Brain injury

Has your partner experienced a brain injury of any kind? Do you and your partner have one or more children aged between 7 and 17?

If so, your input could be hugely valuable to a new research project. Research shows that following a brain injury, family members may go through a period of grieving and loss, and children can experience emotional and behavioural changes.

Using chemical biomarkers released by the brain immediately after a head injury occurs, researchers are able to pinpoint when patients need urgent medical attention. This saves time in delivering vital treatment and avoids patients undergoing unnecessary tests where no injury has occurred.

The technique was developed by multi-disciplinary team of researchers in the group of Advanced Nanomaterials, Structures and Applications (ANMSA) led by Dr Pola Goldberg Oppenheimer at the University of Birmingham.

Following a proof-of-concept study, the group has now completed Innovate UK’s commercialisation programme, iCURE, to identify commercialisation routes for the revolutionary technique, identifying potential partners across eight countries. 

Brain fog and other neurological symptoms seen in those recovering from COVID-19 may be due to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), new research has revealed.

Growing numbers of people recovering from the virus are reporting factors including lapses in concentration, headaches, extreme fatigue and sleep disruptions - all of which can be exacerbated among brain injury survivors, many of whom experience such factors in their everyday lives without the effect of COVID-19.

Specific rehabilitation and resources are being identified for those with brain injuries, whose symptoms have worsened, often significantly, in the aftermath of contracting the virus and the rise in ‘Long Covid’ making recovery increasingly difficult, particularly among those with existing conditions.

Patients with brain injury and other neuro conditions are being supported with pelvic, obstetric and gynaecological matters through a link-up between a clinic and specialist physiotherapist, believed to be the first of its kind.

Kirsten Barrett is part of the team at Neuro Physio Wales and supports its clients with issues including bladder and bowel issues and sexual dysfunction.

Access to such specialism is usually available via separate referral, but through Kirsten’s partnership with the clinic, patients are able to access the specialist support directly.

Kirsten, who has worked in pelvic, obstetric and gynaecological physiotherapy (POGP) for 15 years, is seeing a growing number of patients with neurological conditions, or who are living with a brain injury, spinal cord injury or stroke as part of her case load.

DARPA - the research and development agency of the US Department of Defense - is putting its weight behind spinal cord injury (SCI) research.

The organisation has awarded a consortium of universities, biomedical startups, and nonprofit organizations an award that supports the development of interventions for SCI. Karen Moxon, from University of California, Davis (UC Davis), will lead the five-year project supported by the $36 million award, according to reports. The consortium will focus on three primary technologies, including a near-infrared spectroscopic sensor. Brian Kwon, co-principal investigator and spine surgeon from the University of British Columbia (UBC), will develop the sensor. Pathonix Innovations Inc., also in Vancouver, Canada, will then commercialize the device to assess blood oxygenation and blood flow at the site of spinal injury.

Having suffered a brain injury which left her struggling to rebuild her life, Helen Whiteley found salvation in running. Here, she tells how she went from running for the first time to completing the Virtual London Marathon in only eight months.

“On November 24, it will be eight years since I suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from a fall at home. I was found unresponsive at the bottom of my staircase at home by my husband Simon; I have no recollection of how I got there.

“I was initially taken to Huddersfield Hospital but once I was stabilised I was transferred to the Leeds General Infirmary neurosurgery department. It was here I was diagnosed with an acute subdural hematoma and fractured skull and was taken immediately into surgery for an emergency craniotomy to evacuate the hematoma. I was then placed in an induced coma on the neurosurgery ICU ward, where I stayed for a number of weeks.

Australia’s New South Wales government has promised to improve brain injury testing for domestic abuse victims after a psychiatrist drew attention to inconsistent care for vulnerable women. Psychiatrist Karen Williams urged the government to adopt a concussion protocol for family and domestic violence victims after doing her own research and being shocked at what she found.

It started when Williams noticed the disparity in how her patients were diagnosed and treated.Williams specialises in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), often with military, police, emergency personnel and other first responders. But she also treats the general population, the vast majority of whom are women with histories of child and domestic abuse.

In a studio in East London, a studio full of artists get to work, with one small difference – they all survived a traumatic brain injury. Photographer Leon Foggitt tells NR Times about his experience capturing the artists.

More than four years ago, photographer Leon Foggitt spotted an article about a collective of artists who’d survived a brain injury, and there was a charity where they could learn to be artists. He was intrigued.

All prisoners in England are to be screened for Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) sustained through domestic abuse from April 2021, it has been confirmed.

The announcement comes after a long-standing campaign and five years of research to highlight the issue of ABI in the prison system. This work has shown that early identification of an injury could help those working within the prison estate to better support men and women to engage with rehabilitation programmes and services designed to help prevent reoffending.

A specific post COVID-19 rehab service for people with brain injuries is being developed by a care provider.

The move comes in response to developing evidence showing the effects of the virus are wider-ranging and longer lasting than first thought. In support of those who are too debilitated to care for themselves at home in recovering from COVID-19, The Disabilities Trust has developed a specialist rehabilitation service, which it will offer in some of its 15 brain injury centres across England, Scotland and Wales. The residential programme, which include a period of between four and twelve weeks for holistic rehabilitation before being discharged home, will support brain injury survivors with factors including severe fatigue, chronic and distressing pain, low mood and weakness, all of which can be exacerbated by contracting the virus.