. Court documents said that this lack of airflow caused brain damage as a result of cardiac arrest and anoxic encephalopathy.

In addition to naming the city, the suit names officers Geffery Mims, Kent Davis and Stephanie Nation, as well as the police department as a whole.

Court documents filed on behalf of the officers said they were called to the scene because of Davis' behavior as he was walking near an apartment in the area. The documents did not specify the nature of the behavior mentioned.

Reports indicate that Davis was tasered at least five times during the arrest, in addition to the alleged suffocation from being held down.

“After handcuffing (Peters’) hands behind his back, he was physically held in a prone position by all three officers, with at least one officer placing his knee on (Peters’) back,” the complaint said. “Even though (Peters) began gasping for air and had difficulty breathing, the officers did not turn (Peters) over and put him in a position where he could breathe properly.”

The suit is seeking $840,000 in medical costs, along with court expenses and possible punitive damages.

The police department declined all comment in the matter, saying they did not have any information or know when it would be appropriate to discuss their strategy in the case. The department has retained counsel for the officers’ defense. Casper attorney Patrick Murphy has been assigned to represent both the officers and the department as a whole in the matter.

It is estimated that 10 to 12 thousand people suffer some form of spinal cord injury every year in the USA. Approximately 250,000 Americans — that is to say, a quarter of a million Americans — are living with the long-term consequences of spinal injury, which can include chronic pain; secondary effects such as blood clots, infections, and breathing difficulties; even paralysis. That's more than 30 people a day who suffer an injury that could potentially leave them paralyzed in some way. Sadly, many injury victims aren't experts on the injuries they sustain and don't enlist an advocate who might secure them the best care.

Nearly 40% of spinal injuries are caused by car accidents, while about 25% result from violent encounters such as fights. The rest are caused by injuries occurring in the workplace or in sporting accidents. Many athletes at the peak of their careers retire early due to some form of spinal damage or the fear of such. In fact, the majority of spinal injury victims are men between the ages of 16 and 30.

These are unsettling statistics, implying that quite a few people are being injured right in the prime of their lives. Spinal injuries can rack up massive medical bills for victims, and that's in addition to the difficulties of chronic pain and the efforts involving therapy and total recovery. Plus, the suffering usually expands beyond the immediate victim, causing hardship and heartache for their families and friends as well.

That said, medicine's growing experience with, and knowledge of, spinal injury is offering new hope. Christopher Reeve remains one of the prominent examples of how far someone can come with proper attention after such an injury. Before his unfortunate death, the final result of being thrown from a horse which left him a quadriplegic, Reeve was reporting that he was regaining some sense of feeling and limited movement in his legs again. Doctors have found that specialized steroid medications can limit the severity of nerve damage and preserve movement abilities if applied soon enough after injury.

The Reeve case is but a small window to a possible future where spinal injuries are treated more quickly and effectively, and long-term injury is minimized. Victim advocates will likely play a large role in this in the form of experts who understand the law and how to use it to assist injury sufferers in getting the best treatment possible rather than the treatment someone else decides to give them. Victim advocacy will play an ever-increasing part in ensuring proper health care is administered as science progresses and there are more options to fight for.

A recent study has presented findings that a condition known as mild Traumatic Brain Injury or mTBI may, in fact, be misnamed. Doug Smith, MD, director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair and a professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, presented the information at a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

There are over one million cases of mTBI diagnosis every year in the United States, and many more abroad. By and large the current practice is to treat them accordingly with their name: minor. Mild concussions and impact injuries are observed to make sure there is no immediate consequence, and then patients are largely left to their own devices.

Doctor Smith's findings call this practice into question, however. Smith argues that mTBI is far more serious than it is usually treated, and that it needs more comprehensive analysis. "This is not inconsequential," says Smith. "Indeed, the observation that brain pathology can be detected after a concussion calls for much more extensive efforts to prevent, diagnose, and treat mild traumatic brain injury."

Smith's study focused on the period after most treatment for mTBI stops, 2-4 days after the injury. The team found two very telling pieces of evidence. First, there were distinct changes in the physical makeup of the brain, usually just two days out from impact. Secondly they also found certain protein markers in the blood that only show up as a result of brain injury or pathology. Smith and his associates have proposed further study, as well as a scientific model that can explain their findings more simply. However the implications are very clear - if mTBI has more effect than expected, the way doctors handle it is going to have to change.

One of the most misunderstood things about science is that it isn't the answer - it's the tool by which answers are found. As more information becomes available, people refine their explanations for things. AIDS was once thought to be airborne, now we know it isn't. Cancer was once thought incurable, now scientists are developing vaccines that may prevent it entirely. Science marches on, and as information changes so must our response. People who have had one or more diagnoses of mTBI may want to contact their doctors for further evaluation, or at least reassurances. Smith's report is hardly a license to panic, but now that we have new information, people have every right to take a look at their circumstances, and see what actions they warrant.

The relationship between professional football and brain injury has been heavily in the media spotlight over the past few months. The issue has even gone to Congress. This week, the Mackey-White Traumatic Brain Injury Committee held its first meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. The committee consists of professional athletes, current and past NFL players, doctors and scientists. The committee has been formed as a forum for discussion of brain injuries in professional football, the latest research linking these injuries to football, as well as safety recommendations to prevent injuries. The committee is named after athletes John Mackey who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and Reggie White, who died at the age of 43 after his retirement from professional football.

Congressional hearings into the link between professional football and dementia and other signs of brain injury were conducted earlier this month. It was a follow up to a compete hearing conducted in October last year in Washington.  During that hearing, the NFL had received severe criticism for the manner in which it has handled the issue of brain injuries in football players.  The league has since agreed to several changes in the rules to minimize the risk of such injuries.

For California brain injury lawyers, getting the NFL to even admit that there is a high risk of brain injuries with the kind of continuous blows to the head that a professional football player receives, has been no easy task. The NFL’s Dr. Ira Casson testified before the hearing earlier this month - and continues to insist -  that there wasn’t enough evidence to determine if repeated head blows could cause long-term brain damage.  However in December last year, an NFL spokesman made a startling admission - that medical research had proved that repeated concussions can cause long-term problems.  It should hopefully, signify the beginning of better safety measures to prevent these debilitating injuries.

A Canadian group of researchers says that a concussion is not just a minor head injury, but a brain injury that parents must take more seriously.

Researchers at the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario say that although the term “concussion” is used loosely to signify any kind of minor injury or head bump, these injuries are more serious than most of us know. The researchers reviewed 434 children with brain injuries. Of these kids, 32 percent had suffered a concussion.  The researchers found that:

• Children who had suffered a concussion were required to stay in the hospital for a lesser amount of time.
• They also spent fewer days off school.
• Not only that, they also returned to school soon after being discharged from the hospital without a lengthy recuperation period.

According to Dr. Carol DeMatteo, who is an associate clinical professor at the School of Rehabilitation Science, children who return to school or begin to play sports soon after a concussion are at a higher risk of suffering another head injury. In fact, these children are twice as likely to suffer a second head injury within a period of one year. This second injury can actually end in serious or permanent brain injury.

Concussions are typically not taken seriously. Once the bump disappears and the pain is gone, parents assume that their children are fine and don’t need additional treatment. However, Dr. DeMatteo warns that children who suffer a concussion must be monitored, and kept under observation. This is especially so if the CT scan shows brain damage, or if the child has lost consciousness for a long period of time. In such cases, the child may have suffered a more severe brain injury which is not visible from the outside. Externally, the child may be able to perform normal activities without any signs of damage, but such injuries could turn very serious or fatal quickly. 

As California brain injury lawyers, we would also advise schools, teachers and coaches to monitor such injuries in students. Children who have suffered concussions must not be allowed to play rough sports before confirming that there is no underlying brain damage.