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-- WITH PHOTO -- TO HEALTH, MEDICAL, AND NATIONAL EDITORS:
Think With Your Head and Protect Your Brain
WASHINGTON, March 5, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An estimated 1.7
million traumatic brain injury-related hospitalizations and emergency
visits occur each year in the United States, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). With March being Brain
Injury Awareness Month, the nation's emergency physicians want to
promote good head health.
"Sadly, you can't prevent every brain injury from occurring," said Dr.
Alex Rosenau, president of the American College of Emergency
Physicians. "But the number of patients we treat who are suffering
from injuries that were preventable is alarming."
About 52,000 in the United States die each year because of traumatic
brain injury - another 80,000 to 90,000 deal with a long term
disability.
The severity of a brain injury can vary from "mild" to "severe."
Nearly 80 percent of people are treated and released from an emergency
department, according to the CDC.
Traumatic brain injury can be caused by a number of events. More than
35 percent of these injuries are caused by falls, 21 percent are
miscellaneous accidents and more than 17 percent are caused by motor
vehicle or traffic crashes.
Traumatic brain injury has been getting a significant amount of
attention in recent years because of current and former NFL players
who say hard hits to their heads and repeated concussions throughout
their playing careers have caused them to have life-altering symptoms
of brain injury.
One of the most common brain injuries is a concussion. Most people
recover quickly and fully, but for some, it takes longer.
Physical symptoms of a concussion may include:
-- Headache
-- Loss of consciousness
-- Blurry vision
-- Nausea or vomiting
-- Dizziness
-- Balance problems
-- Light and noise sensitivity
There are many ways to protect your brain or at least decrease the
severity of injury. Some include:
-- Always wear certified safety helmets when biking, motorcycling,
snowmobiling, skiing, skating, snowboarding, horseback riding,
sledding, rollerblading, skateboarding and many other activities that
lead your head vulnerable to hitting hard surfaces.
-- Properly wear a seatbelt at all times in a moving vehicle.
-- Two-thirds of all-terrain vehicle accidents involve children under
16. Always wear a helmet when operating them.
-- Always wear helmets when playing hard contact sports like football
and hockey.
-- Properly install a child's safety seat, have it inspected, and make
sure your child is strapped in correctly depending on their specific
age.
"Clearly the best thing you can do if you hit your head, and you're
unsure of the severity, is to come to the emergency room to get
checked out," said Dr. Rosenau. "We'd much rather see you and send you
home as opposed to seeing you and then admitting you to the hospital
for something more serious."
ACEP is the national medical specialty society representing emergency
medicine. ACEP is committed to advancing emergency care through
continuing education, research and public education. Headquartered in
Dallas, Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state, as well
as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A Government Services
Chapter represents emergency physicians employed by military branches
and other government agencies.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100616/DC22034LOGO-d
SOURCE American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)
-0- 03/05/2014
/CONTACT: Mike Baldyga, 202-370-9288, mbaldyga@acep.org
/Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100616/DC22034LOGO-d
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
/Web Site: http://www.acep.org
www.EmergencyCareForYou.org
CO: American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)
ST: District of Columbia
IN: HEA MTC MNH
SU: SVY
PRN
-- DC77312 --
0000 03/05/2014 15:25:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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