Each year millions of people suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the United States. TBI is a contributing factor in 30 percent of the injury deaths each year. A personal injury accident can change a person’s life forever in a matter of a few seconds because a TBI can result in permanent disabilities. For the accident victim and his or her family, a person’s negligence in causing an accident can have devastating consequences.
What Is A Traumatic Brain Injury?
A traumatic brain injury causes a disruption in the brain’s normal functions due to a strike to the head or a penetrating brain injury. When the head strikes an object, the brain moves around within the skull striking the …show more content…
Therefore, a TBI can affect a person’s memory, reasoning, communication skills, focus, sight, balance, hearing, and ability to understand. A TBI can also cause depression, personality changes, and aggression. The physical symptoms of a TBI can be debilitating — dizziness, headaches, seizures, sleeping problems, vomiting, and paralysis.
What Causes Traumatic Brain Injuries?
The majority of traumatic brain injuries are caused by personal injury accidents. Of the known causes for TBIs, the top two causes are common personal injury accidents — falls and motor vehicle accidents. According to the CDC, falls accounted for roughly 41 percent of the traumatic brain injuries over a four-year period. During that same time, 14 percent of TBIs were the result of motor vehicle accidents.
The CDC reports that men are three times more likely to die from a TBI than women and rates of death from TBI were highest for people over the age of 65 years. Even with non-fatal TBIs, men and people over the age of 65 had the highest rates of emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
Are There Ways To Prevent Traumatic Brain