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1 in 4 stroke victims experiences PTSD, study finds

Post-traumatic stress disorder, known as PTSD, is not just a problem for military veterans, sexual assault survivors and other crime victims — it also plagues many stroke victims, according to new research.

The study, published online Wednesday in the journal PLOS One, reports that 23% of stroke and mini-stroke victims surveyed within one year of the event suffered from PTSD. In addition, 11% of stroke victims surveyed more than a year after the event reported that they experienced PTSD.

A stroke occurs when an artery carrying essential oxygen and nutrients to the brain is blocked or bursts, causing damage to the brain and potentially impairing speech, sight and motor control. A mini-stroke, also […]

Kanata 5 cyclist back riding on the road

An Ottawa man who suffered a life-threatening brain injury when he and four other cyclists were struck in a 2009 hit-and-run is back doing something medical experts said would never happen: he’s riding again.

Robert Wein was hit while cycling on a stretch of March Road in Kanata in the early morning of July 19, 2009 and suffered the most serious injuries of the five cyclists. Doctors said he had only a 50 per cent chance of surviving, and said he was not likely to walk or ride again.

But Wein has made great progress, though his speech still falters and he needs a walker to help him get around.

His latest accomplishment: learning to ride a recumbent three-wheeler, the […]

Pentagon Hopes Brain Tissue Research Will Help Prevent Injuries

Some 260,000 cases of traumatic brain injury or TBI have been reported among U.S. service members from their time serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Well, now the Defense Department has decided to set up a brain tissue bank to better understand, treat and prevent brain injury. The tissue repository will be under the direction of neuropathologist Dr. Daniel Perl, and he joins me now. Welcome to the program.

DR. DANIEL PERL: Thank you.

BLOCK: And how will the brain tissue bank work?

PERL: Well, the brain tissue bank will collect specimens from deceased service members whose families have decided to donate the brain for use in […]

U.S. Military Establishes Brain Tissue Repository For Study Of Traumatic Brain Injury

The U.S. military has established what may be the world’s first repository of brain tissue for the study of traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is said to be the “signature” injury of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In furthering the study of the condition with hope for better prevention and treatment, the military will ask for persmission from families of deceased service members to retain specimens. They hope to collect several hundred samples for study by researchers.

“We have been at war for more than a decade and our men and women have sacrificed,” Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense, told reporters. “The military health care system is bringing all the resources it can to better […]

What 20 Minutes Of Yoga Does For Your Brain

Just 20 minutes of yoga could help your brain function better, according to a small new study.

Researchers found that people did better — both speed-wise and accuracy-wise — on brain functioning tests after just 20 minutes of Hatha yoga, compared with aerobic exercise.

“It appears that following yoga practice, the participants were better able to focus their mental resources, process information quickly, more accurately and also learn, hold and update pieces of information more effectively than after performing an aerobic exercise bout,” study researcher Neha Gothe, a professor of kinesiology, health and sport studies at the university, said in a statement. Gothe conducted the study while a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“The […]

Poll reveals Canadians’ misunderstandings about stroke

New figures released by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada suggest that Canadians don’t have a great understanding of strokes, nor what’s involved in recovering from one.

The poll found that half of all Canadians have a close friend or family member who has had a stroke, yet many don’t realize that it can take patients weeks or months to recover.

Dr. Sean Dukelow, a researcher at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary who focuses on stroke, says he’s particularly struck by the myth that one in five Canadians thinks a stroke is always fatal.

“That’s not the case; only about 10 per cent of people pass on after they have a stroke,” Dukelow explained to […]

Education sessions around the province offer practical advice to people who’ve had strokes — and their loved ones

Ray McDonald was able to move a toe, just a tiny bit, on his immobilized left side after he awoke from emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. “You know what that means?” his doctor asked. “That means you’ll walk again.” Now, two years after a hemorrhagic stroke flooded the right side of this brain with blood, McDonald is not only walking, but also telling other stroke survivors to not lose faith in the wonders of human resilience. That’s despite the fact he can’t see out of the left side of each eye, a condition called hemianopsia, a type of vision impairment that’s not uncommon after a stroke. So he takes a white cane with him […]

Light Therapy May Improve Sleep, Cognition After Brain Injury

Best known as a treatment for seasonal affective disorder, bright light therapy may improve sleep, cognition, emotion and brain function following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to a new study.

The study found that six weeks of morning bright light therapy resulted in a marked decrease in daytime sleepiness.

This improvement was associated with improvements in the propensity to fall asleep and night-time sleep quality, according to the study.

The bright light therapy also affected depressive symptoms, researchers said.

“Our preliminary data suggests that morning bright light therapy might be helpful to reduce subjective daytime sleepiness and to improve night-time sleep,” said Mareen Weber, Ph.D., an instructor in psychiatry at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

“Importantly, […]

Cyclists, Wear Your Helmet: Your Brain will Thank You

For some of us, it’s just plain common sense. But for others, fear of hat hair may be all it takes to shift bike riders away from safety.

However, a new study confirms what many of us have thought all along. The rate of bicycle-related fatalities are significantly lower in states with helmet laws.

Existing research shows that cyclists who wear helmets have an 88 percent lower risk of brain injury, but researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital found that simply having bicycle helmet laws in place showed a 20 percent decrease in deaths and injuries for children younger than 16 who were in bicycle-motor vehicle collisions.

West Vancouver stroke survivor a champion for the cause

THOMAS Dignum is among the Lower Mainland residents going to bat for the B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation next weekend at a fundraising slo-pitch tournament.

The 12-year-old West Vancouver resident and Grade 6 student at Ridgeview elementary is not only going to have an opportunity to hit the field, the three-day event is giving him and his family an opportunity to share their story as Thomas is the event’s Champion.

“He really is the ideal miracle story,” says Thomas’ mother Tracy. At age six, Thomas, out of nowhere, collapsed at school. Doctors discovered he had suffered a massive stroke in his brain stem. He subsequently underwent a life-saving procedure at B.C. Children’s Hospital that had never been done before on […]

Novel Brain Training Device to Reconnect Brain and Paralyzed Limb After Stroke

The world’s first Brain Training Device has given a ray of new hope to the recovery of survivors after stroke. Developed by researchers of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)’s Interdisciplinary Division of Biomedical Engineering (BME), this novel device which can detect brainwave, and thereby control the movement of paralyzed limbs, or go even further to control a robotic hand based on its sophisticated algorithm.

The research was led by Prof. Raymond Tong Kai-yu, Professor of PolyU’s Interdisciplinary Division of Biomedical Engineering, who is also the Principal Investigator of the award-winning Exoskeleton Hand Robotic Training Device or the “Hand of Hope.” His team members include the BME research team (Newmen Ho, Xiaoling Hu, Ching-hang Fong, Xinxin Lou, Lawrence […]

Invisible wounds of war

The following is a script from “Invisible Wounds” which aired on May 5, 2013. David Martin is the correspondent. Mary Walsh, producer.

We all learned a lot in recent years about the dangers of head injuries from contact sports like football. We now know that a hard hit can cause brain damage that only becomes apparent after an athlete’s playing days are over. Football is violent, no doubt, but it’s nothing compared to war. And just as the National Football League has struggled to come to grips with head injuries so has the military – but on a much vaster scale.

Winter blues and summer bummer link brains of rats and man

Nicholas Spitzer and Davide Dulcis felt for people in higher latitudes whose attitudes soured in the shorter daylight hours of winter.

The neuroscientists, who work in balmy San Diego, wondered whether summer was a bummer for rats. They’re nocturnal, after all.

That thought experiment has led the researchers to discover that an adult mammal’s brain can “rewire” itself in response to light by recruiting brain cells to change the signaling chemical they ordinarily produce.

Their research, published Thursday in the journal Science, offers hints toward new avenues of research into Parkinson’s disease, stroke, addiction and depression.

Dulcis and Spitzer had already tinkered lower in the evolutionary ladder, showing that neurons in […]

Prince Harry opens Headway headquarters in Nottingham

Prince Harry has opened the new headquarters of a brain injury charity supported by his mother, during his first official visit to Nottingham. He was greeted by hundreds of schoolchildren as he opened the head office of Headway where Diana, Princess of Wales, served as royal patron. The charity provides support to brain injury survivors through a network of groups across the UK. The prince also visited a youth group and boxing club in the city.

The chairman of Headway, Andrew Green, said: “Princess Diana’s support of the charity greatly enhanced its profile and made more people aware not only of brain injury and its effects, but also of the help that was available.”

Peplinski says ban bodychecking for kids or ‘we’re going to become dinosaurs’

Former Calgary Flames captain Jim Peplinski, known best for his skills as a bruiser on the ice, is calling for a nationwide ban on bodychecking until at least the age of 16 to curb the concussion rates plaguing hockey.

The Stanley Cup winner, who played in 711 career NHL games, scoring 161 goals while picking up 1,467 minutes in penalties, said prohibiting hitting among youngsters could have the added benefit of helping turn around the trend of declining enrolment in minor hockey.

Otherwise, Peplinski said during a sport concussions seminar at the University of Calgary this week, he’s not optimistic about the future of Canada’s national passion.

“On this path, I think we’re going to become dinosaurs,” he said.

Minor hockey means serious risks

As the National Hockey League and provincial major junior leagues grind into playoff season, provincial and local minor hockey associations across the country go into annual general meeting mode.

Now is the time for parents to instruct the minor hockey bureaucrats to whom they delegate responsibility for the safety of their children to deal with bodychecking and brain injury for players participating at the entry level of Canada’s game.

Leading neurologists, pediatricians, institutes specializing in brain and spinal cord injuries, parents whose kids have paid the price of ignorance and inaction and the often-marginalized minor hockey officials who actually do pay attention to research are generally agreed that bodychecking is really bad for kids under 15.

Read […]

NIH-funded study to develop measure of quality of life specific to caregivers of persons with TBI

Dr. Chiaravalloti receives $526,206 National Institutes of Health grant to study challenges faced by caregivers of persons with TBI

Kessler Foundation is one four sites participating in “Quality of Life in Caregivers of Traumatic Brain Injury: The Development of the TBI-CareQOL”, a multi-site 5-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research (1R01NR013658-01). Nancy Chiaravalloti , PhD, co-investigator of the Kessler site, is also project director of the Northern New Jersey Traumatic Brain Injury System and director of TBI Research at Kessler Foundation.

The University of Michigan is the lead center for the study; Noelle Carlozzi, PhD, is principal investigator. The goal is to develop a measure of quality of life that is specific to caregivers of […]

US judge in Philly weighs NFL concussion suits

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Senior U.S. District Judge Anita Brody has a billion-dollar problem on her hands.

Brody, of Philadelphia, heard arguments Tuesday on whether lawsuits that accuse the NFL of glorifying violence and hiding known concussion risks belong in court or in arbitration.

Brody could side with the 4,200 players and let them pursue lawsuits, or she could rule for the league and find that head injuries are covered under health provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.

One Mind for Research(TM) Receives Support From Wounded Warrior Project(R)

SEATTLE, April 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — One Mind for Research announced today that Wounded Warrior Project(R) (WWP) has pledged $3.5 million in support of One Mind’s “Gemini Program,” contingent upon One Mind securing additional funding. “The Gemini Program” is a multi-year study of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS).

One Mind is catalyzing collaboration between international research centers, industry, and government to accelerate the translation of basic science into breakthrough diagnostics and improved treatments for all brain diseases and injuries. The Gemini Program is the first major research project in this mission.

Scheduled to launch in 2013, this multi-country, multi-site program will create a large-scale database of individuals with TBI and PTS with rigorous biomarker (e.g., genetics, imaging) and clinical […]

React Canada helps treat concussed kids

MONTREAL – Not long ago, concussion victims received relatively little care or treatment.

That neglect, unfortunately, extended to schools.

“In the past, students would suffer from concussion and we would get a simple little note from the hospital saying ‘no sports for two weeks.’ Now, we get weekly updates, or daily updates,” said Jean-François Quirion Coordinator at John Rennie High School.