Traumatic Brain Injury FAQ

Lead poisoning is considered a brain injury, although it can affect many of the body's systems depending on each case, according to Dee Tipton, the coordinator for the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program in Clinton County, Ohio.  As one of the more common forms of brain injury in children, lead poisoning inflicts approximately 250,000 U.S. children ages one through five with blood lead levels that require public health actions (according to the CDC).  Tipton also reports that many of these brain-injured children do not display signs or symptoms of lead poisoning until age 4 or 5 (even if they suffered lead poisoning as infants), the age at which behavior or learning problems become noticeable. 

Such learning or behavioral problems demonstrate the fact that lead poisoning is a brain injury, an injury that can lead to learning disabilities for children.  If you believe that your child may have suffered from lead poisoning or any other brain injury, feel free to contact child brain injury attorney Chris Keane with your most pressing questions. After spending years as an advocate for children with head and brain injuries, he has worked with the best medical experts in the field, and he will consult with you for free regarding your unique situation. 

For more information on lead poisoning in children, testing, and long-term effects, click here.

Contact Chris Keane online or call 1-888-592-KIDS (1-888-592-5437).

Currently, the answer is a positive "maybe."  According to the Ivanhoe medical news website, researchers are hoping that amino acids will treat the brain damage from TBI (in children and adults) that affects cognitive functions.  The site reports that the "leading cause of death and disability in young children," traumatic brain injury, can negatively affect a child's memory, ability to learn, and other functions of the brain.  Currently, according to the site, there is no treatment available for the type of brain damage that results in such decline in brain functions.  Based on a study in which mice with brain injuries were fed amino acids, however, hope exists for the brain injury victim suffering from the above-described symptoms. 

Specifically, the mice were given three BCAAs (branched chain amino acids) in their drinking water.  As a result, the BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) contributed to the restoration of the mice's cognitive abilities.  Reports neuroscientist Dr. Akiva S. Cohen, "dietary intervention" can "improve cognitive performance" while restoring a "proper balance of neurochemicals" in the part of the brain that is injured, based on the results of the study.  Earlier studies conducted on humans give credibility to the recent report:  people with severe brain injuries who received BCAAs intravenously showed mild improvement.

As an advocate for injured and abused children who have suffered brain damage, Chris Keane narrows his legal focus to representing children and only children.  Such a narrow focus has given him the opportunity and experience of working with the best medical experts in the field of child brain injury.  If you have questions regarding pediatric traumatic brain injury or child head injuries in general, contact Chris Keane online or at 888-592-KIDS for free answers and advice unique to your specific situation.

The Keane Law Firm handles all types of child brain injury cases that result from the negligence or abuse of another.  Although Chris Keane intentionally specializes in child brain injuries, a focus that allows him to work with the best medical experts in the field of pediatric brain injury, he does not limit himself in terms of type of injury (as long as the child's brain injury occured because of negligence or abuse).  After working with pediatric traumatic brain injury experts for many years, attorney Chris Keane has handled a wide range of child brain injury cases, including cases of cerebral palsy, car accidents, concussions from sports or other accidents, shaken baby syndrome, and child abuse, among others. 

If your child has suffered a brain injury or died as a result of head trauma, feel free to contact Chris Keane with your most concerning questions.  As a father himself and advocate for brain injury victims, he will consult with you for free with compassion and regard for your unique situation.

Click here to contact Chris Keane via our online form or call him at 1-888-592-KIDS.

Believe it or not, yes!  According to The Brain and Music website, music helps brain injury victims with vocalization, orientation, and re-organizing of the structure of the brain.  Research has indicated that listening to music, especially that of composers with highly organized styles of music (like Mozart), helps children and adults with brain injuries to organize their thoughts and activities better (and their emotions as well).  Why?  Music has been proven to be processed by the entire brain, mainly due to its structure. 

Other benefits of music on brain-injured children are improvements in rhythmic movements, self-esteem, self-expression, and relaxation.  In addition to needing medical rehabilitation, children who have suffered brain injuries may need emotional and mental rehabilitation, as well, making all the benefits of music listed here important ones.  





Relevant Links:
Child Brain Injury Blog
The Brain and Music

Although recent research indicates a link between pediatric brain injury and ADHD, the answer is no.  However, the relationship between early head injury in a children and resulting ADHD diagnoses is an interesting one. According to the Organized Wisdom website, young children who suffer brain injuries and head injuries are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) when they reach ages 2 through 10 than children who do not suffer head injuries.  The research indicates, however, that the relationship between child brain injury and ADHD is NOT necessarily that of cause and effect.  Instead, the “common denominator" is in behavior, specifically risk-taking.

Researchers found that children engaging in risk-taking behavior are more prone to serious injury and developing attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder than children with more moderate behavior.  It is already known to experts that ADHD children are more accident-prone than those without the condition.

How do we know that the link is not a cause-and-effect relationship?  To find out, click here.

Narrowing his practice to representing children and only children has enabled pediatric brain injury lawyer Chris Keane to work with the best experts in the field of child brain injuries, and he will be glad to provide you with free resources, information, or answers to questions regarding brain injuries, ADHD, or your specific situation.

If you would like to consult with Chris Keane, contact the Keane Law Firm online or call 1-888-592-KIDS (1-888-592-5437).

While there is no exact time period that marks when a child is completely healed or, at least, unaffected by traumatic brain injury (TBI), a new study suggests that the injury can affect some children for years.  Whether suffering from a mild blow to the head or a concussion, children can be affected by the condition over 2 years after the time of injury.  Though some traumatic brain injuries are permanent, lasting not 2 years, but a lifetime, or even resulting in death, those that seem to be more moderate have recently been found to affect the brain activity of victims for longer than expected.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, TBI is the most common cause of fatality and disabilty in children and teenagers.  When brain injuries do not result in fatality or permanent disability, they still can linger for up to 24 months or more, according to a new study released from researchers at UCLA.  After analyzing 28 articles on traumatic brain injury between 1988 and 2007, lead author of the journal Neuropsychology and post-doctoral fellow at UCLA Talin Babikian found that child and adolescent victims of TBI fall further behind their peers over time than previously expected by physicians. 

Children in the study were sorted by their levels on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), which measures a brain injury sufferer's eye/pupil response, verbal communication, and motor response to determine the serverity of the injury.  Including children from all three levels of the scale--mild, moderate, or severe--Babikian found that moderate and severe sufferers of TBI experienced similar impairment after a time period of 24 months after injury.  While those with moderate injuries recovered somewhat in terms of attention and intellectual functioning, the neurocognictive affects of TBI persisted throughout the two years experienced after injury.  The children who did suffer from severe traumatic brain injury displayed significant IQ, attention, verbal memory, and processing speed impairment.  Even children with mild TBI experienced problems in cognitive development, although they tended to heal more over time than the other children.

Important to the study is the fact that the age of a child at the time of injury affects how the child will heal.  Since younger children require more development than older children, a younger child may experience the same injury as an older one but endure longer and more difficult recovery processes. 

While the results of the UCLA study are discouraging, even heartbreaking, hope exists for some child victims of traumatic brain injury to heal and develop normally.  As an experienced pediatric TBI lawyer, Chris Keane helps families recover the compensation they need for the medical treatment of their child and ensures that each child is connected with the right physician and proper care.  If you have questions regarding TBI or child injuries in general, feel free to contact the Keane Law Firm.  We will consult with you for free and ensure that you receive the resources you require. 1-888-592-KIDS.












Link:  "Traumatic Brain Injury Haunts Children For Years" article