Brainscope

Facts:

Traumatic Brain Injury as defined by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center:

“A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a blow/jolt to the head or penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Not all blows/jolts to the head result in a TBI. TBI severity may range from mild (a brief change in mental status or consciousness) to severe (an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after injury). The terms concussion and mild TBI are interchangeable.” ¹

Military:

• Blasts are the leading cause of TBI for active duty military personnel in war.¹
• TBI is one of the distinctive injuries of the Iraq war, because unlike previous conflicts where the mortality rate from such injuries was 75 percent or higher, the majority of these troops can now be saved.²
• The vast majority of TBI cases in the armed forces - 87% to 90% - involve mild TBI.³
• In the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq TBI appears to account for about 22% of casualties.³
• Over 90% of combat-related TBI's are closed brain injuries.¹
• One of the military's greatest challenges is in diagnosing concussion - many symptoms are difficult to distinguish between the effects of stress and sleep deprivation.⁴
• An Army mental health report in February (2009) indicated that 11% of 2,195 soldiers surveyed in Iraq and Afghanistan show signs of mild brain injury, but fewer than half were identified and evaluated in the field.
• Some doctors and veterans say the high blast impact of Improvised Explosive Device's (I.E.D.), the roadside explosives that have accounted for most head injuries to troops in Iraq, may be creating symptoms that differ from the sort of concussions suffered in sports or car accidents.³
• Troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with TBI have cost the nation $554 million in treatment and lost productivity.³

Sports:

• It is believed that an alarming 41% of high school athletes who suffered an initial concussion are returned to active play too soon.⁵
• 6.8% of high school athletes suffering a concussion had previously suffered a sport-related concussion, either that season or in a previous season.⁶
• High school athletes' recovery times for sports concussion are longer than college athletes' recovery times.⁶

General:

• Every 23 seconds a traumatic brain injury occurs.⁷
• An estimated 1.6 million to 3.8 million sports-related TBIs occur each year.⁸
• There are approximately 1.5 million Emergency Department (ED) visits annually for traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the United States.¹⁰
• Moderate & severe head injury (respectively) are associated with a 2.3 and 4.5 times increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.⁸
• Brain injuries are most often caused by motor vehicle crashes, sports injuries, or even simple falls on the playground, at work or in the home.⁸
• 20 Million People Unnecessarily Exposed To Radiation From CT Scans Each Year.⁹
• Males are about 1.5 times as likely as females to sustain a TBI.¹⁰

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¹ National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center

² Okie S. Traumatic brain injury in the war zone. New Eng Med 2005; 352: 2043-47.

³ IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2009. Gulf War and Health, Volume 7: Long-term Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

⁴ Cernich A, Reeves D, Sun W, Bleiberg J. Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics sports medicine battery. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 2007; 22: 101-114.

⁵ Dan Rather Reports. Investigates the New Epidemic of Head Injuries Among Today's Student Athletes. March 2, 2009.

⁶ Scott D, et al. Concussions Among University Football and Soccer Players: A Pilot Study. Clin J Sports Med. 2001, 11(4); 234-240.

⁷ Brain Injury Association of America

⁸ Langlois, J. ScD, MPH; Rutland-Brown, W. MPH; Wald, M. MLS, MPH;  The Epidemiology and Impact of Traumatic Brain Injury: A Brief Overview; Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 375378 2006

⁹ Brenner DJ, Hall EJ. Computed Tomography – An Increasing Source of Radiation Exposure. N Engl J Med. 2007 Nov 29;357(22):2277-84.

¹⁰ Langlois JA, Rutland-Brown W, Thomas KE. Traumatic brain injury in the United States: emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2006.