Traumatic Brain Injuries

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) are injuries which are much more common than usually understood. Today we have our troops, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan being injured by Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's) which often cause brain injuries through concussions and penetrating head wounds caused by shrapnel. For years the US. Army and the U.S. Marines failed to acknowledge these injuries or treat them, or provide medical disability payment to them. Many of our veterans with head injuries became homeless through the years. As more information has become public and public demand has demanded diagnosis and treatment, more of our soldiers are now being treated.

Warfare is not the only cause of TBI's. Any blow to the head can cause damage to the brain and result in TBI's. Causes in everyday life include: car accidents, assaults, falls, items falling on unprotected head, strokes, in other words anything that hits the head can cause brain injury. It is estimated that there are 2,000,000 TBI's occurring in the U.S. every year.

Results of head injuries depend on blunt force, location of the injury, how quickly the patient is seen in a hospital and treatment. The results of TBI's are varied and usually life changing. One thing that happens in a concussion to the head is what is called "contra-coup". Our brains float in a liquid to help protect it. When a blow happens to the front of the head (frontal lobe) the brain will slam to the back of the head (occipital lobe) and can cause damage in both places. Thus the damage may be much more extensive than first thought.

Some of the results will include:

• Immediate/Short/long term memory loss. Usually immediate and short term memory loss.
• Agitation.
• Depression.
• Anxiety.
  
• Anger and aggression.
• Fatigue and exhaustion.
• Fall asleep at any time.
  
• Inability to understand simple words or conversation.
• Inability to learn new information.
• Inability to understand your surrounding, and may become lost easily.
• Insomnia.
• Misunderstand conversations.
• Inability to concentrate.
• Runaway mind. The mind will hop from one thought to another, ceaselessly.
  
• Change in personality.
• Withdrawal from every day life.
• You will most likely lose your friends as they can't understand your changes.
  
• Inability to work and support your family.
• Inability to take care of personal hygiene.
• Inability to do daily activities.
• Seizures
• Changes in vision and hearing.
• Hallucinations including vision, hearing, vision or smell.
  

And the list goes on and on, again depending on which part of the brain is injured.

One of the major problems with having a TBI is being diagnosed properly and treated properly. There is no one test to diagnose you. Often CT scans are "normal", EEG's are "normal"most of the medical tools used for helping doctors diagnose problems are not effective with head injuries. There are often no outward signs of an injury. The doctor, usually a Neurologist, will run the patient through many different physical exams to see what type of damage there is. Things like holding your hands out to watch for tremors, walking to see if you waver or hold onto the wall, memory tests, psychological tests to find out where the brain deficits may be and then perhaps the diagnoses of TBI can be made.

Then the problem occurs, which type of treatment? I suffered a TBI in 2003, through an assault. It took three years and several Neurologists, psychiatrists and psychologist to get my brain somewhat under control. After three years and many different medication trials one of my Psychiatrists found a combination of medications which slowed my brain down. Three years of insanity. What combination which works for me may very well not work for someone else. The Psychiatrist and Neurologist will have to find the correct combination for you. This takes a lot of time. So be patient.

In the meantime, people with uncontrolled TBI symptoms will self-medicate. This means the patient with the runaway mind will try anything to stop the madness and the fire in the brain. Patients will use alcohol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, Oxycontin, vicodin, Valium, marijuana, almost anything to quieten the brain. Some will become drug addicts while waiting for their doctors to find the right combination to help their injury. I used wine to quieten my brain and over did it. Since my doctors found the right combination for me, I have not had any alcohol in three years. Caretakers of patients with TBI's need to be aware of this and not become facilitators of this abuse. The self-medication only compounds the problem and causes a longer time period for the medicines to be found to help the patient. But the carry away message is the TBI patient WILL self medicate!

For those who wonder, why, as a Naturopath physician I did not use Naturopathic medicine for treatment, the answer is I did. A doctor friend of mine had a hyperbaric oxygen chamber which I used several times a week for several weeks (no change), I went through physical therapy to try and get my balance back, I tried homeopathic medicine, I tried different brain supplements and vitamins, I tried nutrition. I tried IV Vitamin/mineral therapy, nothing worked for me. I then found wine which worked short term to shut my brain off but caused many other problems. This is why I ended up with the medical doctors as I am not convinced Naturopathic doctors are quite able to deal with this type of injury.

One must be honest and give the best information and advice you can and that was my experience.

Person's with TBI's need not be feared. They need understanding. Some of the troops coming back from the war zone will cause crime. They've been in a war where anything goes. They may have an undiagnosed brain injury and they may act out their anger, aggression on others. We need to make sure each soldier coming back is screened for TBI and treated as necessary. We need to have our new health care program (if we get one) to include good treatment for civilian TBI patients.

It is a complete life changing event for the patient for their families, for their friends and we need to have understanding and help for those of us who have suffered so much.