Catastrophic Injuries

Brain injuries can produce life-altering changes that make it difficult for a person to perform their activities of daily life (ADL). These injuries can  require lifelong medical care, which can be costly. There are two common types of brain injuries that can occur when the victim is involved in a car crash – penetrating and non-penetrating. How do penetrating and non-penetrating injuries differ? A penetrating injury occurs when something pierces the skin and skull and infiltrates the brain. In a car wreck, there are many things that can penetrate the skull, e.g., metal components of the...

Severe brain injuries can affect anyone, but children are just as susceptible to be affected by them as adults. It is important for parents to know how to respond when their child is suffering from any kind of brain injury. Knowing the symptoms and how it can impact their lives can aid the child in learning how to cope and heal. Symptoms: Adults and children do not respond the same to brain injuries. Infants and children have a harder time communicating if they are having a hard time with something. For them, it is hard to process what it is like to have a headache or a sensory problem....

Bounce houses are often part of summertime fun for kids. They appear at birthday parties, school carnivals and even backyard barbecues. Unfortunately, they may not be all that safe. Bounce house injuries happen all the time. In fact, doctors say that nearly 30 children get injured every single day in them -- some even die. Common injuries include cuts, bruises, fractures, spinal damage, paralysis, heat exhaustion and head trauma. In many cases, a lack of adequate adult supervision is responsible for the worst injuries. Too many people assume that the bounce houses are essentially entirely...

Could an accident eventually lead to dementia? That's the indication from a psychiatric study that looked at 2.8 million patients for evidence that traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) eventually lead to Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia. Unfortunately for those who have suffered TBIs, it wasn't long before researchers found the connection they suspected was there. In fact, once all other variables were accounted for, just one TBI described as "mild" (like a concussion), raised the likelihood that the victim would eventually develop some form of dementia by as much as 17 percent....

Spinal cord injuries are some of the most devastating injuries that human beings can suffer and live -- and the consequences can last a lifetime. One of the biggest problems victims face is the neurodegenerative changes they end up suffering in future years. Those changes can end up weakening their muscles, creating more problems for victims as time passes. Unfortunately, how bad those changes will eventually be has always been a matter of guesswork. Now, doctors may be able to better predict a patient's long-term recovery -- and the type of neurodegenerative problems they may face -- thanks...

A jury in Ohio has just awarded the victim of medical malpractice over $11 million. It took two weeks to hear the full case against the doctor that treated the child's mother during her pregnancy. The child, now 16 years old, has brain damage that resulted from a mishandled delivery. He has severe cognitive and social impairments that will affect his ability to hold a job or maintain social relationships far into the future. The teen's parents filed the lawsuit to try to ensure that their son will be able to afford the type of care he's likely to require throughout his lifetime. For their...

Could a stubbed toe lead to an amputated leg? What about a skinned knee? If you get scratched by a neighbor's cat, could you lose your fingers, hand or arm as a result? Actually, yes -- you could. It isn't the injury itself that's so dangerous because they're all arguably very mild. The problem sets in when a physician fails to take the wound seriously or misses the early signs of infection and fails to prescribe antibiotics that keep the condition from going catastrophic. What types of infections cause minor injuries to go catastrophic? There are two primary causes of serious infections...

Cheerleaders used to do little more than shake pom-poms and make up chants to raise the level of excitement for the crowd during lulls in a football game. Gradually, the stunts cheerleaders performed became their own show, and cheerleading has now evolved into a dangerous athletic activity for many of the young women involved. Perhaps not too surprisingly, cheerleading was once a masculine activity that started out in upscale schools. Women didn't start taking over the role until the same time they were pushed into many other traditionally-masculine roles. This change happened in the 1940s...

Spinal cord injuries are some of the most catastrophic "whole body" events that a person can suffer. The number one cause of spinal cord injuries is trauma, which can result from a bad fall down a set of steps, a slip from a ladder or a car accident. However, most people don't really understand the nature of spinal cord injuries. They don't know what they should expect in the weeks and months after they or someone they love get injured. Below are some facts about spinal cord injuries. Your spinal cord doesn't have to be cut to cause you to become paralyzed. Even a bruise on the spinal cord...