1) What are TBI and ABI? TBI short for Traumatic Brain Injury is a complex injury that has a broad array of disabilities and symptoms. The impact experienced by a person suffering from this, can be quite devastating. It may seem as a similar event to other injuries, but it is not so in reality. One moment one may look normal and the next minute their life changes abruptly. The ramifications of a brain injury are that it affects specific and sensitive body organs with the inclusion of one’s personality. The worst part is that its detection in one’s body has a very minimal possibility. On the other hand, ABI or Acquired Brain Injury is any sudden brain damage that an individual receives in their lifetime and not due to birth trauma. Many physicians refer to it as a hidden disability since its long-term effects are usually in the thinking and behavioral areas. This injury is not quick and easy to recognize like other physical disabilities. The consequences of such a brain injury may either be permanent or temporary. Every person’s body reacts differently, and the body changes depend on the severity and the brain part affected by the injury.
2) How many Americans are affected by brain injury each year? A whooping figure of 2.4 million individuals suffers from a brain injury annually. Generally, the total combined rates for brain injury related hospital visitations, deaths and hospitalizations have risen in the past decade. They increased from a minimal rate of 521.0 in the year 2001, to 615.7 in the year 2005, which is per a hundred thousand persons (BIAA). As the years moved further, there was a minimal decrease between the years 2006 and 2007.the rates then gave a whooping sharp increase in the year 2008 and escalated further in 2010. In these rates, the statistics combination involved the brain injury hospital visitations, deaths and hospitalizations. Despite the fact that, the rates have increased through the decade, hospital visitations is the major contributor to this rise. An analysis on the overall rates depicts that the only major regular upward change is in the medical visitations all through the years. As for the brain injury related deaths, there has been a slight decrease on that case. However, the brain injury-related hospitalizations have also had slight increases too.
3) What age group is at greatest risk for TBI? The Traumatic Brain Injury makes it the number one cause of death and disability in adolescents and children living in America. That is the most vulnerable age group in contracting the Traumatic Brain Injury. This is from fifteen years to nineteen years of age, which are the adolescents and infants to the tender age of four years too (BIAA). In those two age groups, the children sustain injuries due to vehicle crashes, physical abuse and sports injuries and falls. A large number of these children make up the numerous increasing hospital visitations. However, another age group prone to sustaining brain injuries is the older people that are beyond the age of seventy five years. The leading cause for this age group is falls since they tend to be less firm and stable as they grow older. The injuries may have critical effects on the specific people, their families and also society due to the financial costs that they will all incur.
4) What is the leading cause of brain injury in America? The effects of brain-related injuries range in terms of severity from a serious concussion of permanent disability to a milder one. Though the effects may last almost a life time, the cause may occur in a fraction of a second. The causes of brain injuries are a blow or other injuries focused to the body or head specifically. The damage degree may depend on various factors with the inclusion of the impact’s force and the event’s nature. Injury is mainly in terms of brain cells’ damage which may be may be directly below the impact on the skull. In addition, a severe jolt or blow may cause multiple damage points since the brain can move when inside the skull. The leading cause of brain-related disabilities in the United States of America is falling. Generally, falling is a very common accident that occurs occasionally in many households. Among young children and adolescents, falling results into half of the traumatic brain injuries that come along. For the elderly age group beyond seventy five years, falling is the only major cause for causing brain injuries.
5) How much do brain injuries cost each year in the United States?
It is evident enough that a price cannot be placed on the cost of physical and emotional issues that emerge from brain injuries. However, a price can be stated regarding the enormous financial costs that come as a result. The monetary costs may vary significantly in accordance to the severity of the injury. The financial burden related to brain injuries is rather devastating from a personal, local and national level. With the close approximation of more than five million Americans that live with brain related disabilities, the financial annual economic burden is almost forty billion dollars. The long-term problems and disabilities that emanate from brain injuries make the human cost seem incalculable. Worse is that the disabilities and impairments are not as conspicuous as a broken limb, it is an invisible and concealed epidemic. The disabilities arise from motor, cognitive, sensory and emotional impairments, which usually cause a permanent alteration on an individual’s vocational aspirations and distorting family relationships at the social level.
Works Cited
Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA). Chicago Digital, 2014. Web. 13 June 2014.
Retrieved from http://www.biausa.org
