Traumatic Brain Injury News and Research

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Traumatic brain injury (TBI), a form of acquired brain injury, occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. TBI can result when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue. Symptoms of a TBI can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the extent of the damage to the brain. A person with a mild TBI may remain conscious or may experience a loss of consciousness for a few seconds or minutes. Other symptoms of mild TBI include headache, confusion, lightheadedness, dizziness, blurred vision or tired eyes, ringing in the ears, bad taste in the mouth, fatigue or lethargy, a change in sleep patterns, behavioral or mood changes, and trouble with memory, concentration, attention, or thinking. A person with a moderate or severe TBI may show these same symptoms, but may also have a headache that gets worse or does not go away, repeated vomiting or nausea, convulsions or seizures, an inability to awaken from sleep, dilation of one or both pupils of the eyes, slurred speech, weakness or numbness in the extremities, loss of coordination, and increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation.

Educating communities about evidenced-based beneﬁts of music therapy

As Lori Gooding, University of Kentucky's music therapy director, walks into Joshua Diven's patient room at Kentucky Children's Hospital (KCH), the 3-year-old's face lights up. This is the second time that Gooding and Shane Swezey, a music therapy intern, have visited Diven in the past four days. Gooding has also worked with Joshua on previous visits to KCH.

28 Apr 2011

Rwanda, QIAGEN and Merck launch comprehensive national cervical cancer prevention program

The Government of Rwanda, together with QIAGEN N.V. and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced the launch, in Kigali, Rwanda, of a comprehensive national cervical cancer prevention program that includes vaccination with GARDASIL [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16 and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] for appropriate girls 12 to 15 years of age and modern molecular diagnostic screening for women between the ages of 35 and 45.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 25 Apr 2011

Giffords' office: Close gap in traumatic brain-injury care

Staff members for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, R-Ariz., have become key advocates in a campaign to ensure that the health law guarantees high levels of care for people who suffer traumatic brain injuries.

22 Apr 2011

First Edition: April 22, 2011

Today's headlines include a variety of reports about the political reactions to the Democratic and Republican deficit proposals as well as plans for Medicare.

22 Apr 2011

Marinus initiates ganaxolone Phase 2 trial in posttraumatic stress disorder

Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the leader in the development of neurosteroids for central nervous system disorders, today announced commencement of a proof-of-concept clinical trial of its lead candidate ganaxolone for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder.

22 Apr 2011

Military personnel with TBI should receive adequate protein and calories immediately after trauma

To help alleviate the effects of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), the U.S. Department of Defense should ensure that all military personnel with this type of injury receive adequate protein and calories immediately after the trauma and through the first two weeks of treatment, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

21 Apr 2011

Neuralstem signs MoU with BaYi Brain Hospital for ischemic stroke program in China

Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSE Amex: CUR) announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BaYi Brain Hospital in Beijing, China.

21 Apr 2011

Brain trauma helped by nutrition

According to a report by the Institute of Medicine, military personnel who suffer traumatic brain injury need to be fed adequately and immediately to reduce the severity of trauma and improve their chance of survival. This finding has implications for people sustaining head injuries in other situations, such as sports and traffic accidents.

20 Apr 2011

Combination therapy restores skilled use of limb in rodent model

After the acute treatment window closes, the only effective treatment for stroke is physical/occupational therapy. Now scientists from Children's Hospital Boston report a two-pronged molecular therapy that leads to significant recovery of skilled motor function in a rat model of stroke.

20 Apr 2011

Anti-depressants spur creation and survival of new brain cells after brain injury

Anti-depressants may help spur the creation and survival of new brain cells after brain injury, according to a study by neurosurgeons at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

19 Apr 2011

Study: 30% of patients with TBI more likely to suffer from depression

Vanderbilt researchers conducting an extensive analysis of studies on traumatic brain injury, report today that 30 percent of TBI patients, or approximately 360,000 patients each year, will also suffer from depression after their injury.

15 Apr 2011

Giffords' case leads to push for brain-injury care to be 'essential benefit'

A letter from the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., urges HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to include such care in the health law's essential benefits package, despite budget pressures looming in Congress.

8 Apr 2011

Experimental Biology 2011 to be held April 9-13 in Washington, D.C.

The meeting Experimental Biology 2011 (EB 2011) begins April 9 and runs through April 13 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

8 Apr 2011

New publication on therapeutic hypothermia and temperature management

The successful use and evaluation of therapeutic hypothermia to improve survival and reduce the risk of neurological consequences following an out-of-hospital heart attack are explored in the premier issue of Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, a new quarterly peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

8 Apr 2011

Neuralstem to present HSSC Phase I trial data in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at AAN meeting

Neuralstem, Inc. announced that the Phase I safety trial of its human spinal cord stem cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is the subject of three presentations at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, April 9-16th, in Honolulu, HI.

7 Apr 2011

A2AAR-selective agonists may prevent permanent vision damage from traumatic optic nerve injury

Scientists want to protect the optic nerve when the eye takes a blow on the battlefield or in a car wreck.

7 Apr 2011

AANS offers tips to prevent head injuries

The theme of 2011 National Neurosurgery Awareness Week, April 10-16, 2011, is There's Always Another Game, but You Only Have One Brain. NNAW is held annually in celebration of American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Scientific Meetings.

1 Apr 2011

Insight into traumatic brain injury

Researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have described for the first time how the brain's memory center repairs itself following severe trauma - a process that may explain why it is harder to bounce back after multiple head injuries.

1 Apr 2011

How brain's memory center repairs itself after severe trauma

1 Apr 2011

Tips on neurobiology of learning

Everyone would like MDs to have the best education - and to absorb what they are taught. The lead article in the April 4 issue of the journal Academic Medicine connects research on how the brain learns to how to incorporate this understanding into real world education, particularly the education of doctors.

31 Mar 2011