Articles Tagged with traumatic brain injuries

The dangers of concussions and more severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in Poway have been linked to contact sports for a number of years now, but the conversations about sports-related concussions have largely centered around football. Studies have shown, however, that many other contact sports lead to concussions, including soccer, baseball, basketball, gymnastics, and hockey. A recent study reported by BBC News underscores that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain condition that has been diagnosed in a wide range of deceased NFL players, is also prevalent in athletes who play other types of contract sports, including soccer and rugby.

The new study underscores the need to take preventive measures concerning sports and concussions and to consider liability when an athlete does suffer a TBI on the field or is later confirmed to have CTE as a result of multiple sports-related concussions. Our Poway personal injury lawyers can say more.

Nearly All Sports Can Result in Concussions and CTE

Have you or someone you love sustained a concussion in a motor vehicle collision in Rancho Bernardo or another type of accident in Southern California? Whether you or a loved one recently sustained a concussion in an accident for the first time or now suffered a subsequent concussion, you may wonder: how many concussions are too many before I experience long-term damage? To be clear, even a single concussion can have long-term consequences, and you should certainly speak with a Rancho Bernardo brain injury attorney if you have suffered a concussion in an incident resulting from another party’s negligence or intentional act. 

Multiple concussions tend to put a person at greater risk for serious brain damage and neurological issues in the future. A new study suggests that “three concussions seems to be a turning point for brain issues, and further injury worsens symptoms.”

Our Southern California injury lawyers want to discuss the study and its potential implications for people who have sustained concussions and other forms of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Can sex or gender affect a person’s ability to recover from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Vista or elsewhere in Southern California? A recent article from Stanford Medicine discusses the ways in which women may experience brain trauma differently than men, and thus may have distinct recovery issues and timeframes. Our experienced Vista brain injury lawyers want to discuss the article with you and to encourage you to seek help from an attorney if you sustained a TBI because of another party’s negligence or wrongdoing. 

Gender Differences After Traumatic Brain Injuries

The new article from Stanford Medicine profiles Dr. Odette Harris, who is an expert on brain trauma and a professor of neurosurgery. Harris is currently the director of the Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence in Palo Alto. According to the article, as Harris began “analyzing brain trauma data from the Department of Veterans Affairs,” she came to realize that there was “a big gender difference in the aftermath of traumatic brain injuries, and no one was talking about it.”

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in Encinitas, from mild TBIs like concussions to severe head trauma, can result in life-long disabilities and other limitations. According to a recent study at the University of California, Riverside, researchers have begun an initiative to focus on moderate concussions in order to gain a better understanding of the long-term effects of more serious concussions and the ways in which those brain injuries can result in other debilitating conditions. The results of the study may be able to help athletes who suffer repeat concussions, as well as other people who sustain moderate concussions in motor vehicle collisions, pedestrian and bicycle accidents, and recreational activities. 

Learning More About the UC Riverside Concussion Research

The new study, which will be based in a UC Riverside lab, will happen through a five-year renewable grant of more than $2.3 million, according to a UC Riverside press release. According to Viji Santhakumar, an associate professor of molecular, cell and systems biology who is leading the study, “we expect this research project will provide fundamental insights into how memory deficits and epilepsy develop after brain injury.” Santhakumar further explains how the research will “help us identify potential early therapies to prevent the development of epilepsy as well as memory and cognitive issues after brain injury.”

If your child or teenager currently plays a sport in San Clemente in which there is a risk of a concussion or another type of head injury, you probably have some background knowledge about kids and concussions. In recent years, research into sports-related concussions has shown the serious risks that children and teenagers face from concussions on the field, and the ways in which those concussion injuries, especially if they are repeat injuries, can have long-term consequences for the child into adulthood. In response to sports-related concussion research, coaches and schools in California and across the country changed protocols for injuries, requiring children and teens to take a certain amount of time away from games and practices until a head injury heals. 

However, according to an article in Medical Daily, recent research published in the journal Orthopedics suggests that kids need significantly more time to heal than previous researchers suggested. Indeed, according to the authors of the study, teens who sustain sports-related concussions need at least a month away from any play to heal properly, and most teenage athletes are not taking that kind of time.

Concussions in Teenagers Heal Slowly

rmwtvqn5rzu-jesse-orrico-300x199Whether you live in Vista or elsewhere in Southern California, it is important to take steps to avoid a serious personal injury. Injuries can happen almost anywhere, and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can result from many different types of accidents. Motor vehicle collisions, slips and falls, and other kinds of accidents can lead to severe head trauma. According to a recent report from U.S. News & World Report, rates of fall-related TBI deaths are on the rise in California and across the country. In other words, more people are sustaining fatal brain injuries in fall-related accidents than in previous years and decades. The study shows that fall-related TBI deaths increased steadily between 2008-2017. We want to take a closer look at that study and to consider what it means for Vista residents who sustain brain injuries in falls. 

More People are Suffering Deadly TBIs in Falls

Traumatic brain injuries, according to researchers, are head injuries that are “caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or body, or a penetrating head injury that results in disruption of normal brain function.” In general, TBIs can be mild, moderate, or severe. Concussions are one type of mild TBI, and although they may result in life-threatening problems later on, most mild and moderate TBIs do not immediately cause a person’s death. The key piece of information from the report is that more people are sustaining fatal TBIs in fall-related accidents. Yet there is more to the data than that. More of the people falling are older adults, and more of them live in rural areas of the country. Rates of fall-related brain injury deaths have risen across age groups and geographic regions, but those specific risk factors showed particular growth.

matthew-fournier-G971e4EFKtA-unsplash-copy-300x187While most of us do not associate life in Oceanside, CA with ice hockey, there are certainly ice hockey teams in Southern California, and many high school students play hockey with an aim of playing in college or afterward. The universities in the UC system also have hockey teams, and both men and women enjoy club hockey at the nearby University of California, San Diego campus. Although California might not be known for its hockey, young people do play ice hockey here. According to a recent report in CBS News, they may be at greater risk of a concussion than researchers previously reported. Women, in particular, may sustain concussions at a much higher rate in ice hockey than scientists previously believed. 

Risks of Ice Hockey and Head Trauma

According to the recent report, concussions in women’s ice hockey are much more common than you might think. Many of the players are beginning to think more carefully about how they are exposed to serious risks of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). A recent study conducted by researchers at the Minnesota Department of Health determined that “girls, particularly girls who play hockey, are more likely to get concussions than boys.” Some of the reason is “biological,” according to Dr. Uzma Samadani, a brain surgeon. As Dr. Samadani clarified, “boys have stronger necks and thicker skulls.”

aliyah-jamous-1058056-unsplash-copy-300x200A large majority of discussions about traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in the last decade have focused on sports-related concussions and head trauma sustained by active-duty service members. In particular, a substantial portion of TBI research has focused on the prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) among NFL football players and others involved in contact sports. In relation to studies concerning professional athletes, much research also has identified the risks of sports-related concussions among youth athletes. 

Yet few studies have considered the rate and effects of concussions sustained by women who are involved in “intimate partner violence,” according to a recent article in The New York Times. In response to that research shortage, Dr. Eve Valera has begun to analyze concussions among women who have sustained head injuries inflicted by domestic partners.

Limited Studies on Brain Trauma, Women, and Domestic Violence

joao-victor-xavier-304057-copy-300x169Children in Escondido can suffer concussions and other types of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) just as adults can. There are many common causes of TBIs in both kids and adults, including, for example, car crashes and sports-related accidents. According to a recent report in U.S. News & World Report, some sports and recreational activities are much more hazardous than others when it comes to brain injury risks for kids. More specifically, a majority of children who sustain traumatic brain injuries in sports- or recreation-related activities sustain those injuries while playing football or soccer. 

CDC Study Discusses Dangers of Contact Sports for Kids

This information about the serious risks of both football and soccer for kids was published in a new study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That study emphasized that contact sports are the most dangerous in terms of TBI risks, resulting in approximately 45% of all brain injuries that send kids to emergency departments every year. In general, football was the cause of the highest number of TBIs in male children, while soccer was the leading cause of brain injuries in female children. According to the report, “contact sports resulted in nearly twice as many TBI [emergency department] visits as did non-contact sports and four times those associated with recreation-related activities.”

jeffrey-f-lin-750541-unsplash-copy-300x200More research funds are going toward sports-related concussion studies and concussion risks for youth athletes. We often think about football and other contact sports when we consider traumatic brain injury (TBI) risks, yet many different sports and recreational activities can put young athletes at serious risk of sustaining a concussion.

A recent study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University found that concussions are more common than we previously thought among female soccer players. Nearly 30% of all soccer injuries are concussions. To put that number in perspective, about 24% of all football injuries are concussions. To put that another way, more girls suffer sports-related concussions playing soccer in high school than do boys who play football.

Girls Soccer Players Suffer Head Injuries More Often Than Boys Soccer Players

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