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Brain damage may be halted after trauma

On Behalf of | Oct 7, 2015 | Brain Injury |

As many West Virginia residents know, traumatic brain injuries are often the result of sports injuries, falls or motor vehicle accidents. TBIs are estimated to make up 30 percent of all fatal injuries in the United States each year.

Understanding the way TBI works is important, and a university professor reports that, unlike what many people believe, the brain does not act like a ball, knocking around the skull. Rather, the professor insists, cells of the brain are bent and twisted, warping as the skull is knocked about. Saying the brain acts more like gelatin, the professor reports there may be ways to intervene into the extent of brain damage.

The professor works to prevent brain damage with protective equipment. Having ways to prevent brain damage is essential, and treatment may result from increased research into halting brain damage, according to the researcher. By simulating different types of accidents, the researcher and fellow colleagues are able to visualize the way brain cells react to physical trauma. The scientists use tissue samples from rat brains to do the studies. The samples are able to live in the laboratory for weeks. The scientists measure the extent to which the tissues are able to stretch before ripping and the number of brain cells that die while the injury occurs as well as the number that die following an initial injury. Learning how big the window for treatment is will help in the future as drugs are made available to terminate the damage process.

A person who incurs a TBI due to a negligent driver may require extensive medical treatment over a period of time. Such an injured victim may want to meet with an attorney to see what legal recourse is available for seeking compensation for the damages that have been sustained.