What is a Brain Injury?

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) occurs when the brain has been injured by an external physical force. When a brain injury occurs, usually neurons, nerve tracts are effected. When these parts are damaged the messages the brain sends to rest of the body is drastically altered. There can be any combination of changes in personality, behavior, motor skills and cognitive thinking. These changes can be temporary or permanent and can effect the following: communication, judgement, perception, reading and writing skills, memory and decision making to name a few. Any of the five senses, motor coordination, balance, speech are the physical changes. Emotional mood swings, aggression, frustration are behavioral changes.

Trauma from a blow to the head or stroke can lead to irreversible damage and a greatly reduced quality of life. Sometimes the effects are delayed for months or years.

Did you know that an estimated two million Americans contract some form of brain injury each year? That every 15 seconds someone suffers a brain injury? More pervasive than AIDS, breast cancer and multiple sclerosis combined, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and disability to Americans under the age of 45. It effects more lives than most people realize. TBI has become an almost silent epidemic with a brain injury occurring every 15 seconds in America. Approximately, 100,000 people die each year from TBI and 500,000 more are disabled.

More than 2% of the US population is living with a disability caused by TBI. The cost for treating, rehabilitating and caring for TBI victims costs the US approximately $30 billion annually. And to date, no clinical treatment has proven effective in reversing the debilitating consequences of traumatic brain injury.

The only known cure for brain injury today is prevention. The Coalition for Brain Injury Research is working hard to change this situation. Based on recent advances in the neuro sciences, the potential for cure is rapidly gaining credibility in the research community. We are totally committed to working at the federal, state, and grass roots levels to achieve our goals. These efforts will renew hope to the victims and families who have suffered for so long. Every effort should be made to provide them with the opportunity to lead a meaningful, productive life.
To read more about brain injuries, visit:
http://www.brainjurycure.org/1_pages/whatbraininjuryis.htm