A Review of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Diagnostics: Current Perspectives, Limitations, and Emerging Technology
This article is from Military Medicine and discusses some extremely relevant topics that
military personnel often face, and are being investigated by the Department of Defense. There are a few
technologies discussed in the article which have shown some promise in helping to diagnose mild
traumatic brain injuries (mTBI). The problem that is faced on numerous occasions is that diagnosing is
inaccurate due to the fact that the person does not realize what had happened, the details they remember
are not all correct, or eyewitness accounts are also skewed. Many symptoms displayed from these
injuries are common in other injuries or cognitive
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impairments, so it's not an easy task to determine the root cause. The tools that are discussed and looked at in the article seem to show promise in helping diagnose mTBI.
Soluble biomarkers is the first method, which are present in blood, saliva, and urine.
There are different levels of biomarkers present when an injury has occurred, so testing each of the
seven helps give an idea of trauma.
The second area of testing is advanced neuroimaging. These techniques go beyond the general
CT scans and MRIs, or are incorporated into them in a different way for a clearer picture of what is
being assessed. Then the third topic is quantitative EEG (qEEG), which is a further analysis of the
standard EEG test that is used for people with concussions.
I feel as if this article hit home in a way. My brother in law is retired military due to being
injured in Iraq, and while he did not have a TBI that I know of, he was unable to continue his military
service. He was pretty much just thrown away after injuring his back from an explosion hitting his
vehicle. As I said, I do not know if he had a TBI, but it could have very well been a possibility from the
impact of the explosion and being tossed around inside the vehicle. I know he suffers from PTSD, but
that is for another topic.
The main point I am trying to get at, is that this is very serious and there needs to be an
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accurate and reliable method of determining what the exact issue is, which will then allow for better medical treatment and care for our military personnel. These men and women are sacrificing everything to protect our country and our freedom, which I greatly appreciate every day. They do their duty, then end up getting injured and a lot of the time they get thrown away in a sense, to where it seems as if they are garbage because they are no longer useful. It is good to read articles like this where it shows that the Department of Defense is putting some time and effort into a worthwhile cause that is not just spending more money on defense by buying more and more weapons.
The men and women affected by mTBIs or other injuries definitely
deserve the most accurate diagnoses and treatment possible. The discussion from class upset me when I
heard about some of the student's family members getting injured and having to deal with things that
they should not have to. Quoting exactly out of the summary of the article “They could enable medical
providers to improve identification of soldiers with concussion, guide therapy, and make better and
more objective return to duty decisions.” That sentence alone is huge, and carries a lot of weight behind
it. I look forward to seeing what the future holds, not only from a military perspective, but also a
civilian one, where these things could also serve a larger purpose.
APA Reference: Cook, G. A.,M.C.U.S.N., & Hawley, J. S.,M.C.U.S.A. (2014). A review of mild traumatic brain injury diagnostics: Current perspectives, limitations, and emerging technology. Military Medicine, 179(10), 1083-9. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1581704320?accountid=37812
He had short-term memory loss problems and problems with attention and short temper. Those symptoms are also known in other people with CTE. Probert had told Dani that he had had “three or four ‘significant concussions.’ But when talking about ‘getting his bell rung’ which the institute says is a concussion by definition he told his wife that his total jumped to ‘over a dozen.’” Dani would have to help him get out of bed some mornings because he was in so much pain in his knees, lower back, and hip flexors. Things were not looking good for him, and he knew
going on but his life was in fact destroyed at the same moment because of the battle.
He has experience a level of impairment for more than two weeks. Conrad shows signs of PTSD, which includes the re-experiencing the traumatic event, of the accident and sustained a high level of anxiety, with recurrent nightmares about his brother’s death.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, previously referred to as dementia pugilistica, can be understood as a tauopathic, neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disease. While there is no neurobiological or neuropathological explanation as to why CTE occurs, the majority of researchers believe the disease is strongly related to previous head injuries. An individual suffering from CTE will most likely experience changes in their mood, behavior and cognition. Because this is a relatively new area of research, there are still a vast amount of unknowns pertaining to the disease’s symptoms, pathology, and natural course.
Yates, Keith, et al. “Longitudinal Trajectories of Postconcussive Symptoms in Children With Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries and Their Relationship to Acute Clinical Status.” Pediatrics. 123.3 (2009) : 735-743. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Traumatic brain injury or TBI occurs when a child has a head injury that causes damage to the brain. These injuries can be caused from being hit in the head or violently shaken. The results of TBI can change how a person’s brain develops, how they act, move, and think. It can also affect how they learn in school (NICHCY, 2012). TBI can affect the way a child thinks, retains information, attention span, behavior, speech, physical activities (which includes walking), and the way a child learns.
It was a normal day when at around 9:30pm, a drunk driver in a white Ford Escort did not stop at a stop sign and hit a young 16 year old driver. The young driver, Brett Gilmore said that an adult pulled him out of his car, called 911 and left. After this Brett went to the hospital and he broke his knee,cut his lip open, and a broken arm.
he was injured by a car crash which resulted in a very bad condition in his leg and lung,
killed him, saved him from going to war. Most of his classmates that joined the
...mptoms of depression and other psychological symptoms after his accident, however, after he began work these symptoms faded and he became more confident within himself.
Stocchetti, N., Pagan, F., Calappi, E., Canavesi, K., Beretta, L., Citerio, G., … Colombo, A., (2004). Inaccurate early assessment of neurological severity in head injury. Journal of Neurotrauma, 21(9), 1131-1140. doi:10.1089/neu.2004.21.1131
fact that he did not receive the job in the army that he wanted. He
car with his friends, and they were stopped at a stop light. The drunk driver behind them hit
It was a typical Monday morning as I drove home from work, exhausted from having to perform more than twenty four hours of duty. Windows down, Oakley sunglasses adorn my tiresome face to block the shimmer of sunlight from my sensitive eyes. Anxiously looking forward to the softness of my pillow, I pushed the accelerator to the floor propelling my car into overdrive. Zipping by the night club Area 151 was when I notice him lying on the ground, motionless. With tires screeching I quickly came to unrehearsed stop, the rush of adrenaline and flashes of my military training captivated my mind, transferring me into autopilot. As I ran over to his location yelling “hey buddy are you ok” following the ABC’s of first aid, I could not help but notice the large pool of blood from the deep laceration on his face, the twisted front wheel of his bicycle, and a strong stench of alcohol coming from his liquor stained John Sport backpack. “All my beers are broken” was all he muttered as he fell trying to get regain his footing, relieved that the fellow was alive I immediately called the police. As I spoke to the paramedics on the situation I could not help but ask myself “how could someone be so intoxicated at this time