Page 397 - Total War on PTSD_FINAL

While the causal mechanisms of TBI, referred to as the primary injury, encompass a spectrum from minor falls to sports-related head impacts to high-speed motor vehicle injuries, the secondary phase, which occurs immediately after trauma regardless of the cause, produces effects that continue to damage and kill brain cells over a period of hours or days following the initial traumatic assault.
Over the past decade, in large part to ingenuity and necessity of military surgeons, tremendous advances have been made in acute and surgical management of severe TBI.
Unfortunately, the management of mild TBI and concussions hasn’t changed in centuries! Management of headaches, pain, and sleep disturbances has not changed.
Every medical textbook, website, and healthcare provider is going to tell you the same thing:
• Get plenty of rest;
• Avoid physical activities and sports while you recover;
• See your healthcare provider who may prescribe medicine if you have symptoms such as a headache, difficulty sleeping, or depression.
These things are important! However, no current therapies address either the secondary phase that continues to damage the brain over the hours and days following injury or the need to facilitate the early neuroregeneration process to help the brain repair any damage.
I am pioneering methods to rebuild the injured brain rather than masking of symptoms with pharmaceuticals. In addition, I advocate increasing the resilience of the brain to withstand injury so those at significant risk may be protected. That simple conclusion is
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