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🍺 More than half of all traumatic brain injuries are directly or indirectly caused by alcohol with a large number of patients having elevated blood alcohol levels at the time of the injury. Specifically, binge drinking, defined as having 5 or more drinks on one occasion, is associated with TBI more than chronic drinking and is a risk factor for sustaining such injury.

🍷Traumatic brain injuries linked to alcohol are primarily due to falls, moving vehicle crashes, and assaults. Among all trauma patients, high blood alcohol is more common in patients presenting with head injuries.

🔹Following a TBI, alcohol consumption usually drops due to factors such as:

1) Lack of access to alcohol in the care facilities

2) Physical disabilities associated with TBI

3) Advice to abstain from drinking from health care providers

4) Possible side effects with medications

🔴The use and misuse of alcohol during the recovery period can reduce the efficacy of rehabilitation. It increases the likelihood of developing seizures, mood and anxiety disorders, and subsequent TBIs…

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🍎 Returning to school after enduring a concussion is a positive step towards recovery from a brain injury. Parents often feel scared, anxious, or uneasy about sending their children back to school due to the risk of another injury while playing, in addition to the cognitive demands of the classroom environment.

🍏 However, for a holistic recovery, a collaborative effort between the parents, physicians, clinicians, and even the teacher is recommended to provide the optimal recovery environment. So what can teachers do to support their students who have experienced a concussion?

🔛Reduce the workload and modify assignments: Breaking down assignments into smaller more manageable pieces is an effective measure to reduce the demands on the student and their cognitive faculties.
Provide frequent breaks: This will help them stay more focused on the task at hand but, more importantly, it allows them to rest.

✍️ Allow for more time to complete assignments and tests. It is recommended to avoid testing initially to reduce stress and the demands on the brain.

💡 Reduce sensory stimulation such as light and sound. Some studies suggest using sunglasses in class to reduce light intensity. The student can also be seated away from windows and the lights could be dimmed. As for sound, the teacher should discuss strategies to limit noise in the class with the rest of the students since it requires a collaborative effort. It would also be effective to allow the student to have lunch and breaks in a quiet location, unlike the cafeteria…

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🧠Traumatic brain injuries are a leading cause of disability and death worldwide. In Canada, approximately 160,000 people sustain traumatic brain injuries each year with 11,000 deaths and over 6,000 cases of permanent disability. However, around 75% of all TBI incidents are considered mild, commonly referred to as a concussion, and are rarely fatal.

❤️‍🩹Classification

TBI can be classified into primary and secondary injuries. Primary injuries are those that occur at the time of injury as a result of the sustained impact and include hematomas or brain bleeds. Secondary injuries occur hours and days after the initial injury and typically result from the biochemical cascade that follows which could result in inflammation, decreased cerebral blood flow, and neuronal death.

🔆Some treatments and preventive measures are used to delay or decrease these secondary injuries and reduce their impact on brain structure and function.



🔰Types of head injuries

Head injuries and TBI are often broken up into 2 types: open and closed head injuries. Open head injuries are ones that pe*****te the skull and damage the brain and can be caused by objects such as bullets or knives. In contrast, closed head injuries are caused by blunt, overpressure, or accelerative forces that keep the skull intact but damage the brain…

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