The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 207 “specifies strength requirements for automotive seats and their attachment assemblies, so as to minimize the possibility of their failure by forces acting on them as a result of vehicle impact.”

While this standard helps to regulate how well a seat structure performs in an accident, it has failed to significantly decrease injuries and fatalities due to seatback failure. Alyssa’s story is one of many such devastating tales.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety lists 2006 as their most recent year of fatality statistics. There were 1,327 deaths caused by rear impact motor vehicle accidents. The majority of fatalities were under the age of 25, with crashes causing one of every three injury-related deaths among children under 13.

Of these numbers, it is unclear exactly how many death were a result of seatback failures, but what is clear is that auto crashes are a significant cause of life ending or altering injuries in children. What is tragic is the lack of governmental oversight, or seemingly interest, in how often seats fail with catastrophic results.

We have numerous reports on air bag related injuries, but no hard data on seat failures and the resulting injuries. A study for The Los Angeles Times by Keith Friedman, an auto safety researcher, analyzed 72 rear-end collisions using a government database of tow-away crashes, found that from 1988 to 1997 1,800 backseat passengers were injured or killed by seat failures.

What we need are more researchers willing to invest the time into this important subject. Data on which cars have a history of seat collapse and which ones are best known to withstand a rear impact needs to be better available to the public. This topic isn’t a new one - auto safety engineers have been issuing warnings on this subject since the 1950s.

The FMVSS 207 was adopted back in 1968 and other than adding vans, trucks and buses in 1972, there hasn’t been an update in its standards since. FMVSS 207 requires that a seat back be capable of handling an impact of 270 foot/lbs. Now compare that number to the 6,000 lbs. of force that seat belts are required to withstand before failure. Why would the seat only need to be four or five percent as strong as the seat belt?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is well aware of the problem and in 1996 actually admitted that the current standard was inadequate…this didn’t lead to any changes, only further recognition of the problem in 1997 and 1998. One of the reasons they are dragging their heels is over the concern that stiffer seatbacks will lead to more incidents of whiplash.

Compare a whiplash injury with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that leads to permanent disability or death - which one would you chose?

For now, research into the car you own or are looking to buy is the best offensive you can take to keep you and your passengers safe. One Website with some information, though not nearly enough regarding seat failures, is Safecar.gov. Until we see higher seatback safety standards, we will continue to hear of tragic stories such as Alyssa’s. We need to write to NHTSA, to our local government and to our automobile manufacturers. These issues need to be resolved for the safety of all vehicle occupants.

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.

Top Three Things to Know for New Brain Injury Patients

The time following a brain injury can be confusing, overwhelming, and emotional. There are three things that new brain injury patients should be aware of to help them through this difficult time.

1. You Are Not Alone

Every year 1.4 million people in the United States seek medical care for traumatic brain injury. Survivors should be willing to ask for—and receive—help from family, friends, and other loved ones when needed. Support groups, resources, and the survivor’s medical team are all there to help the patient navigate the time following traumatic brain injury. If the patient is not able to advocate for himself or herself, caregivers should be willing to call on the medical team, support groups, and other resources for help.

2. There are Different Types of Treatment and Rehabilitation

Survivors should be aware that there are a variety of types of treatments and rehabilitation available, depending upon individual needs, as well as where they are in the recovery process. No two treatment and rehabilitation programs are the same. Instead, they are individualized based on the location and severity of the injury. The goal of treatment and rehabilitation is to restore as much function to the survivor as possible. The plan should be to focus on the particular issues the survivor faces, and to structure therapies accordingly.

3. Recovery Will Be a Challenge

There’s nothing easy about recovery, and the new brain injury patient should realize this. As a matter of fact, without the many “challenges” that go hand-in-hand with recovery, the brain can’t rewire itself. While recovery can be extremely frustrating—with the gains offset by steps backward—perseverance, patience, and celebrating all forward progress, no matter how small, can keep the survivor in a positive frame of mind.

This week’s technology report isn’t on something you can use - yet. ScienceDaily reports that a team at the University of Reading has created a robot that is controlled by an actual biological brain. This has a great deal of potential applications as it continues to develop and become more complex.

Using cultured neurons, the scientists developed this brain in a move to determine how memories manifest and how the brain “stores specific pieces of data”. The neurons are placed into a dish called a multi-electrode array (MEA) that has 60 electrodes which pick up the electrical signals sent by the cells. These signals are what determine how the robot moves.

As researchers figure out how to get the robot to learn, they hope to be able to watch the actual process of how memories manifest themselves when the robot travels over known territory.

Knowing more about how memory forms will help researchers understand how memory is damaged in a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and eventually, how to repair it!

To keep an eye on this research, visit the University of Reading.

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.

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.

Youthful energy sometimes runs too high - resulting in fistfights, brawls, scuffles…and this energy isn’t limited to teenagers. Whether boxing for entertainment or out of anger, people need to be aware of how much damage a simple-seeming punch can cause.

Whatever the impetus, one hit to the wrong place can cause serious, permanent damage. An impact to the head can have unseen consequences, with memory problems and impaired cognitive functioning showing up long after the initial incident. It’s not just the force of hand to head that’s dangerous, it’s also the fall that the person may take after being knocked about.

A 2007 study from the American Academy of Neurology, tittled Does Amateur Boxing Cause Brain Damage?, focused on brain damage indicators such as high levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of neuronal and glial markers in the brains of amateur boxers. They found that there was four times the level in boxers compared to healthy non-athletes.

Considering that boxers make a living at a sport where the head is regularly impacted, this study has some potential application. There are a variety of opinions and even studies that try to either prove or disprove the lasting effects of a concussion - whether or not it can cause permanent brain damage. As with most topics we discuss here, we aren’t stating that this scenario is the absolute “for sure” one, but that prevention makes a world of difference.

You may not typically be an angry person, but perhaps the knowledge that one strong punch or even slap can cause brain damage will stay your hand when you are close to losing it. Perhaps bringing awareness of the potential for life-long damage will encourage youth to think twice before engaging in “friendly” boxing. Awareness - it’s a start!

Image from Beavis and Butthead.

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There are two new groundbreaking developments in paralysis and spinal cord research. These are peripheral nerve re-routing, and suppression of scar formation and spinal cord regeneration.

Peripheral Nerve Re-Routing

Peripheral nerve re-routing entails taking the peripheral nerves above the point of injury, and surgically rerouting them so they are connected to peripheral nerves below the injury site. This allows new functional connections between the brain and previously dormant muscle or sensory system to be created.

Peripheral nerve re-routing has been around for about 100 years, and has been attempted on hundreds of patients with spinal cord injuries. While peripheral nerve re-routing can’t completely cure a spinal cord injury, it can allow for various degrees of improvement. For example, patients with C1 to C4 injuries have experienced improved respiratory function following the procedure, while some arm and hand function has been returned to patients with C5 through C9 injuries. Patients with lower spinal cord injuries have, in some cases, seen improvement in leg function.

Suppression of Scar Formation and Spinal Cord Regeneration

This theory is based on the idea that traumatic spinal cord injury causes inflammation, as well as lack of a cell—called glia—where the nerve fibers are damaged. The result is the formation of a fibrous meshwork of dense scar tissue that prevents axons from regenerating. Suppression of scar formation and spinal cord regeneration is a two-pronged approach designed to reverse the process of scarring and promote the healing of nerve fibers.

During this procedure, scar tissue is suppressed or removed in order to promote axon growth across sites of the injury. Second, a therapy designed to restore glia, such as stem cell therapy, is used to regenerate the spinal cord. While studies in humans is still relatively new, studies on animals have shown significant promise.

Choosing the right rehabilitation facility is one of the most important decisions a survivor of a brain or spinal cord injury will make. That’s because the type and quality of care will have a significant impact on the patient’s long-term outcome.

A good rehabilitation center should offer the survivor of a brain or spinal cord injury a combination of specialized medical care needed to return to the highest level of function, as well as the inspiration and strength needed to cope with difficult injuries.

Ranking the Facilities

Each year, US News & World Report ranks nearly 200 hospitals in 17 specialties. Included in this list is the top ten rehabilitation hospitals in the USA for the year 2007. Rankings are obtained through a nationwide survey of board-certified physicians. In order, this year’s top ten rehabilitation facilities are:
The Rehabilitation Center of Chicago in Illinois.
The Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation, with three locations throughout New Jersey.
The University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, Washington.
Memorial Hermann-TIRR, Houston, Texas.
The Mayo Clinic’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Center, Rochester, Minnesota.
Craig Hospital, Denver, Colorado
Rusk Institute, NYU Medical Center, New York, New York
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
National Rehabilitation Hospital, Washington, D.C.
Ohio State University Hospital, Columbus, Ohio.

Choosing a rehabilitation facility with an excellent track record of success, such as the ones listed above, will contribute to the success of the patient’s long-term outlook.