Personal Injury Blog

Study Confirms Brain Tsunamis in Patients with Severe Brain Injury

December 16th, 2011
severe brain injury

Study confirms brain tsunamis in patients with severe brain injury

Earlier research has indicated that persons, who have suffered a severe brain injury, may suffer from ‘cortical spreading depolarizations’ or brain tsunamis.  A new study confirms this fact.

The study conducted by researchers at Kings College Hospital and Kings College London collaborated with researchers at the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine  and the UC Neuroscience Institute.  The study was funded by a $1.96 million grant awarded to the US Department of Defense Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program.  It is a four-year grant by the military, which has invested heavily in research into traumatic brain injury, especially brain depolarizations or brain tsunamis, in veterans who suffer combat-related brain injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There is existing clinical evidence to show that patients who suffer from such brain tsunamis have worse outcomes than those who do not.  However, this new study confirms this fact. Most of the patients in the study were treated at Kings College Hospital in London.  9 of them were treated at UC Health University Hospital.  During a brain injury, nerve cells, which store electrical and chemical energy, short-circuit.  Brain cells are interconnected, and therefore the short-circuiting begins to affect other brain cells as well, leading to leakage of precious electric charge.  The result is the generation of a wave-like effect on the brain that can continue in the days after the injury.  This kind of phenomenon can be seen in persons who have suffered a severe brain injury.  Unfortunately, the phenomenon is also linked to a poor patient outcome.

According to the researchers, they have managed to confirm that brain tsunamis do affect patient outcome.  They hope to use this research to devise treatments that help block the phenomenon.  A possible treatment could look at ways to block the killer waves, as they begin, thereby reducing the severity of the injury, and the long-term impact of the injury, enhancing outcomes.

San Diego brain injury lawyers have found a lot of exciting research happening in brain injury treatment, but a complete cure continues to elude us.  It’s important that we find a treatment for brain injury as quickly as possible, because of the long-term emotional. physical and financial cost of this injury.  A moderate or severe brain injury can have a lifelong impact, leaving a person unable to care for himself or perform routine tasks.  A person like this will not only require rehabilitation and therapy, but may also require 24-hour care for the rest of his lifetime.  That means not just a terrible physical cost to the victim and an emotional toll on his family and caregivers, but also a huge financial cost.

 

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