New Mexico residents who have suffered a head injury or whose loved ones have may be interested in the results of a study published in the journal “Annals of Neurology” in April. According to the study, which examined the brain scans of 99 people with traumatic brain injuries, a head injury can lead to premature aging of the brain, and it may occur years after the original injury. For the participants, the time since injury varied widely from one month to 46 years.
The people all suffered from neurological issues following the traumatic brain injury. Their scans were compared to those of healthy people as well as examined for age, and their brains appeared structurally to be about five years older than they actually were.
The researchers said that people with brain injuries are more susceptible to dementia and other brain conditions related to age. They also said that the scans could be used to monitor degenerative brain conditions in these injured individuals.
An individual might suffer a brain injury while under medical care in a fall. If that individual fell as a result of hospital errors, there might be grounds for a lawsuit. For example, a medical worker might fail to properly support an individual while moving them. If the error is one that constitutes negligence, the lawsuit might be successful. As this study demonstrates, the brain injury might have lifelong implications for an individual’s health and well-being, and this might also mean a lifetime of medical expenses as well as loss of income. Family members may be affected as well because they may need to miss work or quit altogether in order to care for an injured loved one. An attorney may be able to discuss the options with the injured individual or family.
