Brain injuries are one of the most common injuries involved in personal injury suits. Whether it is the NFL’s ex-players using a brain injury lawyer Houston, trying to recover from their traumatic brain injuries physically and financially. Or veterans who are experiencing symptoms from their time on the battlefield, many are injured every day with traumatic brain injuries due to someone else’s negligence.

Doctor Helping To Tackle Brain Injures

The recent settlement of the NFL with former players is just one of the many examples of people with traumatic brain injuries suing to recover for their debilitating injuries. A 2016 Congressional report showed that the National Football League tried to influence the National Institute of Health’s report that there is a connection between traumatic brain injuries and concussions. The resulting brain disease is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Physicians believe CTE contributed to the death of many former professional football players, one of them being California native Junior Seau. Other players have experienced similar symptoms after retiring from the field, but there is hope on the horizon that a treatment might help those who sustain TBI-related issues in professional sports and other personal injury accidents. A California doctor believes that he might have the treatment that stops the neurodegeneration that can result from TBI.

Statistics show that as many as 30-40% of people who sustain a concussion will have some sort of post-concussion syndrome symptoms. The symptoms of post-concussion injuries are things like migraines, dizzy spells, headaches, and neurological problems. The result can be cognitive disabilities and changes in brain function, like memory difficulties or behavioral changes. They also might experience mood swings, aggression, depression, and sometimes sleep issues.

Due to the variety of issues that can result from a post-concussion injury, they are very complex and hard to treat. One of the biggest hurdles to solving the problem of TBI is sifting through the various symptoms and tracing back how they are set in motion. Dr. Mohammad Ahmed, a researcher from the Kaizen Brain Center in La Jolla, has discovered that if depression is a result of TBI, it is harder to treat than if it stems from a chemical imbalance or other issue.

With a TBI, none of the traditional depression-related medications work, which renders sufferers completely resistant to treatment. That is why Dr. Ahmed is experimenting with nontraditional therapies, like transcranial magnetic stimulation or TMS.

TMS stimulates the brain through the use of magnetic fields. A highly effective way to treat depression in those who don’t respond to traditional medication, TMS has made a huge difference in the lives of professional sports players and veterans. It works by targeting parts of the brain to create a spark that stimulates electrical activity, which changes the way that the brain cells function in very specific areas of the brain.

In many cases depression is a result of damage to the frontal lobe of the brain. Therefore, using an electrical catalyst like TMS helps to jump-start brain activity to the damaged areas of the brain. This form of treatment was approved by the FDA for depression as far back as 2008, but doctors are just beginning to realize its full potential.

The hope is that TMS will show promise not just for depression, but for the many consequences of TBI, as well as other neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. If used post-concussion, there is a real possibility that brain injuries could be lessened if not completely reversed, which would eliminate a huge portion of brain injuries that lead to horrible disability and damage to an individual.

Although the science is just on the cusp, many in the field of brain science hope that there will be a cure for TBI in the future. That might bring hope to millions of people who suffer from TBI on a daily basis. A brain injury is a very common personal injury that you can sue for; it would be excellent if a cure could be found so that no one ever has to suffer needlessly again.