There are approximately 2,500,000 traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the United States every year. Of these, about 1,000,000 result in the patient being hospitalized. Many of these injuries arise from motor vehicle collisions or other incidents involving negligence. These injuries can cause substantial cognitive, physical and emotional disability.
Physicians and psychologists have traditionally faced difficulties in conclusively diagnosing brain damage because such damage does not always show up on an X-ray, CT or MRI. As with any disease or disorder, successful treatment is dependent on a valid diagnoses.
However, encouraging news about brain injury diagnosis can be found in the March, 2014 issue of JAMA Neurology. This article published the results of a Swedish research team which concluded that there are blood biochemical markers that accompany concussions.
The Swedish study concluded that certain TBI biomarkers were immediately elevated in the blood following a concussion compared with study volunteers who had not sustained a brain injury. The persons who had sustained the brain injury were hockey players who had received a blow to the head. Even more encouraging was the fact that the level of TBI biomarkers correlated with the severity of the concussion.
This study points to a possible easy and quick blood test for persons who may have sustained a brain injury. This testing could not only be used to diagnose the brain injury, but also predict the clinical outcomes of the patients who sustain these injuries.