Leading Causes of Traumatic Brain Injury

Causes Traumatic Brain Injury Dolman Law Group

Who is at Risk for Traumatic Brain Injury?

Sustaining a traumatic brain injury is a terrifying prospect not only because of the serious ramifications in regard to health and quality of life, but also because of the multitude of ways that it can happen.

While it is true that traumatic brain injuries can occur just about anywhere short of a padded cell, there are several leading causes and areas where people are much more likely to sustain a traumatic brain injury.

Areas Of High Traumatic Brain Injury Risk

Car Accident Traumatic Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injuries occur at an astounding rate during car accidents. Considering how often car accidents occur and the general level of destruction and injury they result in, it's not surprising that they are responsible for so many traumatic brain injuries.

According to the Center for Disease control(CDC), motor vehicle crashes are the third leading cause of traumatic brain injury related visits to the hospital and the third cause of traumatic brain injury caused deaths.

A traumatic brain injury can occur in a number of ways during a car accident. More often, people find themselves suffering a traumatic brain injury due to their head striking the steering wheel or a windshield. Drivers and passengers alike can suffer a blow to the head from loose debris in the car, being thrown from the vehicle, or really hitting any hard part of the vehicle when they are moved by the force of an impact.

In fact, it doesn't take any kind of penetration in order to suffer a traumatic brain injury. Someone can be rear ended and a passenger that had no seatbelt on could slam their head into something without the blow leaving any kind of mark. This lack of a physical mark like a bruise or cut would not mean that they have not sustained a traumatic brain injury and they could go on for some time without realizing they've sustained a traumatic brain injury.

Sports Related Traumatic Brain Injuries

There has recently been an increase in awareness of the frequency of traumatic brain injuries received in sports; most notably football. Whenever high speed and intensity contact is involved in a sport, there is potential for a traumatic brain injury.

High contact sports like football, hockey, rugby, boxing, and martial arts have the potential to do massive damage to the brain in the form of a traumatic brain injury. Despite the use of padding and helmets, players still experience a remarkable amount of damage.

Football has been the most egregious of all sports in terms of serious brain injuries. A study conducted by Boston University found that over 90 percent of deceased football players they examined, had chronic traumatic encephalopathy which is a degenerative brain condition caused by recurrent damage via blows to the head.

Further research by Boston University also looked into the scary prospect of head injuries effects on youth football players. Children are especially susceptible to traumatic brain injuries and the effects are much more dangerous since they affect them for the rest of their lives.

Boston University found that youth football players that experienced head injuries could expect the symptoms of degenerative brain conditions that affect cognition, mood, and behavior much earlier in life. They discovered that these symptoms could occur almost 13 years earlier than usual in comparison to football players that start later.

Even sports that typically don't involve intense contact like soccer, basketball, and baseball can be potential arenas for a serious traumatic brain injury. In soccer, there is risk of suffering a traumatic head injury when players use their heads to hit the ball. In baseball, players can get hit by the baseball in the head which can do much more damage than most would expect.

Believe it or not, one of the sports with the highest frequency of traumatic brain injuries features no contact at all. There is not even a ball or points to be made. The sport is cycling and its fairly apparent why so many people suffer brain injuries. Many people simply believe that the risk of suffering a traumatic brain injury is worth taking as long as they don't have to wear a helmet.

Leading Causes of Traumatic Brain Injuries

Around 2.8 million people were treated for traumatic brain injuries in the United States during 2013. The Center for Disease Control managed to determine exactly what were the top causes of all these traumatic brain injuries and the results will surprise you.

47 percent of traumatic brain injuries treated in 2013 were caused by a fall. That's nearly half and to put into numbers, 1,320,411 falls. It also turns out that falls account for the majority of traumatic brain injuries among the very old and very young age groups as well.

The second highest cause of traumatic brain injuries are struck by or against injuries. Basically, these injuries are when the head is struck against or by an object that can be either static or mobile. The definition of object in this case extends to humans as well. Human bones like the skull are incredibly sturdy and can do a surprising amount of damage.

As previously mentioned, car accidents take the number three spot not only overall but across all age groups as well. Car accidents also are the most deadly of all the leading causes of traumatic brain injury. They cause the largest percentage of traumatic brain injury deaths at 32 percent.