In a trial referred to as “landmark,” young athletes recovered faster from sport related concussion with an early, progressive aerobic exercise program. The 103-patient randomized trial may even alter the future standard of care. In a report published in JAMA Pediatrics by John Leddy, MD, of the University of Buffalo, and co-authors, adolescents who participated in individualized, sub-symptom threshold aerobic exercise, shortly after concussion, recovered in an average of 13 days compared to 17 days by adolescents in a stretching program. “This research provides the strongest evidence yet that a prescribed individualized aerobic exercise program that keeps the heart rate below the point where symptoms worsen, [...]

In a new position paper published in Neurology, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) defines death by neurologic criteria – commonly known as brain death – as the individual’s death due to irreversible loss of function of the entire brain in accordance with the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) a model state law that was approved for the U.S. in 1981. In the position paper the AAN proposed uniform brain death laws, policies and practices. In a comment to MedPage Today, lead author James Russell, DO, MS, of Lahey Hospital said the statement has three goals. “First, it provides AAN, American Neurological Association, and Child [...]

Fortunately for many athletes who suffered head injuries, recent awareness of mild traumatic brain injury and the possible long-term effects, has saved them from further injury. Medical professionals are on site for contact sports to determine if a player suffered a concussion and if the athlete should be removed from play. Gone are the days when the coach would make light of a player having his “bell rung.” For everyone else, the severity of a head injury can only be determined by a visit to the ER. But how does a person determine when a trip to the ER is necessary?  According to Dr. Charles Emerman, [...]

What happens when a patient is admitted to a trauma center with a traumatic brain injury (TBI)? Clinicians will first classify the injury as mild, moderate or severe, by assessing the patient’s consciousness levels. The differences in TBIs will vary greatly from the initial trauma and assessment to the resulting effects in the years that follow. The use of broad classifications for these injuries can be detrimental by limiting the predictability of the patient’s outcomes, both long-term and short-term. “Every traumatic brain injury is unique,” said Vignesh Subbian, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, or BME, and the Department of Systems and Industrial [...]

Vititoe Law Group founder Jim Vititoe has once again been named a top brain injury lawyer  by the National Trial Lawyers. This is the 2nd year in a row that Mr. Vititoe has received this recognition.    The National Trial Lawyers is a professional organization of America’s top trial lawyers. Membership in the organization is by invitation only and is extended to those individuals who exemplify superior qualifications, trial results, and leadership in their respective state or major geographical area. The National Trial Lawyers has evaluated Mr. Vititoe's qualifications and extended an exclusive invitation to him based on his performance as an exceptional trial lawyer. With more than [...]

Thanks to a University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) brain injury study, scientists now have a real time window into how head injury affects thousands of individual cells and genes simultaneously in mice. This approach, reported in Nature Communication, and supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), could lead to precise treatments being developed for traumatic brain injury. “Instead of clustering responses according to categories of cells in TBI, we can now see how individual cells in those groups react to head injury,” said Patrick Bellgowan, Ph.D., program director at NINDS. UCLA professors, Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, Ph.D. and Xia Yang, Ph.D., and colleagues, [...]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has, for the first time, released specific guidelines for the treatment of young people with mild traumatic brain injuries, commonly referred to as concussions. An extensive review of the current research into mild traumatic brain injuries yielded the determination by a panel of experts as to the best practice based on the evidence. “It’s only recently that we started to have enough research to do this,” said Matt Gammons, the former president of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine in an interview with Popular Science. “For a long time, we didn’t know a whole lot about brain trauma [...]

A team of researchers, in a Rutgers University study, has discovered two molecules that could be the basis for developing new drugs for the treatment of traumatic brain injuries. The study, which was recently published in the journal of Neurobiology of Disease, uncovered the findings. Lead author Bonnie Firestein, a professor of cell biology at Rutgers opined that damage caused by traumatic brain injuries isn’t just the result of the physical blow, but is connected to the release of a neurotransmitter referred to as glutamate. “I think that this opens up a whole new way of thinking,” Firestein said, “Because, if you want to help somebody [...]

Research by the University of Pennsylvania indicates changes to tiny blood vessels in the brains of people with traumatic injuries, may aid in more precise diagnosis and better treatment decisions. The research presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting on April 27, 2018, showed changes in the blood vessels may be linked to a spectrum of cognitive symptoms following a traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI accounts for 2.5 million emergency room visits, 280,000 hospitalizations and an average of nearly 50,000 deaths annually, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly one third of all injury deaths are attributed to TBIs. “The relationship [...]