What Is Anoxic Brain Injury?

by admin on September 18, 2009


The term anoxic means a total lack of something while hypoxic means a partial lack of, so when an anoxic brain injury is talked about, it refers to a total lack of oxygen to the brain. Most of us know that oxygen is vital to our well being, and if the brain receives inadequate oxygen for four minutes or longer, then brain cells begin to die. After a period of five minutes, permanent anoxic brain injury can occur. Anoxic brain injury is often called cerebral (brain) hypoxia or hypoxic-anoxic injury, HAI, and it is a very serious and life threatening injury.

There are four types of anoxia, all of which can cause damage to the brain that is both serious and can be life threatening, namely, anemic anoxia, toxic anoxia, stagnant anoxia and anoxic anoxia.

Anemic Anoxia occurs when the blood is unable to carry sufficient oxygen to the brain for the brain to function correctly. If the lungs do not perform correctly due to some kind of lung disease, it can lead to inadequate supplies of oxygen reaching the brain which in turn can cause a slow deterioration of the person’s health. Anemic anoxia can be the result of carbon monoxide poisoning, of from chronic anemia, or acute hemorrhaging.

When toxic anoxia is present, it is as a result of toxins being present in the body, and these toxins prevent the oxygen in the blood from being used efficiently. Carbon monoxide poisoning can this type of anoxia.

The third type of anoxia is called stagnant anoxia, or hypoxicischemic injury (HII). This occurs when an internal condition prevents oxygenated blood from reaching the brain. This happens in the case of a stroke, or a heart attack.

The fourth condition is anoxic anoxia, and this is caused when there is not enough oxygen in the air for the body to be able to get oxygenated blood to the brain, and this can occur at high altitudes.

Whether the shortage of oxygen to the brain is caused by disease, choking, brain tumors, suffocation, illegal drug use, or heart attack, the results are the same. The brain is starved of much needed oxygen, and the body may go into a coma as it is unable to function properly without oxygen.

How does this relate to brain trauma injury? When the brain is deprived of oxygen, for whatever reason, the body may present with many of the symptoms seen as the result of a traumatic brain injury.

The severity of the symptoms depends on the amount of tissue that is damaged in the brain as a result of oxygen deprivation, and where that tissue is in the brain.

This is why it is so important to get help immediately if a person becomes unconscious for any reason. Lack of oxygen can lead to an anoxic brain injury, and remember that this can occur after only four minutes.

traumatic brain injury can happen at any age

traumatic brain injury can happen at any age

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What are the Symptoms of Brain Trauma?

by admin on September 18, 2009


Brain trauma is caused by an injury to the head, but more specifically the brain, and despite the huge advances in the medical and scientific fields, it understandably causes a huge amount of concern. Of course there are different levels of brain trauma, which causes death at one end, and perhaps a minor headache at the other. In between these cases are those which have permanent disabilities, leaving some in a coma or vegetative state, sometimes forever.

So what are the symptoms of brain trauma? Unfortunately, there are many varied symptoms from headaches, slurred speech, an inability to concentrate, one pupil larger than the other, a stiff neck, disturbed sleep, impaired memory, tremors, dizziness, increased aggressive behaviour, difficulty swallowing, problems reading, mood changes, poor sleep patterns, and the list goes on. Fortunately, not everyone has all of these problems with brain trauma, it all depends on the area of the brain that has been traumatized. But nevertheless, brain trauma has to be taken seriously.

Learning how to deal with brain trauma depends entirely on the degree of injury to the brain. If the brain injury seems minor, it could just be that there is a delay in the onset of symptoms, or the injury may indeed be minor. However, to make sure, if the injured person falls asleep, wake them every two or three hours to make sure none of the other symptoms of  head injury are present.

Whatever the symptoms, it is essential to get medical help for brain trauma as soon as possible. There may be internal swelling in the brain that you are unable to see, but that could be causing damage to brain tissue, so get proper medical assistance as soon as you realize there is a problem.

The treatments for brain trauma depend greatly on the actual injuries, the symptoms and the severity too, but treatment can involve surgery, medications, as well as rehabilitation in the form of speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy and other therapies depending on the age of the person involved, and their particular problems. But the main thing for brain trauma is to get qualified medical help.

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What Is A Closed Head Injury?

September 18, 2009

A head injury can be classified as a closed head injury or an open head injury, the difference being whether any foreign matter has been able to enter the skull. As it name suggests, a closed head injury means there is damage to the brain, but that the skull is intact, whereas for an open [...]

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What Role Does Brain Injury Rehabilitation Play?

September 18, 2009

Brain injury rehabilitation is an important aspect of recovering from traumatic brain injury that helps the patient regain as much normal functioning as they are able. Brain injury rehabilitation should not be attempted though until the patient is medically stable, and has received the approval of medical staff to move to this stage of their [...]

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What Is Mild Traumatic Brain Injury?

September 18, 2009

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury or to use its shortened form MTBI can be characterized by any one of four symptoms: a loss of consciousness for a short time, a loss of memory either immediately before or after the injury, an alteration in the mental state of the person at the time of the accident, or [...]

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