TBI Symptoms May Be a Long-Term Problem for Accident Victims

October 19, 2012 (Press-News.org) TBI Symptoms May Be a Long-Term Problem for Accident Victims

A new study has disappointing results for Californians who have received a traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injury is the result of a sudden impact or piercing injury to the head, causing damage to the brain.

The study screened 500 veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and were diagnosed with TBI while deployed between June 2008 and April 2011. The veterans had been treated at a special TBI clinic at a veterans hospital, and the study assessed their ongoing symptoms.

The severity and persistence of post-concussion syndrome symptoms were measured in the study. Symptoms of the syndrome include depression, coordination and balance problems, headache, and dizziness. Memory and judgment can also be impaired.

Two groups of veterans were compared: those whose TBI occurred within the past four years and those who had been injured five to eight years before. Discouragingly, the study showed no significant improvement in symptoms over eight years, and some symptoms even worsened.

For example, mild to moderate headaches persisted for nearly half the injured veterans in the four-year group, with 46 percent having severe headaches. In the five-to-eight-year group, 51 percent reported severe headaches and about 45 percent had milder headaches.

Most of the veterans in both groups had positive results when screened for all the other major symptoms of post-concussion syndrome, except for depression. Researchers looked for other factors that could have made any difference in recovery rate, including how the TBI was inflicted. While explosions were implicated in most of the veterans' TBIs, motor vehicle accidents were also a cause, and there was no difference in the outcome whatever the cause.

The study results apply to all TBI sufferers, not just veterans, and many Californians with TBI are doubtlessly in the same situation, with symptoms that do not show improvement over many years. Plagued with persistent post-concussion syndrome syndromes, TBI victims can also experience behavior and mood changes, sleep difficulties and restlessness or agitation.

Exacerbating the problem, people with TBI don't necessarily look like they have a medical condition and may experience social and family problems that are difficult to deal with and require extra supportive attention. Ongoing psychiatric, physical, occupational and speech and language therapy might eventually yield positive results.

Anyone's life can change in a few seconds in an accident resulting in a TBI. If someone's negligence was responsible for the injury, compensation is available for the extensive and long-term treatment that could be necessary. An experienced attorney can provide expert help in obtaining payment to cover medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering resulting from a TBI.

Article provided by The Law Offices of Michael Goldstein
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