Calls for Brain Injury to Be Defined As Disease

Calls for Brain Injury to Be Defined As Disease

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is not just a one-time injury that heals quickly, allowing a person to move on and forget about the injury.Rather, a person with a TBI can suffer several complications over his entire lifetime, depending on the severity of the TBI.A moderate brain injury could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, besides placing the person at a higher risk for neuroendocrine disorders and depression.That is the reason why a team of researchers from the University Of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is calling for a redefining of traumatic brain injury as a chronic disease, like diabetes.

According to the researchers, defining brain injury as a disease would allow doctors to frequently monitor patients with TBI for complications or new conditions that might develop in the future.Take diabetes, for instance.Diabetes is considered a chronic disease, and a patient is placed under frequent monitoring, that involves regular testing of his blood sugar levels.The doctors also monitor the patient for other complications that may arise, like kidney disorders.The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers are calling for similar scheduled monitoring and tracking of patients with TBI.Currently, this is not done.Instead, patients with TBI often find themselves confused, anxious and with no financial and educational resources to deal with these complications.Defining TBI as a disease would allow these patients to be reimbursed regularly by insurers.

This is undoubtedly an interesting concept, and it will greatly benefit persons with TBI who begin suffering from complications down the road.It will help these persons pay for additional medical expenses as a result of the TBI.Our Atlanta auto accident lawyers could also easily factor in long-term expenses from future complications into any accident or injury claim that involves a brain injury.