HealthcareIT News recently reported that Kinetic Muscles, Inc. (KMI) has received additional funding from the Department of Defense (DOD) to begin Phase II of their study on the benefits of using video game-based therapies for treatment of military veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Many in brain injury rehabilitation have used video games to assist with motor skills training, improve balance and coordination, enhance attention and address other aspects of the significant cognitive and motor problems that people experience after TBI.

Read more: http://www.traumaticbraininjury.net/video-game-based-therapy-may-help-treat-tbi/

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Children with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and children with mild TBI with an intracranial hemorrhage have a considerable reduction in their quality of life, according to a study published online Oct. 24 in Pediatrics.

Read more: http://www.doctorslounge.com/index.php/news/pb/24066

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Next blog post in the series from Janet Cromer on helping a loved one readjust after brain injury.

Read more: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/professor-cromer-learns-read/201110/how-can-we-learn-if-we-cant-remember

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News stories about brain-damaged former NFL football players and reports from Afghanistan and Iraq, where 200,000 U.S. service members have suffered head injuries over the past decade, have also raised concerns about concussions, which almost seem routine in some sports.

As research intensifies, scientists seem to be finding evidence of brain injury after apparently benign concussions. At Washington Hospital Center, researchers recently conducted MRI scans on 100 consecutive patients admitted for concussion, which is usually defined as a blow to the head that shakes the brain inside the skull and causes a variety of cognitive and other symptoms, such as difficulty thinking clearly, headaches, dizziness and mood changes. They found that roughly a third had evidence of damage to brain tissue, Lawrence Latour of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke reported last month at a military conference on traumatic brain injury.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/concussion-testing-for-student-athletes-is-common-but-some-question-its-worth/2011/09/26/gIQATVIDsL_story.html

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Testimony at yesterday's Senate hearing on sports concussion was very powerful. Alexis Ball and Steven Threet (student athletes with TBI) spoke so well for so many. Thanks to both of them for stepping up!

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Janet Cromer, RN, LMHC , is a nurse and psychotherapist. Janet’s blog, on the Psychology Today website, offers family caregivers of people who have brain injuries practical stress resilience skills, mind-body health practices, and creative approaches to staying healthy and whole.

Read more: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/professor-cromer-learns-read/201110/after-brain-injury-who-am-i-if-i-am-not-myself-part-2

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Janet Cromer, RN, LMHC , is a nurse and psychotherapist. Janet’s blog, on the Psychology Today website, offers family caregivers of people who have brain injuries practical stress resilience skills, mind-body health practices, and creative approaches to staying healthy and whole.

Read more: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/professor-cromer-learns-read/201109/after-brain-injury-who-am-i-if-i-am-no-longer-myself

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African-American and Hispanic children are less likely to receive a cranial CT scan in an emergency department (ED) after a minor head trauma than white children, according to an abstract presented Oct. 14 at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition in Boston. The results may indicate CT overuse in white children, according to researchers.

Read more: http://www.healthimaging.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=29949:minority-children-less-likely-to-undergo-ct-after-minor-head-trauma

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BrainLineMilitary provides military-specific information and resources on traumatic brain injury from interviews with medical experts about diagnosis and treatment for TBI and PTSD to personal stories by service members or veterans who have learned from having their own brain injury.

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Jane Rosett is an artist at work on a multimedia project, “Adaptivitudes: Navigating My Brain Injury Rehabilitation,” and currently a brain injury patient at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/opinion/sunday/brain-injury-and-building-a-new-life-afterwards.html?_r=1

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The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a campaign to increase awareness about traumatic brain injury and services provided by the VA for veterans and service members recovering from TBI and co-occurring complex injuries.

The campaign debuted with a 25-minute documentary last week highlighting individual stories of recovery for some of the most severely injured and wounded veterans through the VA Polytrauma System of Care at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Va.

The documentary and other videos can be viewed at www.polytrauma.va.gov.

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Sixty-six percent of the most seriously wounded soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq have “invisible” injuries of brain trauma or post-traumatic stress, which their families and society will deal with at great cost for decades, said Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the Army’s vice chief of staff

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/injuries-126178-treatment-returning.html#ixzz1ZvbHHI7D

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San Francisco General Hospital has become the first hospital in the country to gain certification for the treatment of traumatic brain injury, a recognition that is expected to set the standard for other hospitals around the country.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/03/BAGP1LCVCC.DTL#ixzz1ZvQSzB6a

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The Department of Defense asked the IOM to conduct a study to determine the effectiveness of CRT for treatment of TBI. The IOM was asked to consider whether existing research on CRT provides a conclusive evidence base to support using specific CRT interventions and to guide the use of CRT for members of the military and veterans. The committee recommends an investment in research to further define, standardize, and assess the outcomes of CRT interventions. CRT interventions are promising approaches, but further development of this therapy is required.

Download this Report: http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2011/Cognitive-Rehabilitation-Therapy-for-Traumatic-Brain-Injury-Evaluating-the-Evidence.aspx

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There might be really good ways to restore brain-damaged people — especially the young wounded of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — to a healthy, if not entirely normal, state. But it’s difficult to say with certainty what those techniques are.

That’s the conclusion of a scientific review of “cognitive rehabilitation therapy” performed by the Institute of Medicine at the request of the Defense Department.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/clear-strategies-for-treating-traumatic-brain-injury-are-elusive-panel-finds/2011/10/10/gIQAkRBZcL_story.html

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An online course for health care professionals is the latest addition to the CDC Heads Up initiative, a program to educate specific audiences (such as parents, coaches, school nurses) about concussions and mild TBIs. The "Heads Up to Clinicians: Addressing Concussion in Sports Among Kids and Teens" was developed with support from the CDC Foundation and the National Football League.

http://preventingconcussions.org/

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The voice on the phone sounded calm to Tina Kropelin.

It said her daughter had just taken a spill at cheerleading practice, and she should come get her.

As Kropelin headed to Holmen High School in western Wisconsin, she worried it might be a broken wrist or a sprained ankle. Her daughter, Brittany Noffke, was a freshman and already a varsity cheerleader, a "flyer" who hit the dramatic height of stunts with a smile on her face. Crutches would make her crazy, Kropelin thought.

She found Brittany with an ice pack to her head. She had fallen off a teammate's shoulders, and her head had smashed into the tile floor of the school cafeteria.

Conscious but confused, Brittany said she and two other cheerleaders had attempted a stunt their coach suggested, one they'd never tried together. The last thing Brittany remembered was making it to the top and telling herself to stay still.

Ream more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/10/04/cnnheroes.sports.injuries/

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The number of children and teenagers presenting at hospital emergency departments for evaluation of nonfatal traumatic brain injury related to sports and recreation activities grew by more than 60% between 2001 and 2009, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Oct. 6.

Read more: http://www.acepnews.com/single-view/pediatric-adolescent-tbi-incidence-up-by-62/e221c9acdde0a62479c8b6b713798a5d.html

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Nearly 1,400 U.S. servicemembers were found to have concussions or mild brain injuries in Afghanistan and Iraq this year under a program that forces servicemembers to take a break from combat when exposed to a blast or other jarring incident.

The military has pulled about 9,000 servicemembers from combat for short periods of time to look for signs of brain injury after blasts that caused no obvious wounds, according to data given to USA TODAY.

Most of the servicemembers were OK; those with symptoms of dizziness, headaches and difficulty processing thoughts were kept out of combat until the problems went away, the Army said.

The mandatory examination is part of a treatment program put in place last year to uncover hidden and subtle damage to the brain caused by exposure to blasts — injuries that would have likely gone undiagnosed.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-09-27/military-diagnoses-more-brain-injuries-trauma-battle-combat-policy/50575536/1

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Monday the league’s top priority was for the safety of its players, adding that most of the money from a new fund would go toward researching brain injuries linked to the sport.

He told the Congress of Neurosurgeons meeting in Washington D.C. on Monday that

“[T]here is no issue of greater importance when it comes to player safety than the effective prevention, diagnosis and treatment of concussions,” Goodell told the Congress of Neurosurgeons meeting in Washington D.C. on Monday, according to NFL.com.

Read more: http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20111004/7321/nfl-concussions-roger-goodell-research-funding.htm

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