Many may not realize, but traumatic brain injuries are some of the more common injuries associated with slip and fall accidents. New research makes a connection between the kind of mechanical forces that are exerted on the brain during an accident and the long-term consequences of such an impact.
Whenever there is any kind of fall accident that results in a person sustaining a blow or jolt to the head, there is the potential for a brain injury. Brain injuries are difficult to diagnose because they may not result in loss of consciousness after a fall. They also may not even result in any physical symptoms. You may not see any inflammation, swelling, bleeding, or cuts after the brain injury, but that does not mean that damage has not occurred. In fact, it’s not unusual for a person to bounce back to “normal” after a fall, only to lose consciousness an hour or two later when the symptoms of the brain injury begin to emerge.
Traumatic brain injuries are some of the most serious types of injuries that you can sustain in a slip and fall accident because these can have long-term consequences, unlike other types of injuries. There may be long-term memory loss, distraction, lack of attention and loss of cognitive ability. An individual’s abilities may be impacted to the extent that he may no longer be able to even work at the job that he had before the injury.
Brain injury research constantly focuses on mitigating the long-term consequences of brain injuries. One recent study that was published in London tried to find an association between the mechanical forces that are exerted during a brain injury and the long -term repercussions of the injury. The results of the study were published in the journal Brain, and the researchers found a clear link between the force exerted on the brain during the accident and the long- term changes associated with the injury. The initial force that is exerted may last only for a couple of milliseconds, but can result in consequences that can be felt for years after the injury.
According to the study, it is critical for us to understand the link between the two in order to understand a person’s risk of suffering long-term consequences after a brain injury. The researchers were able to map the location of the injury, in order to predict the long-term consequences of the same. They were able to locate the patterns of damage in the brain white matter in rats, to predict the chances of long-term damage. The researchers believe that in the future, understanding the injury patterns in this manner will help doctors predict the likelihood of long-term consequences after a traumatic brain injury. This in turn may help victims of long-term brain injuries adjust to a life that is different from pre-accident.
If you or a loved one have been injured in a slip and fall accident, talk to an Atlanta slip and fall accident lawyer at the Katz Personal Injury Lawyers to discuss your options for a claim for compensation. You may be eligible for damages that include medical expenses, pain and suffering and other damages.