Chicago Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

With football and high school sports just around the corner, the topic of concussions is sure to surface. It is important that schools, coaches, students, parents and guardians be educated on the symptoms of a concussion and to know what steps to take when a student displays signs of a possible concussion.

Some states require a mandatory restriction from further participation in the football game following a concussion or “suspected” concussion. Where does Illinois stand on this issue? In the past couple of years, recognizing concussions has progressed. Over three years ago, the Illinois High School Association’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee began to study concussion management. Thus far, the committee has not yet recommended implementation for assessing the severity of concussions. In Illinois, there is a large variation in resources, between large and small schools. It would be difficult for smaller schools to take on a minimum standard program. Unfortunately, a student athlete’s brain could be at issue.

The National Federation of State High School Association which has produced brochures and references on concussions symptoms for years, will now add specific language to its rule books, with a list of symptoms and recommendations for treatment, including a prohibition of returning to action the day of an injury and medical clearance prior to returning the action. This is a tremendous step in preventing subsequent injuries to student athletes.

In 1974, professors of neurosurgery at the University of Glasgow developed the Glasgow Coma Scale “GCS.” It is a neurological scale that aims to give a reliable and objective way of recording the conscious state of a person for initial as well as subsequent medical assessment. A patient is assessed against the criteria of the scale and points range from three (eyes do not open, unable to make vocal sounds and no motor movements) to 14/15 (opens eyes spontaneously, individual is oriented and localizes painful stimuli). At 15, the person is fully awake. At 3, the individual is in a deep coma. The GCS is often used to assess levels of consciousness after a head or brain injury and the scale is universally used by First Aid, responders, EMS, doctors and all other individuals treating acute medical and trauma patients.

Recently, a survey was given to Italian anesthesiologists who treat patients with brain injuries and the results of the survey show that the GCS is no longer enough to adequately classify, by itself, the severity of a traumatic brain injury. Conversely, the doctors believe, CT scans and pupil photo activity should be included in a modern clinical classification of traumatic brain injuries.

Roughly 2 million individuals suffer traumatic brain injuries each year. If the Italian anesthesiologists are correct, the CT findings and pupil reactivity to light should be included as additional ways of classifying the severity of a traumatic brain injury.

Continue reading "IS GLASGOW COMA SCALE ENOUGH TO CLASSIFY THE SEVERITY OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY?" »

A study entitled Sleep Disturbance and Melatonin Levels Following Traumatic Brain Injury published in the American Academy of Neurology's journal Neurology found that sleep disturbances commonly follow traumatic brain injuries.

Australian researchers performed sleep experiments on 23 people affected by traumatic brain injuries as well as 23 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers.

Among other things, the study found that traumatic brain injury patients spent an average of 62 minutes per night awake compared to 27 minutes for those in the healthy group. In fact, the researchers suggest that damage associated with a brain injury may disrupt the neural structures that regulate sleep.

Elevated depression was also associated with the reduced ability to sleep soundly.

Such research is important for understanding the long term affects of traumatic brain injuries. Proper diagnosis and treatment are critical to recover from such injuries. The Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll is personal injury law firm experienced in handling traumatic brain injury cases. Please contact us today at (312) 676-7222.

A new report out of the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that approximately half of the survivors of a traumatic brain injury, or a concussion, will experience clinical depression within one year after the injury. In fact, head trauma combined with depression causes significantly more pain, greater mobility problems and more difficulty in carrying out responsibilities than head trauma without depression.

Over one million American adults and children suffer from traumatic brain injuries each year. The symptoms of traumatic brain injuries include personality changes, memory and concentration problems, headaches and mood disturbances.

Continue reading "LINK BETWEEN TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AND DEPRESSION DOCUMENTED" »

The personal injury attorneys at the Chicago-based law firm, the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll have successfully represented victims of post-traumatic stress disorder. A recent article on the Science Daily website explains the findings of a study released by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health that suggests that traumatic experiences "biologically embed" themselves in select genes. This alters the function of the genes and leads to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PTSD is a serious condition involving psychological consequences that a person experiences after exposure to a traumatic event.

The Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll represents individuals who have been the victims of brain injuries. March is "Brain Injury Awareness Month." There is a continuum of levels of brain injury, but all are serious.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is encouraging school professionals, coaches, athletes and parents to learn the risks of concussions in youth sports in recognition of Brain Injury Awareness Month. The emphasis is on identifying when a concussion has occurred and ensuring that sufficient time has passed before returning to playing sports. A repeat concussion before the brain has sufficiently healed places athletes at a high risk for long-term effects.

In addition to an increased risk in sports, members of the armed services are at increased risk for brain injury. The Pentagon has a new policy wherein U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan subjected to roadside bomb attacks will be pulled from duty for at least 24 hours and medically examined before being cleared for battle again. The goal is to detect injuries as early as possible.

Protocols requiring a rest period for healing and medical observation are essential to preventing long-term damage after a mild brain injury.

Recently, the 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science met and discussed the serious nature of mild traumatic brain injuries, or concussions. Although over 1 million adults and children suffer mild traumatic brain injuries each year, the medical and legal fields usually ignore the severe effect such injuries have on a person's daily life. Often, such injuries cause neurological and cognitive problems that prohibit a person from properly functioning in society.

Doctors are now beginning to use neuroimaging techniques to study how mild traumatic brain injuries affect humans and animals. Within just a few days after a mild traumatic brain injury, doctors have found distinct changes throughout the white matter -- the brain tissue through which messages pass within the nervous system -- in the brain.

Such research is important because society at large does not take concussions or mild traumatic brain injury seriously enough. Proper diagnosis and treatment are critical to recover from such injuries. The Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll is personal injury law firm experienced in handling traumatic brain injury cases. Please contact us today at (312) 676-7222.

New research suggests that standard tests to determine brain activity may overlook patients who have some consciousness. The new test used by researchers in Britain and Belgium is called a functional MRI. The results of their study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers emphasized that only a few of the patients they tested showed evidence of mental awareness. Further, it is not clear to what degree the patients are conscious.

Researchers noted that the positive signals appeared only in people with traumatic brain injury. Those whose brain injuries resulted from oxygen deprivation did not show consciousness.

To test the patients in the study, researchers asked vegetative and minimally conscious persons to imagine two situations. One scenario involved standing on a tennis court hitting a ball to an instructor and the other was navigating familiar streets or walking from room to room in their homes. In some of the patients, the brain scan used by researchers, a functional MRI, showed different patterns of brain activity for each scenario.

Continue reading "NEW STUDY REVEALS SOME BRAIN ACTIVITY IN PEOPLE IN "VEGETATIVE" STATE FROM TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY" »

With Chicago winter in full force, it is important to remember safety while sledding with your children, especially those under 14 years of age. Sledding injuries can be serious, causing lifelong disability or death. Since younger children have proportionally larger heads and higher centers of gravity than older children, they are more prone to injuries.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons provides the following safety tips for winter sledding:

• No matter how tempting, do not permit your children to sled on public streets.
• Make sure your child is sitting in a forward-facing position while sledding.
• Sled only in designated and approved areas where there are no trees, posts, fences or other obstacles in the sledding path.
• Supervise your children while sledding. To avoid collisions, make sure there aren't too many children sledding in one area.
• It is preferred for young children to wear fitted helmets while sledding.
• Chose sleds that have steering mechanisms when possible.
• Only sled in well-lighted areas in the evening.
• Do not use plastic sheets or other materials for sledding.
• Protect your children from injury and cold by dressing them in layers of clothing.

By following these simple safety tips, you can ensure that your children not only have fun in the snow, but are also well protected from injury. The Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll hopes that you and your family have a safe and fun winter.

The attorneys at the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll are experienced in handling cases involving individuals whom have suffered brain injuries. New research has shown that the administration of progesterone to individuals with brain injuries has shown beneficial effects and improvements in brain functionality. Progesterone is a naturally-occurring hormone that is produced by males and females. Progesterone can cross the blood-brain barrier and reduce swelling.

In the January issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology, the results of a study performed by researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, indicate that progesterone can protect damaged cells in the central and peripheral nervous systems.

When a person suffers a brain injury, their body responds to the trauma in the same way it would any injury, which is with inflammation. The swelling causes increased pressure in the brain called intracranial pressure. This pressure in the brain can be fatal. The swelling restricts blood flow to the brain and puts pressure on areas of the brain that affect breathing, heart rate and blood pressure.

Cooling therapy is used by many medical treaters to reduce the swelling. With the use of cooling blankets and other methods, internal body temperature is reduced to help prevent further damage.

Similarly, research has shown that using cooling therapy on newborns who suffer from oxygen deprivation during birth may reduce rates of cerebral palsy and other problems caused by hypoxia.

New research, first presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, indicates that a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates, known as the "ketogenic" diet, speeds recovery in paralyzed rats after spinal cord injury. According to ScienceDaily.com, patients recovering from spinal cord injuries are usually given intravenous, high calorie solutions containing large amounts of sugar as they heal.

In the study, researchers investigated the high fat, low carb, ketogenic diet as an alternative to fasting. Like fasting, a lack of carbohydrates forces the body to use fat as fuel. During the study, rats were fed either standard or ketogenic diets after a cervical spinal cord contusion. The rats on the ketogenic diet recovered faster. After 14 weeks on their ketogenic diets, 54% percent of the rats used their injured paws 15 times more frequently than the rats on a standard diet.

Continue reading "NEW RESEARCH ON SPINAL CORD INJURY PATIENTS" »

As a Chicago personal injury attorney, I have represented individuals with brain injuries. The causes range from birth injuries to cheerleading accidents and other sports injuries to high-impact car crashes. Many of the causes of traumatic brain injuries stem from negligence. As a personal injury attorney, it is my role to maximize any potential recovery to provide for the brain injured individual.

The disabilities resulting from a traumatic brain injury depend upon the severity of that injury. Many factors will influence the outcome, including, the location on the brain of the injury, the age of the person and the general health of the individual.

Continue reading "TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY: CAUSES AND OUTCOME" »

The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) guesstimates that there are approximately 1.5 million people in the United States who suffer from a traumatic brain injury each year. Sadly, 50,000 people die from traumatic brain injuries each year and more than 85,000 will suffer long-term disabilities. I chose the word "guesstimate" when referring to the 1.5 million people who suffer from these tragic injuries because only the patients that are admitted to a hospital for this injury are included in this count. Individuals treated in an emergency room or doctor’s office are not counted.

A traumatic brain injury is a form of an acquired brain injury. It occurs when sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. This type of injury can result when the head suddenly and violently strikes an object or the individual’s head is violently shaken. This is commonly known as a deceleration injury. Many people involved in motor vehicle collisions will complain of some type of headache or head injury and will subsequently receive CT scans or other diagnostic studies in the emergency room. Imaging tests will be helpful and assist in determining the diagnosis and prognosis for a traumatic brain injury patient.

An individual’s skull is hard and inflexible while the brain is soft with a “jello-like” consistency. An individual’s brain is encased inside the skull. During the movement of the skull through space (which is known as acceleration) and the rapid discontinuation of this action, the skull will meet a stationary object (deceleration) this will cause the brain to violently move inside the skull. As one can imagine, the brain is moving at a different rate than the skull because of this “jello-like” consistency. This differential movement of the skull and the brain results in direct brain injury, shearing, contusion, and, quite often, swelling.

Anyone with signs of a mild, moderate or severe traumatic brain injury should receive medical attention as soon as possible.

Continue reading "CHICAGO BRAIN INJURY LAWYER COMMENTS ON MECHANICS OF BRAIN INJURIES" »