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!

A recent article in BioWorld Today by Donna Young discuses the difficulties that traumatic brain injury (TBI) research faces when looking for potential investors.

It would seem that financial backers are turned off by past drug failures that are brain injury specific - strokes, brain illnesses and brain trauma. Harry Tracy who runs NI Research, a neurological focused consulting firm, cites 50 stroke drugs that failed over the past 10 years. Tracy says that this is because of the difficulty in conducting clinical trials as there are a variety of reactions to not only the drugs but the injuries themselves.

This lack of ready progress, high cost and level of complexity discourages potential investors from TBI research, which detrimentally effects millions every year. Larry Glass, CEO of Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd. says that TBI is second only to hemorrhage as a cause of death for soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Glass believes that while there are initial complications and expenses involved, “the potential for returns are phenomenal” which is why his company is partnering with the U.S. Army to develop the drug NNZ-2566. This drug will hopefully work to prevent secondary damage to brain cells, reducing the degree of damage sustained by the initial TBI.

There is hope - in May lawmakers introduced a bill intended to add $75 million to the annual amount of federal TBI research funding. Not a significant amount when compared to the need, this money will still benefit some areas of vital development and research, perhaps providing the little bit extra needed for some lab to come up with the next wonder drug.

Young points out another potential avenue that companies can explore to advance their pharmaceuticals, “to exploit the crossover between orphan disorders.” By doing this, firms are able to work on two or more diseases at once, using their common elements to hopefully find potential cures for both. An example of this is Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Both diseases share a common pathological hallmark that can potentially be treated with the same drug.

It’s frustrating to see pharmaceutical companies pursuing drugs that target the wealthy such as those for erectile dysfunction and longevity, while ignoring research into topics that affect millions who don’t have bottomless pockets. We can keep our fingers crossed that something with a significant profit potential is developed that can also benefit TBIs.

The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted the prevalent, and sometimes lethal, cases of neglect and abuse by home-care providers. Not only are the elderly becoming more and more reliant on home health aides, but those with paralysis, brain injuries and other disabilities are more likely to end up with a home care situation instead of the institutions that were so common years ago.

With the rise of home-based care, there has also been a significant increase in reports of abuse, fraud, neglect and even death.

According the to The Wall Street Journal article, close to 1.6 million people work in home care, and between those who provide medical services and those who give non-medical care, this profession makes up the second fastest growing American occupation. With numbers like these, it’s not surprising that there are incidences of abuse - the question is, what can you do to make sure that you or your loved ones don’t become another statistic?

First off, while caregivers are required in most places to have both position specific training and background checks, training requirements vary based on where you live and background checks can’t predict what their potential for abuse is. Neglect often goes unreported, often because the patient is unable to convey it or because they fear telling on the caregiver.

There are no nationwide training requirements for caregivers and that also applies to most states. The best thing you can do is take a good look at the company who is hiring out your in-home help and do some research. Look at the Better Business Bureau, ask your doctor for recommendations and also talk to your local rehabilitation centers. Often they can refer a company that has a solid and reputable history.

Most importantly, don’t assume that just because a caregiver comes from a known company that they are someone you can trust. Keep your eyes open or enlist the help of a friend or family member who can do the same.

The Army has issued new guidelines for traumatic brain injury care with the intention of catching and treating early symptoms. According to Kelly Kennedy, staff writer for ArmyTimes, this will also help catch soldiers who memorize the TBI tests in order to remain on the field by passing the concussion indicators test.

We have been learning a great deal more about TBI’s in the military as the Iraq war is sending home soldiers with all levels of brain injury. Concussions impair vital abilities such as concentration, memory, timing and marksmanship. These new guidelines require all soldiers who have been “involved in a blast, fall, vehicle crash or direct impact incident who lose consciousness or become dizzy afterward” to be seen by a doctor as soon as it’s possible.

This won’t prevent some soldiers from delaying their checkups, but at least it will still catch a significant portion of those with head injuries. While these guidelines increase the safety of soldiers returning to the field and those around them, they will also help to prevent some of the long-term effects that can become permanent with lack of care. Brain injuries can escalate from headaches and irritability to significant memory problems and even balance difficulties.

When prevention isn’t possible, immediate aftercare becomes crucial with a head injury.

Shaken Baby Syndrome has been prevalent in the news lately, not from an increase in incidents, but from a larger push for awareness of this painful topic. The Woman’s Hospital of Greensboro has created an “evidence-based shaken baby prevention program” that will begin educating parents after they have given birth but before they are discharged.

The goal of the program is to significantly reduce Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) in North Carolina by 50 percent in the next five years. Standing out, this intervention program is the largest and most comprehensive in the nation. By sharing this information with all new parents, the hospital will benefit an estimated 125,000 babies a year.

SBS affects between 1,200 to 1,400 babies a year, and one out of four don’t survive. The brain injury resulting from this type of brain trauma includes seizures, mental retardation, delayed development, paralysis, impaired cognitive function, broken bones and more. When the child is shaken, the brain is knocked against the sides of the skull, causing extensive damage to the soft tissue.

Close to 80 percent of the perpetrators are male and more than 60 percent of the victims are also male. With these statistics, it makes sense that programs are developed that educate both of the parents or caregivers involved. SBS usually occurs when adults become angry or frustrated, often due to the period of excessive crying that dontshake.org calls “PURPLE Crying”. The purple period is from about two weeks old until four to five months after the child’s birth.

Various programs such as the one at the Woman’s Hospital of Greensboro and the PURPLE program offer booklets and videos that are designed to prepare new parents for their child’s crying. They provide details on how to deal with the situation in a healthy manner and how to find relief for themselves before they lose control and shake the baby.

Image credit here.

This week’s highlighted resource is the Disability Claims - Information & Resources Website. They include a staggering amount of links to everything claims related.

If you need information on Social Security Disability, Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income benefits and their requirements, this site will provide you with the answers. There is a high cost associated with brain injuries, and it’s important to understand exactly what you can do to meet it.

There are a myriad of details that need to be considered along with various restrictions on which programs you can apply for - and knowing before you begin what can be a grueling process, will save a good deal of time!

According to an article by Carlos Mayorga in the The Salt Lake Tribune, a new fund has been created for Utah residents who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. This financial assistance is intended to be used in the training of medical personnel and for medical expenses that programs such as Medicaid don’t cover.

According to Mayorga, more than 2,500 new brain injuries are sustained every year in Utah. With this short-term funding, those who have been unable to receive proper treatment stand a better chance. So far there have been private contributions to the fund, so the hope is that after the initial one-time government contribution of $50,000 runs out, either the government will provide more or they will continue to receive donations.

Hopefully more progressive policies will come out of Utah’s move towards supporting the often ignore TBI population.

On the blog, If I Only Had a Brain, author Laura Bruno discusses how to improve your cash flow when you are encumbered with a disability. She lists tips for those who were injured at work or in a car accident while providing ideas for additional earning potential. While not overly in-depth, the information she provides is a good starting place for determining how you will continue to generate income after a disabling injury.

A TBI survivor herself, Laura has turned her situation around by becoming a Life Coach and the author of If I Only Had a Brain Injury: A TBI Survivor and Life Coach’s Guide to Chronic Fatigue, Concussion, Lyme Disease, Migraine or Other “Medical Mystery”.

With so many adaptations to make after a brain or spinal cord injury, resources such as hers can help provide you with information that will make your “new” life easier and fuller .