| Medical Dictionary |
A Medical Dictionary of Medical Terminology
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a sudden injury that causes damage to the brain. It may happen when there is a blow, bump, or jolt to the head. This is a closed head injury. A TBI can also happen when an object penetrates the skull. This is a penetrating injury.
Symptoms of a TBI can be mild, moderate, or severe. Concussions are a type of mild TBI. The effects of a concussion can sometimes be serious, but most people completely recover in time. More severe TBI can lead to serious physical and psychological symptoms, coma, and even death.
What causes traumatic brain injury (TBI)?The main causes of TBI depend on the type of head injury:
Some accidents such as explosions, natural disasters, or other extreme events can cause both closed and penetrating TBI in the same person.
Who is at risk for traumatic brain injury (TBI)?Certain groups are at higher risk of TBI:
The symptoms of TBI depend on the type of injury and how serious the brain damage is.
The symptoms of mild TBI can include:
If you have a moderate or severe TBI, you may have those same symptoms. You may also have other symptoms such as:
If you have a head injury or other trauma that may have caused a TBI, you need to get medical care as soon as possible. To make a diagnosis, your health care provider:
The treatments for TBI depend on many factors, including the size, severity, and location of the brain injury.
For mild TBI, the main treatment is rest. If you have a headache, you can try taking over-the-counter pain relievers. It is important to follow your health care provider's instructions for complete rest and a gradual return to your normal activities. If you start doing too much too soon, it may take longer to recover. Contact your provider if your symptoms are not getting better or if you have new symptoms.
For moderate to severe TBI, the first thing health care providers will do is stabilize you to prevent further injury. They will manage your blood pressure, check the pressure inside your skull, and make sure that there is enough blood and oxygen getting to your brain.
Once you are stable, the treatments may include:
Some people with TBI may have permanent disabilities. A TBI can also put you at risk for other health problems such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Treating these problems can improve your quality of life.
Can traumatic brain injury (TBI) be prevented?There are steps you can take to prevent head injuries and TBIs:
A concussion is a type of brain injury. It involves a short loss of normal brain function. It happens when a hit to the head or body causes your head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, creating chemical changes in your brain. Sometimes it can also stretch and damage your brain cells.
Sometimes people call a concussion a "mild" brain injury. It is important to understand that while concussions may not be life-threatening, they can still be serious.
Concussions are a common type of sports injury. Other causes of concussions include blows to the head, bumping your head when you fall, being violently shaken, and car accidents.
Symptoms of a concussion may not start right away; they may start days or weeks after the injury. Symptoms may include a headache or neck pain. You may also have nausea, ringing in your ears, dizziness, or tiredness. You may feel dazed or not your normal self for several days or weeks after the injury. Consult your health care professional if any of your symptoms get worse, or if you have more serious symptoms such as:
To diagnose a concussion, your health care provider will do a physical exam and will ask about your injury. You will most likely have a neurological exam, which checks your vision, balance, coordination, and reflexes. Your health care provider may also evaluate your memory and thinking. In some cases, you may also have a scan of the brain, such as a CT scan or an MRI. A scan can check for bleeding or inflammation in the brain, as well as a skull fracture (break in the skull).
Most people recover fully after a concussion, but it can take some time. Rest is very important after a concussion because it helps the brain to heal. In the very beginning, you may need to limit physical activities or activities that involve a lot of concentration, such as studying, working on the computer, or playing video games. Doing these may cause concussion symptoms (such as headache or tiredness) to come back or get worse. Then when your health care provider says that it is ok, you can start to return to your normal activities slowly.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia among older people. Dementia is a brain disorder that seriously affects thinking and memory skills. If you have AD, it can impair your ability to reason or learn new skills until it becomes difficult to complete daily activities.
AD begins slowly over many years. It first involves the parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. It may be mistaken for normal memory changes with aging. However, AD is not a normal part of aging. The brain changes from the disease lead to symptoms that get worse over time.
What are the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease?People with AD may have trouble remembering recent events or the names of people they know. Behavior may vary from person to person and day to day. AD progresses in stages. Late-onset AD occurs in adults aged 65 and older, which is when most people develop the disease. Early-onset AD happens before age 65, which is not common.
Some symptoms of AD can include:
In AD, over time, symptoms get worse. Later on, people with AD may become anxious or aggressive or wander away from home. Eventually, they need total care. This can cause great stress for family members who must care for them.
Who is more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease?Researchers don't fully understand what causes AD. Age is the biggest risk factor. Your risk is also higher if a family member has had the disease. Although people who develop Alzheimer's don't always have a history of the disease in their families.
Researchers believe the causes of AD may be a combination of age-related changes in the brain, along with genetic, health, and lifestyle factors. Some medical conditions that are associated with a higher risk of AD include:
A related problem, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), causes more memory problems than normal for people of the same age. Many, but not all, people with MCI will develop AD.
How is Alzheimer's disease diagnosed?Some health conditions can cause memory loss or symptoms like AD. Talk with your health care provider if you're having noticeable changes in your memory. To determine if your symptoms are related to AD and not normal aging or another health condition, your provider may:
No treatment can stop the disease. However, some medicines may help keep symptoms from getting worse for a limited time.
Can Alzheimer's disease be prevented?You can't change some risk factors, like your age. But changing certain lifestyle factors may promote your brain health and help you live a healthier lifestyle overall. This can include to:
NIH: National Institute on Aging
Your brain is the control center of your body. It controls your thoughts, memory, speech, and movement. It regulates the function of many organs. It's part of your nervous system, which also includes your spinal cord and peripheral nerves. The nervous system sends signals between your brain and the rest of the body. Your nerves take in information from your senses and send it to the brain to be processed. Your brain and nerves also communicate to help you move and to control your body's functions.
When the brain is healthy, it works quickly and automatically. But when you have a brain disease, it may affect how well you can function and do your daily activities. Some common brain diseases include:
The symptoms of brain diseases vary widely, depending on the specific problem. In some cases, damage is permanent. In other cases, treatments such as surgery, medicines, or therapies such as physical, occupational, and speech therapies, may cure the disease or improve the symptoms.
A coma is a deep state of unconsciousness. An individual in a coma is alive but unable to move or respond to his or her environment. Coma may occur as a complication of an underlying illness, or as a result of injuries, such as brain injury.
A coma rarely lasts more than 2 to 4 weeks. The outcome for coma depends on the cause, severity, and site of the damage. People may come out of a coma with physical, intellectual, and psychological problems. Some people may remain in a coma for years or even decades. For those people, the most common cause of death is infection, such as pneumonia.
NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Mental disorders (or mental illnesses) are conditions that affect your thinking, feeling, mood, and behavior. They may happen over a short period of time or come and go. Some can be chronic (long-lasting). They can affect your ability to relate to others and function each day..
What are some types of mental disorders?There are many different types of mental disorders. Some common ones include:
There is no single cause for mental illness. A number of factors can contribute to risk for mental illness, such as:
Mental disorders are not caused by character flaws. They have nothing to do with being lazy or weak.
Who is at risk for mental disorders?Mental disorders are common. Many Americans will be diagnosed with a mental disorder at some time in their life.
How are mental disorders diagnosed?The steps to getting a diagnosis include:
Treatment depends on which mental disorder you have and how serious it is. You and your provider will work on a treatment plan just for you. It usually involves some type of therapy. You may also take medicines. Some people also need social support and education on managing their condition.
In some cases, you may need more intensive treatment. You may need to go to a psychiatric hospital. This could be because your mental illness is severe. Or it could be because you are at risk of hurting yourself or someone else. In the hospital, you will get counseling, group discussions, and activities with mental health professionals and other patients.
Military service members and veterans have made sacrifices to our country, and they may face lots of different health issues. Some of the most common health problems they may have include chronic pain, sleep disorders, and mental health disorders.
But they may also face some different health risks than civilians. Serving to protect our country is a special job, and along with it comes some special risks and job hazards. These include different types of injuries and health problems from exposures.
What types of injuries do service members face?During their service, members are at risk for various injuries. These injuries can happen during training or while in combat. Sometimes the injuries are life-threatening or serious enough to cause disability. Others may not be as serious, but they may be painful and can affect daily life.
Some of the specific types of injuries that service members may face include:
There may also be a risk of health problems from exposure to environmental hazards, such as contaminated water, chemicals, infections, and burn pits. Sometimes the health problems caused by exposures don't develop until years later.
Some service members experience military sexual trauma (MST). This includes sexual assault and sexual harassment.
What mental health issues do service members and veterans face?Being in combat and being separated from your family can be stressful. So can readjusting to civilian life after the military. All of this stress can put service members and veterans at risk for mental health problems, including:
There is also a risk of suicide. Veterans who are in crisis can get help from the Veteran's Crisis line by:
There are health care services especially for service members and veterans through:
To better understand and treat the health needs of veterans in the future, the VA created the Million Veteran Program (MVP). This research program is looking at how genes, lifestyle, military experiences, and exposures affect health and wellness in veterans.
Dementia is a loss of mental functions that is severe enough to affect your daily life and activities. These functions include:
It is normal to become a bit more forgetful as you age. But dementia is not a normal part of aging. It is a serious disorder that interferes with your daily life.
What are the types of dementia?The most common types of dementia are known as neurodegenerative disorders. These are diseases in which the cells of the brain stop working or die. They include:
Other conditions can cause dementia or dementia-like symptoms, including:
Certain factors can raise your risk for developing dementia, including:
The symptoms of dementia can vary, depending on which parts of the brain are affected. Often, forgetfulness is the first symptom. Dementia also causes problems with the ability to think, problem solve, and reason. For example, people with dementia may:
Some people with dementia cannot control their emotions and their personalities may change. They may become apathetic, meaning that they are no longer interested in normal daily activities or events. They may lose their inhibitions and stop caring about other peoples' feelings.
Certain types of dementia can also cause problems with balance and movement.
The stages of dementia range from mild to severe. In the mildest stage, it is just beginning to affect a person's functioning. In the most severe stage, the person is completely dependent on others for care.
How is dementia diagnosed?Your health care provider may use many tools to make a diagnosis:
There is no cure for most types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. Treatments may help to maintain mental function longer, manage behavioral symptoms, and slow down the symptoms of disease. They may include:
Researchers have not found a proven way to prevent dementia. Living a healthy lifestyle might influence some of your risk factors for dementia.
A disability is any condition of your body or mind that makes it more difficult for you to do one or more major life activities and interact with the world around you.
There are many types of disabilities, such as those that can affect your:
More than 1 in 4 adults in the United States have some type of disability. Even though they all have disabilities, they can have a wide range of needs. For example, even people who have same type of disability can be affected in very different ways. Also, some disabilities are "visible" (easy to see), for example when someone is in a wheelchair. But other disabilities are "invisible" (hidden or not easy to see), such as problems with hearing, thinking, or learning.
What causes disabilities?Disabilities can have different causes. Some disabilities are present at birth, while others may happen later in life.
Causes of disabilities that are present at birth can include:
Causes of disabilities that happen later in life can include:
Having a disability does not mean a person cannot be healthy. In fact, many people with disabilities report that their health as good or better. But they may have or be at risk of health problems related to their disability, called "secondary conditions." These conditions may include:
Many of these conditions can be prevented, and there are treatments for them. It's also important for people with disabilities to get health care that meets their needs as a whole person, not just as a person with a disability.
How can people with disabilities get and stay healthy?Just like for people who don't have a disability, having a healthy lifestyle is important for people who do have a disability. A healthy lifestyle includes:
Managing a disability can sometimes be challenging. There are resources that can help:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Chances are you've bumped your head before. Often, the injury is minor because your skull is hard and it protects your brain. But other head injuries can be more severe, such as a skull fracture, concussion, or traumatic brain injury.
Head injuries can be open or closed. A closed injury does not break through the skull. With an open, or penetrating, injury, an object pierces the skull and enters the brain. Closed injuries are not always less severe than open injuries.
Some common causes of head injuries are falls, motor vehicle accidents, violence, and sports injuries.
It is important to know the warning signs of a moderate or severe head injury. Get help immediately if the injured person has:
Doctors use a neurologic exam and imaging tests to make a diagnosis. Treatment depends on the type of injury and how severe it is.
NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke