This week’s resource is the Website America’s Heroes at Work.

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) created this site in order to address the “employment challenges of returning service members living with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).”

America’s Heroes gives employers tools that can help our military men and women affected by TBI and PTSD better succeed in the civilian workplace. To accomplish this they are collaborating with the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) and the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).

For more information, visit their site here.

This week’s spotlight is on The Prince Synergy, a worldwide organization focused on maximizing human capitol.

In The Prince Synergy’s own words, “Traumatic Brain Injury takes away victims’ freedom and opportunities internally.” With the unique obstacles faced by traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients in mind, this business works to help companies and their employees work with the limitations created by this injury and others.

The Prince Synergy provides teaching and consulting in the areas of health and stress management, leadership and innovation at “times of unexpected change, stress, illness and injury.”

If you or someone you know has sustained a TBI that is interfering with productivity, this company may be just what you are looking for. To find out more, click here.

This week’s resource is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) teen driver fact sheet.

The CDC says that motor vehicle accidents are the leading U.S. cause of teen deaths, accounting for more than one in three deaths. This site has some valuable information such as the size of this problem, who is at risk, risk factors and how to prevent these accidents.

They include a section specifically for traumatic brain injury (TBI), citing 1.4 million cases a year in the U.S. alone.

For more information and additional resources, visit the CDC fact sheet.

“A steaming bathtub and a group of bathers will make their way down Nicollet Mall Tuesday for the launch of a Hennepin County Medical Center campaign to prevent traumatic brain injury.

The rolling shower scene is meant to draw attention to the number one cause of traumatic brain injury: falls. The tub will travel…accompanied by campaign workers in bathrobes and slippers.”

This news item in the downtownjournal caught our attention. What a great way to bring awareness to an important topic! It’s easy to imagine the number of people who will notice this spectacle - people who may never have given traumatic brain injury (TBI) a second thought.

I think this highlights the importance of creativity when trying to create public awareness of TBI and spinal cord injuries (SCI). There is so much information thrown at us these days that its hard to sift through it and still hear the important messages. Perhaps we need to think of more ways to create “rolling shower scene” type scenarios… just a thought!

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University are helping U.S. soldiers with early detection and timely treatment of traumatic brain injuries.

A prototype software has been designed to “integrate in real time data provided by medics on the battlefield with information from the patient’s electronic medical record, filter them through a template and present a visualization over a network to a physician in a remote location who could then diagnose TBI and direct treatment.”

This means that a soldier who is injured in some remote location like Iraq can have the needed brain injury information ready and waiting to put into play once the patient arrives.

This system uses data such as the injured soldier’s heart rate, respiration rate and blood pressure that is added to the patient’s medical history to determine the degree of the injury and the next needed step.

As traumatic brain injuries need to be treated as soon as possible, this software’s ability to “visually transfer the physician to the battle” will greatly increase a soldier’s chance of survival and recovery after sustaining a TBI.

We’ve talked about nutrition and how researchers are finding correlations between ingesting optimal amounts of vitamins and minerals and decreased brain damage after an injury. For this post we are going to explore one of the oft times touted supplements, fish oil.

According to a handful of studies, to be listed in the end, fish oil’s mega-3s (DHA) from sources such as tuna or salmon have the ability to reduce the risk of stroke, dementia and cognitive as well as brain abnormalities. In addition to this, it may also help with brain recovery after a traumatic injury.

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential nutrients that are obtained from food. There are three omega-3s, ALA, DHA and EPA. Of those, DHA is the form most usable by the body. Fatty acids are needed for normal growth and they benefit kidney function and support skin integrity as well as regulate inflammation and control hormones and cell growth.

The recommended dose varies depending on age and whether or not you are taking other supplements or medications. If you are in good health, taking 1,000 mg once a day should provide an adequate amount.

There have been some concerns regarding mercury in fish, as an increase in mercury levels can lead to brain damage, the very thing we are trying to counteract. To avoid this you can either stick to the fish oil capsules which have had the impurities taken out, or eat fish with lower amounts such as Alaskan cod or sockeye salmon (tuna contains the highest level of mercury).

Of course, as in all studies, there are possible variables such as the age of those who tend to use fish oil, so keep in mind that while it may have been shown to improve cognitive functioning, it may not work for you. Research into supplements such as omega-3s are still in the early stages, but the potential benefits make them worth watching.

Studies: One, two, three, and some good information on Wikipedia. For more on the dangers of mercury, click here.

This week’s resource is the Snell Memorial Foundation.

The Snell Memorial Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1957 for the purpose of promoting helmet safety standards. They research, educate and develop standards for helmets around the world.

Whether you are into motorcycling, skiing, car racing, bicycling, snowboarding or any other sport that benefits from the use of protective gear, the Snell Memorial Foundation will have information you can use.

If you are interested in how your helmet will hold up, how its tested, what tests are vital and what to look for in head protection, check out their Website.

This week’s resource is the Northeast Center for Special Care’s Brain Injury Conference, Symposium and Event Listing page.

If you are interested in knowing what brain injury related workshops, conferences and meetings are available near you, or what topics are being explored right now, then this page will be a great resource. They have listings that cover the entire year and span the whole world.

You can also sign up for updates and reminders if you want to easily keep on top of things. To check out this resource, click here.

Ever wonder what in the world all of those sections with figures and technical words on your lab reports mean? It can be close to impossible to decipher the variety of reports you receive from doctors, and often the specialist’s explanation is just as garbled!

Enter a nonprofit Website, designed to give you a clear idea of exactly what those lab tests mean. Lab Tests Online, a public resource, provides easily understood answers on commonly asked questions. This site tackles such topics as what reference ranges are and mean, the reliability of your tests, the fundamentals of genetic testing, pharmacogenomics (and I’ll bet you are wondering what that word means!), home testing, coping with test pain, discomfort and anxiety, laboratory methods and test preparations.

Screening, an online tour of a lab, laboratory methods and the professionals who are giving the tests - these are all areas that Lab Tests Online tackles.

To check out this informative Website, click here.

This week’s resource is the Traumatic Brain Injury Model System. We have been talking about ways to increase your brain’s ability to recall and process information after a TBI, and this site has some good data that can help with the process.

Run by the University of Alabama, this Website provides activities that are created to enhance cognitive function in people with brain injuries. According to their introduction page, “Each activity provides a group of tasks listed by their level of difficulty…you can select activities you feel might be appropriate and increase the level of difficulty by selecting appropriate task as progress warrants.”

They include 48 activities, a skill index that organizes the tasks according to which thinking skills are used and an appendices that has additional resources. You can choose to practice your Fine Motor Control, Attention/Concentration Skills, Memory-Oriented Skills, Reasoning/Problem Solving Skills, Visual Spatial Skills and Language Skills.

We found this site to be both helpful and easy to use. Let us know what you think!