September
30 , 2003,
" New
brain injury drug on fast track status"
The FDA recently awarded Pharmos’ traumatic brain
injury drug a fast track status. The traumatic brain
injury treatment is intended to treat secondary neuroprotective
brain damage following the injury. Often times, there
can be a secondary injury that occurs after the initial
trauma has been suffered that can be extremely damaging.
According
to Pharmos, the U.S. market of patients with traumatic
brain injury is estimated to be more than $500 million,
with international market potential in excess of $1
billion. Nearly 2 million American suffer a traumatic
brain injury every year. For more information on brain
injury contact us to confer
with a brain injury lawyer.
September
25 , 2003,
"New
brain injury treatment being studied"
Scientists have been discussing what is being considered
the world’s first clinical trial to use the hormone
progesterone as a treatment for moderate to severe traumatic
brain injury. Every year, 50,000 Americans die because
of a traumatic brain injury and 80,000 more Americans
become disabled. Some brain injury treatments can include
barbiturates, mannitol, and surgery, but these methods
are last-resort and do not always work.
Daily
life can become severely disrupted because of a brain
injury and tasks such as concentrating or memory can
become problematic. In animal studies, progesterone
was able to improve memory and cognitive thinking skills
after suffering a brain injury. The rats had less brain
swelling and were able to better recover when treated
shortly after the brain injury.
The
progesterone was able to moderate the brain injury inflammation
that can lead to dangerous head swelling after a brain
injury. After a traumatic brain injury is suffered,
damaging chemicals called free radicals appear to be
slowed and sometimes blocked by the use of progesterone.
The secondary injury after the initial brain injury
trauma is what can cause increases in brain injury size
and lead to death, but progesterone brain injury treatment
seems to protect the brain from nerve, neuron, and other
brain cell breakdown.
For more information on brain injury contact
us to confer with a brain injury lawyer
June
11, 2003,
" New
research indicates brain injury in babies due to prematurity
and infections"
It
was believed that newborn brain injury was the result
of oxygen deprivation in the majority of cases, however
new research indicates there are other factors responsible
for the brain injury. A U.S. center had a study of 213
infants and found that the resulted indicated prematurity
and infections are greatly responsible for the infants
being born with a brain injury. Infections were found
to increase the chances for brain injury in newborns
by 36%. Contact us for more
information on brain injury.
June
10, 2003,
"Lowering
body temperatures may help brain injuries"
Initial studies have indicated lowering
severe brain injury patients body temperature may help
in their recovery. By putting a cooling blanket on the
brain injury patient with packs of ice around the head
and other areas sometimes, researchers found that hypothermia
treatment was associated to a 19% reduced risk of death
and were 22% less likely to have poor neurological outcomes.
The
best outcome for the hypothermia tested brain injury
patients were with people that were cooled to a temperature
of 32-33 degrees Celsius for more than 48 hours and
then re-warmed within 24 hours after cooling ended.
The brain injury treatment method did have its risks,
though, including lung infections, irregular heartbeat,
and blood clotting abnormalities.
May 19, 2003,
"Severe
head injury precursor to Parkinson’s according
to new study"
A new study performed on head injury victims has made
a link between sufferers of severe head injury with
loss of consciousness and a higher risk of developing
Parkinson’s disease later in life. The risk amongst
the severe head injury patients was found to be 11 times
greater according to the study’s author from the
Mayo Clinic.
There
were three explanations for the findings produced by
the study team. One explanation was that when a head
injury is suffered the blood brain barrier is disrupted
so certain poisons from the bloodstream can get into
the brain and lead to cell death, which can take years
to happen. The head injury may also cause brain cells
to produce new proteins that can lead to cell death,
or the least likely explanation according to the study
author is that following a head injury some cells are
lost and with aging and cell death it can reach a point
when Parkinson’s develops.
May 19, 2003,
"Physical
therapy may help brain injury recovery"
Findings by a team of researchers in Germany and the
United States may indicate that after suffering a brain
injury, highly specific therapeutic plans can help with
resetting the brain’s image of the body. More
research and studies will be performed on the possibility
of developing new therapies and improving rehabilitation
of motor and sensory disorders in brain injury patients.
May
11, 2003, "Brain injury test being developed"
The University of Florida is developing a blood test
to identify dead brain cell proteins, which would indicate
if a brain injury has been suffered. Quicker brain injury
treatment can greatly reduce the injury worsening. The
brain injury test will detect both the site and severity
of the injury without having to perform the initial
CAT Scan.
Contact us to confer with a traumatic
brain injury lawyer.
May 8, 2003,
"Mild traumatic brain injury
and clinical depression linked"
A West Virginia University study has found that multiple
mild traumatic brain injuries can increase risk of developing
clinical depression. The risk was found to be nearly
three times greater than with people that have no history
of concussion. The study findings were presented at
the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological
Surgeons. The study’s author concluded concussions
and other head injuries in early adulthood greatly increase
the risks of depression years later as well, concussion
are reported to have a long-lasting and permanent effect
on thinking and memory skills later in life.
Contact us to confer with a traumatic brain
injury lawyer.
February
7, 2000, “Traumatic brain injury strikes every
15 seconds”
According to the Brain Injury Association, someone in
the United States sustains a traumatic brain injury
every 15 seconds. Vehicle crashes, falls and sports
injuries are the three leading causes. These injuries
can leave victims with temporary or permanent cognitive
and emotional problems, including memory loss, speech
impairments, fatigue and impulsive behavior. Read
More...
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