Les White, a nurse practitioner at the West Texas Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center in Big Spring, TX, has witnessed an increase of veterans seeking assessment and treatment for traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and spinal cord injuries (SCI). White works at the polytrauma clinic within the hospital, a specialized treatment and assessment center for TBI… Read More
Olympic snowboarding hopeful remains in hospital with traumatic brain injury
Kevin Pearce, a snowboarder from Norwich, Vermont, remains in critical condition with a severe traumatic brain injury in the University of Utah hospital after a snowboarding accident. Pearce was training on a halfpipe in Utah for an Olympics qualifier being held soon in Mammoth Lakes, CA. The 22-year-old Pearce sustained his injury when he hit… Read More
Traumatic brain injury patients shown to benefit from hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatment
A 5-year-long traumatic brain injury study conducted at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN, concluded recently, with the results published in the Journal of Neurosurgery. The study results revealed that treatment in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber in the first 24 hours after a brain injury improved brain metabolism and enhanced the brain’s ability… Read More
Brain-Controlled Devices May Help Transcend Paralysis and Speech Problems
The vast popularity of the movie Avatar underscores the increasingly tangible future possibility of transcending paralysis by technological means. A recent article on CNN’s web site presented a sweeping review of current technological research and development of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) for a wide range of uses, from video games and advanced military equipment to enabling… Read More
Bedside Exams More Accurate Than CT Scans After Brain Surgery
A new study published on December 18 in the online edition of the Journal of Neurosurgery revealed that CT scans performed on patients after brain surgeries sometimes failed to identify patients who needed further surgical procedures. Bedside neurological exams performed by a doctor after brain surgery proved more effective than CT scans in the recent… Read More
Accidental Discovery Advances Understanding of Spinal Cord Birth Defects
A report published in the December 6 issue of the journal Nature Cell Biology revealed a link between certain genetic mutations and early development of spinal cord disorders in mice. Scientists from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of California-Berkeley made the accidental discovery while searching for genes that guide the… Read More