When someone suffers a traumatic brain injury there are multiple things that individual needs to be aware of. While the first thing is of course obtaining the correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment, the injured individual, or possibly his or her caregivers should be aware of how the matter could impact the future.
A TBI occurs when damage to the brain is caused by either trauma that pierces the skull and enters the brain tissue, or simply as a result of the force of impact. They may be the result of a variety of things including: falls, assaults, sports injuries and motor vehicle accidents. While the severity of the injury will vary depending on each particular situation, in the worst cases it can lead to death.
A recent study looked into what TBI patients might expect in the future. The study, the results of which were published in the journal Behavioural Neurology, focused on 67 people, two to five years after an incident that caused a moderate TBI. It found these individuals suffered significantly more of the following types of difficulties:
- Psychological
- Emotional regulation
- Attentional
Those who experienced serious symptoms for a period of time following the incident that led to the injury could find they continue to need medical attention. That rehabilitation can lead to great expense to the injured person.
There is no question that prevention is the best way to avoid these moderate brain injuries. Wearing seat belts while driving, and a helmet when engaging in other activities, such as riding motorcycles or bicycles, is a good way to go about doing this. So too is placing children in child safety seats. When injuries do occur, and the incident is cause by the negligence of another party, a personal injury lawsuit could be viable.