By: Peter Kent

Introductory comments by Royane Real

Author of:  “How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative”

Many of us fear the loss of memory and identity that comes with aging.  Many older people lose memory and brain function as a result of brain disease such as Alzheimer’s disease, or problems in the circulatory system.

However, there is another common cause of memory loss that most of us never think about. This cause of memory loss can strike at any time, even when we are very young.  The resulting devastation to our ability to think and to remember can be devastating and permanent.

What is this potential cause of memory destruction that could strike any of us on any given day?  We are all vulnerable to brain injury due to accidental trauma.  Despite the common occurrence of devastating head injuries, few of us remember to take full precautions to guard against the damage that brain trauma can cause.

The following article by Peter Kent will outline some of the terrible effects that traumatic brain injury can have on a person.  As you can see, a brain injury can result in temporary, or permanent loss of memory, and various degrees of amnesia.

The tragedy is that many brain injuries could have been prevented.

Whenever you are a passenger or a driver in a car, it just takes a few extra seconds to fasten your seat belt.  Helmets worn when cycling can save lives.  Take steps in your house to reduce the risk of falls by installing hand rails in places such as bathtubs and along stair cases.  Use the proper helmets when you are playing contact sports.

As Peter Kent explains in the following article, if you lose memory as a result of traumatic brain injury, that memory is gone for good.  With the proper rehabilitation program, other parts of your brain can be trained to take over some of the functions of the brain cells that were destroyed in the accident.

Always remember, it is much easier to prevent a head injury in the first place than it is to recover from an accident that has already happened.

( The above introductory comments were written by Royane Real, author of   “How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative”  Download it today and learn more ways to keep your brain sharp for a lifetime.  It’s at http://www.lulu.com/real )

Feature article:

Memory Loss and Brain Injuries

By: Peter Kent

Memory loss or some type of amnesia is the most commonplace cognitive side effect of a traumatic brain injury. This memory amnesia can be caused by several different factors, some which lead to more mild temporary memory loss, and some which can lead to permanent brain damage accompanied by memory loss.

Temporary Memory Loss and TBI

Some traumatic brain injury-related amnesia is temporary; such patients are usually unable to recall what happened directly before, during and after their accidents. This is often caused by the brain swelling as an effect of the sustained damage; this is also known as an edema.

Because the brain has been pushed against the skull, even parts that were not directly injured are unable to function. As the swelling goes down, the patient's memory returns, often slowly over a period of weeks, months or even years. Some patients who suffered from a traumatic brain injury may respond emotionally by experiencing temporary memory loss.

Other, less common, types of memory loss stemming from traumatic brain injury are fixed. These result from damage to the nerves and axons (connections between nerves) of the brain itself. The brain is not durable like a leg or an arm, so any part of the brain that is damaged during a TBI causing functions to be impaired could be permanently impaired, unless the brain learns another way of performing that function.

Fixed amnesia may include inability to remember events before the injury, or loss of memory of the meanings of certain things, such as words or smells or objects. Less commonly, a person may not remember skills he or she had before the TBI.

Brain Damage and Anteretrograde Amnesia

A patient with TBI may also develop anteretrograde amnesia -- an inability to form memories of events that happened after the injury. A study conducted at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in October 2006 found that TBIs lower the levels of protein, although the reason for this is not well understood. Without enough of that protein, the brain can "overload," the researchers said, interfering with memory formation, particularly the ability to learn new things.

Treatment Options for Traumatic Brain Injury Patients with Amnesia

There is no treatment for memory loss caused by a traumatic brain injury; if the memory does not come back on its own, it is gone forever. However, a September 2006 study published in Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, showed promising results in TBI patients with anteretrograde memory loss who took the drug rivastigmine. The drug, which is sold to Alzheimer's disease patients under the brand name Exelon, helped patients with moderate to severe memory loss score better on memory tests than another group of patients that took placebos. 

Patients who had only mild memory loss did not give as good of results. If you suffer from traumatic brain injury-related memory problems, you may wish to contact an experienced TBI attorney to discuss your options, which may include filing a brain injury lawsuit in order to gain compensation for your medical costs.

About the Author

Your source for everything legal on the web is located at LegalView.com. You can find LegalView at http://www.legalview.com  and access a complete legal database and also make use of the free attorney referral service. Utilizing this service, users can find attorneys dealing with a variety of legal services such as a construction accident attorney or mesothelioma lawyers. Visitors can also find a brain injury lawyer at http://brain-injury.legalview.com  

Article source: http://www.articlerich.com   

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