Preventing brain injury

This blog was written thanks to the expertise of the Brian Barr Solicitors team, including Alex Cohen, Philip Cohen and Steven Akerman, leading experts in compensation claims for chronic pain and serious injury. Road Safety Week is a time to stop and reflect – not just on the numbers, but on the people behind them. [...]

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in older adults are associated with a 69 per cent higher risk of developing dementia within five years, new research has found. The study analysed data from more than 260,000 adults aged 65 and older between April 2004 and March 2020, following them until dementia diagnosis, March 2021, or death. It [...]

Patients with atrial fibrillation living in food deserts face more than double the risk of ischaemic stroke and nearly four times the risk of death, new research has found. Food deserts – areas where residents live more than a mile from a full-service supermarket – were linked to worse outcomes in people with irregular heart [...]

Adding blood tests to existing calculators helps doctors more accurately identify which atrial fibrillation patients need stroke prevention medication, research has shown. Researchers at the University of Vermont developed an improved tool by incorporating blood test results that detect proteins associated with heart dysfunction, blood clotting and inflammation. These biological markers provide a more precise [...]

In a new study, researchers have found that patients with diabetes who started statin therapy right away reduced the rate of heart attack and stroke by one third compared to those who chose to delay taking the medication. The results can help guide decision-making conversations between clinicians and their patients. Taking a statin medication is [...]

People who develop epilepsy after a traumatic brain injury are at an 80 per cent higher risk of premature death compared to those who have suffered a similar brain injury without developing epilepsy.  The thesis encompasses all patients admitted to hospital with a traumatic brain injury in Sweden between 2000 and 2010. The data span [...]

Adults younger than 50 years of age had more than double the risk of having a stroke from migraine or other nontraditional stroke risk factors rather than traditional risks such as high blood pressure, according to new research. Previous research indicates the rate of ischemic (clot-caused) stroke among adults 18 to 49 years old is [...]

Police officers are more than twice as likely to have traumatic brain injuries compared to the general population, a new survey-based study has revealed, with officers who incur these injuries while on duty facing more than double the risk of developing complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study, which is the largest of its kind [...]

University of Calgary researchers say if you’ve had a minor stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), you remain at high risk of having another, more severe stroke for several years thereafter. A lot of focus has been put on preventing stroke in the first 90-days post-TIA or minor stroke, which is when a person is [...]

By Michelle Munro, Cortex Rehabilitation Every 90 seconds, someone in the UK is admitted to the hospital with a brain injury.  Despite its frequency, brain injury remains a largely invisible epidemic. Survivors often bear no visible scars, leading to misunderstanding and a lack of proper support.  This article highlights the latest UK data on brain [...]