Brain damage

The loss of thinking and memory problems was linked to the extent of white matter damage.

Wikipedia:

White matter is a component of the central nervous system, in the brain and superficial spinal cord, and consists mostly of glial cells and myelinated axons that transmit signals from one region of the cerebrum to another and between the cerebrum and lower brain centers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_matter

Some good news:

Prof. Blamire says these results "show that thinking skills were recovering over time. The areas of brain damage were not as widespread across the brain as previously, but focused in certain areas of the brain, which could indicate that the brain was compensating for the injuries."

Not surprisingly, brain trauma is problematical.

Yes, I have been paying attention the the football players and their suit/suing for all the concussions but before that I have done a bit of reading about stroke victims, etc. and how the brain works, rewires itself, heals in some situations, etc. We still have so much to learn about it. Thanks for the links, glok.

having sustained 5 major concussions, prior to severe brain function impairment from inappropriatly administered psych meds, i can attest to the brain's ability to re-route and repair. this is called Plasticity. it is often a slow and frustrating process, especially when compounded by poor care, retraumatizations, and lack of guided skill acquisitions.

if you find yourself loosing skills after starting a new med, do not take it lightly. some losses are permanent. it is important not to tolerate toxic side effects in the hope of lessening of 'symptoms'.

best wishes~
Gus

Ah. This.
Now you speak close to the heart of Princess's matter. Brain matter that is.
Traumatic / closed head brain injury and its attendant sequelae, often long term if not lifelong. (The jury is still out, so to speak, on that one. Many of us are "not dead yet" for conclusive results post mortem. )

As my "Good Doctors" along the Princess's way since first TBI ~ '92-'93, second in 2008 --- say: "It is really difficult to say. It's such a chicken and the egg thing with all the aggravating and mitigating factors."

I hope to post more here once I've gathered my thoughts. Meanwhile, I hope that we may see more join in this discussion with experience and perspectives shared.

I would be interested to know who and how many here on the forum have experienced brain trauma. And what came first, the TBI/CHI/ABI, or the so-called pathopsychological labeling/diagnosing as "MI"? Again, the chicken and egg analogy applies.

Thank you again, glok.

I have experienced many mild traumatic brain injuries over a long time as I was daredevil and I also played all the "dangerous" sports like football, rugby, hockey etc. I was unconscious several times.
Add to that severe alcoholism/drug abuse and associated brain damage. So when I finally quit drinking I was in a very bad place and the first diagnoses was MI of various types.

A simple MRI years later showed brain atrophy but the issue was never followed up and all my problems are still attributed to MI. Ridiculous!

Since I have been on sleeping pills, sedatives, ADs, and other "regular" medication I have noticed many problems cropping up such as worsening dyslexia. It takes me a long time to write a simple post since I have to go back and correct things several times to make my posts readable.

The doctors just keep pumping me meds and refuse to look for physical components now.

I give up...

When I was only about 5 years old, I fell from the first floor of a house that was under construction into the basement. The stairs had not yet been put in. I have only the most fleeting memories of this. And some of what I do recall may be what my parents told me years later. But I've always wondered what effect that may have had on the old cantaloupe!

I haven't had a concussion...however I was born with some lack of oxygen in an emergency birth. Also I'd argue my long term depression and PTSD has likely done some damage to my brain but not in the traumatic brain injury sense.

But yeah taking psychology I learned long term depression actually can damage the brain and effect memory/cognitive abilities...and then PTSD is said to damage the part of the brain that sort of controls panic/survival reactions. Sort of curious how brain damage caused through traumatic brain injury vs other factors is simular and how it varies.

One of my brothers has had a couple real concussions like the kind that cause puking and my mom had to keep waking him up due to a coma risk if he fell asleep too long or something, and my sister had a couple rather severe ones....it seems my brothers had more trouble from it. I have been hit in the head or bumped it numerous times but haven't seemed to ever get an actual concussion from it.

I'm so glad to hear others talk about retraining the brain and neuroplasticity. I have been working with this with struggling learners for over 3 years. It's has been researched and validated, I have seen it work first hand. It is the most amazing thing I have ever been a part of. It is catching on but it is still in it's infancy. For mental health issues - not very many professionals know how to implement it. Others are doing it for themselves or with professional without really knowing it. Some organizations are claiming to have a program to change the brain - the most important thing you can do it ask for the research - validation studies. PC and The "SmartBrains" website is doing a pretty good job of keeping us informed.

Check out Dr. Norman Doidge...you may see me use his quotes a lot.

My father-in-law has Parkinson's and falls all the time usually landing on his head. He's had many sutures and concussions. At 83, we worry that his poor body will keep going but his will to live will die.

That is so sad. I do hope he has some quality of life...sounds like he has a very good family.

Ihave had several accidents and injuries that i think caused brain damage. I did suffer seizures for awhile but under control with meds now.

Twenty eight years ago I suffered a "mild" TBI when 1/2 ton of water on a "tarp" collapsed upon me...knocking me down and out (and injuring jaw, spine etc.)

I wonder how much worse I will become as I get older and the regular aging issues are added onto the "invisible" ones from the accident.

I've sustained at least ten concussions. I think there might have been more, but can't remember. The first when I was two years old. I read the information about football players and wonder if I'm doomed.

I've had two concussions where I was unconscious for a relatively short time and two others that caused some odd effects like garbled speech, trances, and temporary loss of vision. I've often thought there was something wrong with my brain over the years. Part of Mom's brain dissolved when she fell and hit her head at the same time she broke her hip. She just seems to get worse all the time now.

The information is very interesting.

Unfortunately, I experienced damage due to over use of xanax.. add wine = memory loss for over 5 months. I am remembering better now, but was told it would take up to 3 years for the neuro transmitters to heal/repair themselves. It is a slow and frustrating process. Life it great..lol

yes, it is important to understand that this is usually a gradual process, taking years to show substantial progress. i have seen it with TBI and with my own recovery, which took 7 yrs of daily therapy to "recover" from bipolar and that host of associates, Anxiety, OCD, Phobias, Panic, etc. i still am struggling with memory repair; and C-PTSD, because life for a person who is poor, alone, and impaired is not so very safe.

still, i had nothing more worthwhile to do, and the results are most welcome. i used an auditory therapy called Holosync (you can read about it and order the therapeutic format at http://CenterPointe.com
i also found that meditation enhanced my recovery, by strengthening my focus and lessening my reactivity.

best wishes for all who are struggling to recover~
Gus

Hmmm, lets see. There was the car accident where I had a concussion that lead to a coma, there was the time I was hit in the temple with the hook end of a hammer(accidentally) there was the 3 ODs that lead to seizures, the time my ex hit me so hard I couldn't hear for 2 weeks and then there was the overuse of psych meds.

The last job I had the overall manger asked me if I had a TBI becouse of the symptoms she saw in me. I do know that I sometimes get stuck on simple words and can't remember what they mean, or spell them( think; or, oar, ore )but I can recall more complex words. My hand-eye coordination was off for a while but has gotten better plus I don't drop things as much as I used to. I am able to do more than one thing at a time again.

I do believe the brain can heal but you gotta help it by eating right, getting enough sleep and keeping it active. But mostly you gotta stop getting hit on the head.

I've had quite the number of concussions do to severe beatings from dear old dad, car accident, sports, and as a child I found it hard to pay attention when walking( I kept looking around at things) and wound up walking into things all the time.

I had a CT scan about 8yrs ago since I suffer from chronic migraines, but dr said everything was normal nothing stood out. I have a short attention span, an even shorter fuse, and have issues reading. I constantly get letters and number flipped.

Good, factual article: Medscape: Medscape Access

Interesting.....the last MRI I had done of my brain...(I have continual migraine headaches that don't ever go away even after having neck fusion which they thought would solve the problem because of the mess my neck was in from a horse accident back in my college days around 1972)...neck fusion was done in 1999)......anyway...the last MRI showed up some white spots......& that pain specialist said that those white spots showed that I had bad migraine problems.

I have had a few mild concussions with no black-outs from them. One was as a child on the playground when kid ran into me (neither of us were looking). The worst one but still didn't black out was when I was playing racquetball. My foot stuck to the floor & my head hit the wall (I used to play that game really hard & with A player guys).....but none of those accidents would be anything that would have caused the white spots in the location where they are....at the base of the head where my migraines come from......interesting that they tie white spots with concussions or strokes.