June is Brain Injury Awareness Month here in Canada. During this time, our government, our medical professionals and our professional community take the opportunity to bring public attention to the effects of brain injuries and how we can take steps to treat and prevent them. As Edmonton injury lawyers, the staff at BPCAB Law is committed to the victims of brain injuries and their families.
What Are Traumatic Brain Injuries?
Traumatic brain injuries are injuries of the brain caused by any trauma to the head. They can either be due to a penetration of the skull or a closed head injury caused by a rapid acceleration and susequent deceleration or shaking movement. Brain injuries can have lifelong effects on both physical and emotional functioning even after minor injuries.
Brain Injuries Can Affect Anyone
Every year, over 20,000 people are hospitalized for traumatic brain injuries in Canada. These can range from mild to severe and affect men, the elderly and the young more disproportionately than others.
Brain injuries can happen to anyone. They are the leading cause of death and disability for people under the age of 40. Approximately 1.5 million Canadians currently live with the effects of a brain injury.
Concussions and Children
Concussions, in particular, remain a serious issue since they have the potential of causing serious and long-term consequences on brain health in young people. Many of these are due to sports and recreation activities. Other causes of brain injuries are motor vehicle injuries, falls, firearms and being struck by an object or person.
The Complexity of Brain Injuries
The consequences of brain injuries are multiple and they can be complex. These can be cognitive, physical/perceptual, behavioural and psychosocial.
● Cognitive — the victim may have an inability to self-regulate and have impaired organization abilities. A brain injury may impair memory and judgment and decrease processing skills.
● Physical/perceptual — the victim may have a decreased functional capacity and safety awareness
● Behavioural — the victim may become impulsive, lack initiative or have a lowered frustration tolerance
● Psychosocial — the victim may have a difficult time sustaining relationships
Many long-term sufferers of brain injuries suffer a breakdown in family support, see a withdrawal of friends and feel isolated. Some eventually succumb to unemployment, substance abuse, future health risks and repeat hospitalizations.
Brain Injury Canada
Brain Injury Canada was established in 2002 to connect and support brain injury advocacy across Canada in order to enhance the quality of life of victims and their families who live with this every day. In this way, sufferers and their families can be supported and valued in their communities.
A Leader in Brain Research
As a world leader in concussion research, Canadian researchers have been instrumental in guiding policies in our sports programs and guidelines for the correct diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries and concussions, primarily in children.
We have recently established a partnership with the U.S. National Institutes of Health that will enable the identification of biomarkers to help improve diagnosis and assessment in children to enable recovery and a return to activity.
As Edmonton injury lawyers who are dedicated to the rights of traumatic brain injury victims, we applaud our government’s commitment to the research and development of new and improved protocols for traumatic brain injuries and brain health.