Raising awareness and improving understanding of traumatic brain injuries
Recently, Thompson Smith and Puxon shared some suggestions to help readers maintain their brain health in honour of Brain Awareness Week. However, March marks Brain Injury Awareness month, an annual global campaign designed to recognise and support people affected by brain injuries. In this article, Hasina Choudhury and Georgia Gammons examine Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and highlights steps for reducing the risk of sustaining or causing a brain injury.
What is Brain Injury Awareness month?
Brain Injury Awareness month is a dedicated campaign designed to raise awareness and increase the understanding of the complexities of brain injuries. According to the Medical Research Council, there are currently 1.3 million people living with disabilities resulting from these injuries.[1] The fact is, the impacts of brain injury extend far beyond the person who has experienced the event, and instead impact the whole family.
Every year, over 10 million people internationally,[2] are affected by the aftermath of brain injuries. Brain injuries can be very easily be sustained through every day activities, with the UK accounting for approximately 900,000 of these cases, with 160,000[3] people admitted to hospital every year. This is why awareness is so important – to educate people on how to avoid brain injuries, in order to reduce their chances of sustaining one and to recognise signs and symptoms should that situation arise.
What are brain injuries?
Brain injuries are, as you’d expect, injury to the brain, but there are different types. Some can be hereditary, present at birth or degenerative; these are often not preventable. All other brain injuries fall into the category of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) which can be caused by a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), anoxic/hypoxic injury, intracranial surgery, seizure disorders and toxic exposure (substance/drug abuse, ingestion or inhalation of volatile agents).
TBI is an insult to the brain caused by an external physical force that may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness. This does not mean that all TBI include a fracture to the skull.
Anoxic and hypoxic injuries occur when the brain is deprived of oxygen, or the oxygen supply is reduced. Some causes are cardiac arrest, carbon monoxide poisoning, drug overdoses and hypotension.
However, some brain injuries are temporary, such as a concussion, where effects are often short term. Every experience is unique, and every brain injury is different and will affect people in various ways. One should watch out for following symptoms following any form of head injury:
- impairment of cognitive abilities;
- impairment of physical functioning;
- altered behavioural or emotional functioning.
Brain injury can influence changes in speech, hearing, mobility, seizure activity, concentration, communication, memory, orientation, fatigue, depression and anxiety and change in personality.
Common causes of a brain injury are through Road Traffic Accidents, falls, sports injuries, violence and medical events such as anoxia (loss of oxygen to the brain), aneurysms, infections to the brain, tumours, strokes, heart attacks and sometimes clinical negligence.
Considering the above, there are many ways we can all take steps to reduce the risk of sustaining or causing a brain injury. These include:
- Wearing a helmet when riding a bike or playing sports;
- Wearing a seatbelt when in the car;
- Not taking part in illicit drug abuse;
- Not driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs;
- Improving lighting and eliminating trip hazards in common places;
- Installing grab rails in the bathroom and hand rails on stairways
- Exercising regularly; and
- Educating others as to the importance of the above.
Living with a brain injury
Survivors of severe brain injury are likely to experience long-term problems affecting their personality, their relationships and their ability to lead an independent life. Even with good recovery and rehabilitation, a strong network of support and help in the community, survivors and their families are likely to face difficulties and uncertainties in everyday life.
Families and Carers are often affected too, as homes may have to be adapted to accommodate the needs of the loved one who has sustained the injury, and their lives of family members may need to change to allow their caring responsibilities to be fulfilled. Financial ramifications may also be extensive.
How we can help
Some brain injuries can be experienced as the result of clinical negligence or a personal injury sustained in a workplace or in a Road Traffic Accident.
At Thompson, Smith and Puxon, our expert team of personal injury and clinical negligence solicitors have the care and compassion to listen, understand and provide tailored advice regarding your injury.
Whilst we cannot make guarantees, we hope that in pursuing claims for personal injury and clinical negligence, we can help survivors to secure sufficient financial stability to enable you to lead as independent a life as possible. We also believe that through claims process, lessons can be learned, processes can be improved and many lives protected.
During an initial telephone call, our specialist team will take some details and discuss the next steps with you, providing a clear and honest opinion on your chances of a successful claim.
If you or someone you care about would like some advice, please call our experts today on 01206 574431 or email enquiries@tsplegal.com.
[1] Medical Research Council workshop report 15 June 2022 ‘Traumatic Brain Injury across the life course: priorities, challenges and opportunities’ https://www.ukri.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/MRC-07122022-MRC-Traumatic-Brain-Injury-Workshop-report_June-2022.pdf
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid