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.