About 137 people in the U.S. die every day as a result of a TBI-related injury. To help raise awareness and reach out to those living with the effects of TBI, the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) leads the nation in observing March as Brain Injury Awareness Month.
This year’s campaign theme is “Not Alone,” which provides an educational platform about the incidence of TBI and the needs of those affected. The campaign also aims to “… de-stigmatize the injury, empower those who have survived, and promote the many types of support that are available.”
TBI is associated with serious and often permanent health problems. Possible TBI complications, according to Medscape, may include the following:
- Posttraumatic seizures after moderate or severe TBI
- Abnormal gait
- Agitation
- Hydrocephalus: excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain
- Blood clot conditions such as deep vein thrombosis
- Heterotopic ossification: the abnormal presence of bone in soft tissue
- Spasticity
- Gastrointestinal and genitourinary complications
Long-term physical, cognitive, and behavioral impairments are the factors that most commonly limit a person’s reintegration into the community and employment. These issues include:
- Cognitive decline
- Insomnia
- Posttraumatic depression, anxiety, substance abuse, aggressive outbursts, and an impaired ability to regulate emotional expression
- Posttraumatic headache ranging from tension-type to migraine-like headaches
Complications are not limited to health-related effects, however. The BIAA urges that many people are additionally affected when someone sustains a brain injury. These people include the survivors’ immediate family, spouses, extended family and friends. Further, healthcare providers, insurance companies, educators, employers and others can also be affected.
TBI can forever change patients’ lives and the lives of those around them. When a preventable TBI results from another person’s carelessness, those responsible must be held accountable. Contact our firm for assistance if you or someone in your care sustained a brain injury caused by negligence. Our Philadelphia brain injury lawyers can investigate the situation and answer your legal questions.