Brain Injury Lawyer

I just received this month’s issue of the Brain Injury Professional, the official publication of the North American Brain Injury Society (NABIS). This month’s issue covers the post concussion disorder. 

The issue contains the following articles:

1. Physiologic Post Concussion Disorder by Barry Willer, Ph.D. and John Leddy, M.D.
2. Augmenting Neuro Cognitive Assessment in the Evaluation of Sports Concussion:  How the vestibular and ocular issues impact recovery. Anne Mucha, DPT, Michael Collins, Ph.D., and Jonathan French, Psy.D.
3. Cervicogenic Post Concussion Disorder:  A pain in the neck.  John Leddy, M.D.
4. Suggestions for Facilitating Return to Learn After Concussion.  Brian Rieger, Ph.D.
5. Providing a Continuum of Care for Concussion Using Existing Educational Frameworks.  Karen McAvoy, Psy.D.
6. Psychologists Working in Concussion Clinics.  John Baker, Ph.D.
7. Concussion Legislation:  Variations on a theme.  Gene Rickerson.
8. Sports Concussions.org:  A new resource for brain injury professionals and families.  Neal McGrath, Ph.D.

I recommend everyone joining NAIBIS.  The above link will send you to the society’s web page.  Please remember that NAIBIS will be holding its 25th medical legal conference and its 9th medical conference from September 12-15, 2012 in Miami, Florida.

Jason Mihalik, an assistant professor of Exercise and Sports Science in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, and Gerard Gioia, member of the UNC’s class of 1984 who currently works for the Children's National Medical Center and George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., co-authored a smartphone app which could help players, coaches and parents determine if someone has suffered a concussion.

The Concussion Recognition and Response App uses a checklist of symptoms like dizziness and memory problems, to guide the user through a series of questions in order to evaluate whether or not someone has suffered a concussion. The App does not provide a diagnosis, but rather provides feedback to the user to aid in the determination if the player should be removed from a game and seek additional medical attention. Removing concussed athletes from activity can be critical. A second impact after an initial head injury can often bring catastrophic consequences.
 

This month’s issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics contained an interesting article, Long-Term Intellectual Outcome of Traumatic Brain Injury in Children: Limits to Neuroplasticity of the Young Brain, by Harvey S. Levin.

Dr. Levin reports on two studies from the same children’s hospital with regard to the outcome of children who have sustained traumatic brain injury.  Dr. Levin states that “taken together, these studies challenge views long held by clinicians and researchers, including that young children are more resilient to the effects of TBI on intellectual development then older children because of the greater capacity for neuroplasticity.  The view that young children have greater capacity for cerebral reorganization of function may find support in early, focal vascular lesions, but not in severe diffused white matter injury.  The data reported by Anderson, et al. also challenge the contention that children who sustain early TBI ‘grow into their deficit,’ and extrapolation from experimental lesions in regions of motor cortex and prefrontal cortex in monkeys.  Instead, the trajectory of intellectual development after early moderate to severe TBI appears to reflect a consistent lag in comparison with health children.”

The Brain Injury Association of New Jersey will be launching a new support group this February. The group will be located in Willingboro, New Jersey and will host their first meeting on February 21, 2011.

The new group will focus on serving teens and young adults with brain injury, as well as their parents and caregivers. For more information about the meeting contact:  Elizabeth Blackburn-Gruver or Mary Wightman Murdock at 609-877-4111.

 

A team of Canadian concussion specialists created an online concussion library full of information and resources for both the public and research and medical professionals. The Sport Concussion Library includes more than 2,300 peer-reviewed journal articles, 61 book chapters, entries on thesis research, concussion legislation on the federal, state and provincial levels, filmed documentaries, and a downloadable SCAT2 test, the standard sideline concussion assessment tool.

The library and its information is free, will be updated monthly and contains no advertising. There are sections specific to hockey, football, soccer, baseball and several other sports, as well as a section containing concussion research conducted by the military. Entries range from a simple definition of a concussion and information for parents, players and coaches, to the latest research papers.

I encourage my readers to view the site and keep it in mind for the future should you need information related to sports-related brain injuries. Great information – great resource!
 

I found a video online which I think may be of great interest to the readers of my blog. The video, Memory and the Brain, features Dr. Jeanette Norden, a neuroscientist and award-winning professor at Vanderbilt University explores the different categories of memory, the areas of the brain involved in creating and shaping memories and the ways that our synapses change based on experiences in the world.

I’m sure you’ll enjoy the video lecture as Dr. Norden explores the fascinating science behind how your brain works to create and use memories.

Bruce Stern, Chair of Stark & Stark’s Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, put together a video presentation entitled Concussions….Not to be Ignored. The presentation focuses on the importance of classifying concussions as traumatic brain injuries, and, making people aware of the fact that although a brain injury may have been classified as “mild” there are in fact serious potential dangers associated with these injuries. Mr. Stern also discusses the physical, cognitive and behavioral changes associated with mild traumatic brain injuries and how these changes can affect a patient's life in the future.  

New Jersey recently received federal funds from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to serve moderately and severely brain-injured members of the armed services. Nearly one in four injured service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered a traumatic brain injury, and the need for adequate care has only increased along with the number of injuries. This grant would assist the Department of Veterans Affairs in teaching soldiers some of the most basic skills, such as walking, talking and meeting daily challenges of life.

Bancroft NeuroHealth runs a traumatic brain-injury rehabilitation program for adults and is one of 21 nationally accredited agencies that won a contract in June from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The three-year, $23.5 million Assisted Living-Traumatic Brain Injury pilot program is aimed at helping veterans cope with the limitations of their conditions — and to regain independence wherever possible.
 

A new book, The Concussion Crisis: Anatomy of a Silent Epidemic, by Linda Carroll and David Rosner, explains a constant theme in our society: protect the sport, not the players. The truth is, for a long time, people didn’t want to believe that sports-related concussions were an actual danger posing life-threatening injuries to players. However, in recent years, the amount of new information being released highlighting the devastating effects concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries could have on players has brought this long-hidden trend to the forefront of not only the medical community, but also the nation as a whole.

In the book, the authors include profiles of those who’ve sustained football concussions that have led to disability, shattered lives, insanity and early death. Carroll and Rosner emphasize that concussions are often undetectable and several minor jolts can ultimately inflict as much damage as a major traumatic brain injury.

Dick’s sporting goods is giving away the ImPACT baseline concussion evaluation software free of charge to local schools courtesy of their PACE program. The PACE program - Protecting Athletes through Concussion Education - encourages the medical staffs at schools to better understand concussions, and to test and check young athletes throughout sports seasons.

Through the PACE program, Dick’s Sporting Goods will be offering 3,335 eligible middle and high schools the opportunity to have the ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) computer software available at their schools for a free, 12-month subscription. This will allow up to one million athletes the opportunity to get a baseline concussion test, which is one step in ensuring the safety of the next generation of athletes. Parents, athletes, and coaches can apply for the ImPACT software online starting August 2, 2011 through September 12, 2011.