The two main types of acquired brain injury are traumatic and non traumatic. Non traumatic injuries can be caused by internal or external sources, and traumatic ones are the result of external forces damaging the brain. There are several methods used to classify traumatic damage. Specific symptoms which may indicate the presence of a dangerous head injury can assist in assessing the severity.
Types of injuries to the cerebral cortex can be either from congenital or genetic causes, that is, prior to birth, or they can be acquired injuries, those caused after birth. Those that occur prior to birth may be the result of a developmental abnormality, an infection or genetic problem.
Acquired damages, in turn, are divided into two categories, non traumatic, or traumatic. Non traumatic ones are the result of tumors or stroke, a disease such as encephalopathy or drug abuse. Lack of oxygen to the brain or exposure to toxins such as lead or carbon monoxide are non traumatic. Traumatic insults come in a wide variety of falls, blunt force trauma, accidents or assault. Abbreviated as TBI, treatments for these types of injuries have remarkably advanced in recent years.
Damages caused from such things as stroke or disease do not normally affect ones intellectual capacity. While repeated drug or alcohol abuse is known to impair ones thinking abilities, most acquired damage causes difficulties in movement or communication, but the minds cognitive skills are usually intact. Since the brain is so complex and in some ways little understood, effective rehabilitation may be hard to determine.
Damage caused by some external force come in many levels of severity and pathology. They can be either a result of an impact, sudden changes in acceleration, or a laceration of the tissue. There may also be primary damages that happen at the time of an incident, or secondary ones that appear later, such as pressure building up or changes in blood flow.
Injuries to the head are classified as mild, moderate and severe. A concussion is an example of a mild injury. Other types of wound classification are the anatomy of the damage, and the mechanism, or cause of the damage. The mechanism is divided into the types of closed or penetrating. In a penetrating injury, the skull has been broken or pierced and the membrane inside the skull is opened.
Further methods of classification concern actual type of damage to the tissue, whether it is focal, meaning confined to a particular area, or diffuse, that is, general damage. If the harm is focal, there may be symptoms associated with the area damaged. A type of damage called diffuse axonal involves widespread cellular damage from rapid change in acceleration, as from a fall, an automobile accident, or war related injuries caused by concussion from an explosion.
Certain signs exist which signify the presence of a brain injury, depending upon the severity of the damage. Signs of mild problems are unconsciousness, headache, nausea or vomiting. Other symptoms are lack of coordination or balance, dizziness and lightheadedness. Signs of more severe damage may include persistent headache and vomiting, convulsions, loss of consciousness and unequal dilating of the pupils. When seeing these symptoms, get to a doctor immediately.
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