Information about brain injury
Statistics
In the UK around one million people attend hospital every year as a result of brain injury; of these:
- about one hundred and fifty thousand will have a minor brain injury resulting in unconsciousness for 15 minutes or less. Usually they recover completely within 3-6 months.
- around ten thousand will suffer moderate brain damage causing unconsciousness for up to 6 hours. Some will still have physical and psychological problems after 5 years.
- up to eleven thousand will suffer severe brain injuries and be unconscious for 6 hours or more. Of these, only about 15% will return to work within 5 years. Many will not work again and around 4,500 will require full time care for the rest of their lives.
- more than one hundred and twenty thousand people in the UK are currently suffering from the long-term effects of severe brain damage caused by head injury. This number is increasing every year.
Causes of Brain Injury
Brain injuries strike people of all ages, from all walks of life and in a variety of situations. Due to enhanced knowledge and treatment more people are surviving than ever before making brain injury the fastest growing cause of disability among young people in the UK.
Did you know that:
49% of all brain injuries are as a result of road traffic accidents.
20% of brain injuries in children are caused by cycling accidents. Wearing a cycle helmet reduces the risk of severe head injury by up to 88%.
Other causes of brain injury are:
Traumatic
- Domestic and industrial accidents
- Sport and recreation
- Assaults
- Surgical intervention
Hypoxic
- Following cardiac arrest
- Hypoglycaemic coma
- Epilepsy
- Drug overdose
Post Viral Infections
- Encephalitis
- Meningitis
The brain and its functions
Common problems after brain injury
Brain injury is often known as the "hidden disability" because the problems which arise are not always obvious to another person. Other people can see and often understand the limitations caused by a physical disability, but difficulties with thinking skills and behavioural changes are often misunderstood.
Some of the common problems are:
- Difficulties with attention and concentration
- reduced tolerance to background noise
- Memory problems
- forgetting what has been said
- forgetting people's names
- difficulties in learning new skills
- difficulty remembering familiar routes
- Relationship difficulties - resulting from
- physical changes
- personality changes
- change of role in family
- Behavioural problems
- reduced ability to judge appropriate behaviour
- impulsiveness
- lack of motivation
- loss of confidence
- reduced ability to control anger
- Reduced executive function
- Inability to carry out simple tasks
- problems with planning and sequencing
- Mobility problems
- difficulty with balance
- difficulty with co-ordination
- spacial awareness difficulties
- Fatigue – caused by
- sleep disturbances
- extra effort needed to carry out simple tasks
- Speech problems
- word finding
- understanding what is said
For more information on these symptoms or other aspects of brain injury please go to www.headway.org.uk