Recent literature has highlighted the prevalence of dysfunctions in vision following traumatic brain injuries of all levels of severity (including concussion.) Research published by the Veterans Administration (VA) in 2012 indicates that the percentage of TBI victims with vision problems could be as high as 60%. They explain that this prevalence is not surprising, since over 50% of the brain is involved in visual processing. Alvarez et. al. explain how visual and other symptoms occur when the brain is subjected to “acceleration/deceleration” forces: Read More
I travel between two worlds that may appear far apart – by day I am a trial lawyer with a focus on traumatic brain injury; nights and weekends I am a yoga teacher. I increasingly find that these worlds are very close together.
As a brain injury lawyer I work with people struggling to recover from the loss of sense of self so often caused by brain injury as well as associated depression and chronic pain. Many of my clients have reported meaningful increases in the quality of their lives following injury through “mindfulness” practices such as yoga and meditation. Practices such as yoga are designed to increase awareness of the present moment, to increase awareness of our thoughts, emotions and physical sensations without filtering them through past experience or fears of the future – to recapture our sense of ourselves. Read More
On January 23, 2014 the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center released new clinical recommendations with a standardized approach for concussion recovery. Included in the recommendations for managing concussion symptoms is a first of its kind five-stage approach for return to activity following a concussion. Detailed “do”s and “do not”s are specified for each stage. Movement from stage to stage is determined by scores on a simple twenty-two item “neurobehavioral symptom inventory” included in the recommendations. Read More
Two recent peer reviewed papers support the position statement adopted by the Brain Injury Association in 2009 that “Brain Injury” be treated not as static event from which patients gradually recover over time, but as the beginning of a disease process that that can cause symptoms that change over time, in some cases getting worse instead of better, and that can impact multiple organ systems.
The good news is that most people do, in fact, recover. For those who do not, however, the disease model is more consistent with the evolving research. As McCrea, Iverson, McAllister, et. al. noted in their 2009 Integrated Review of Recovery after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, brain injury science has advanced more in the last few years than in the previous 50, causing us to change the paradigms we have used to understand both the injury and its consequences. Read More
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has announced the results of a recent study showing that bright light therapy following Mild TBI (concussion) may improve sleep, cognitive and brain function. The study results were presented at the June 3, 2013 meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC and published in an online supplement to the journal Sleep. Read More
The topic of sexual dysfunction after a traumatic brain injury shouldn’t be taboo. Millions of people in the United States live with the physical, cognitive and emotional consequences traumatic brain injury (TBI). Sexuality is often impacted, but not often discussed or addressed. Failure to address this issue can compound the adverse effect of TBI symptoms on important relationships and self-esteem. NeuroRehabilitation: An International Journal recently published a critical review of fourteen studies on this topic. Read More
The human brain is complex. Every brain injury is unique. But nearly every person who suffers a brain injury experiences that frightening feeling of “I am not myself anymore.” In mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) cases, specifically, this feeling may recede over a period of weeks or months. But for others, it does not.
Whether the symptoms are permanent, improve, or get worse, the reasons for these differences are constantly researched—looking for ways to explain, prevent, and/or heal traumatic brain injuries. Several new studies on mild brain injury are examining factors ranging from genetic differences to differences in emotional make-up in order to understand why these differences exist. New research is leading to new approaches in treatment and rehabilitation, as well as prevention.
