Brain injuries are some of the most catastrophic injuries, and usually occur in traffic accidents, or as a result of falls in premises liability cases. There may be other causes like violence and workplace accidents. These injuries are, unfortunately, also some of the most difficult to diagnose.
Typically, a brain injury is diagnosed by checking the patient’s vital signs, and testing his thinking and memory. With such symptomatic testing, doctors often tend to mis-diagnose a brain injury, or don’t diagnose one at all. This can have serious consequences for patients, because late treatment can have a severe impact on a patient’s chances of recovery.
However, there has been some progress in developing a blood test to determine the presence of biomarkers that can confirm brain injury. A Florida-based company called Banyan Biomarkers Inc., is conducting a series of studies into brain injury biomarkers. When a person is injured, the process of damage to the brain can be spread out over a few days, and over a period of time, there may be a number of proteins produced in the blood. The presence of these proteins, or biomarkers, can indicate that there has been a brain injury. Blood tests will focus on detecting these proteins, thereby making it much simpler, quicker and easier to diagnose and injury.
This concept is not exactly new. In fact, doctors have always known that severe brain injuries result in the presence of certain levels of biomarkers in the blood. However, the challenge has been in determining the level of biomarkers when there is a mild brain injury. According to Banyan, early intervention can minimize damage, and this is where a biomarker test will be useful. As an Atlanta injury lawyer, I am encouraged to see that there is a lot of ongoing progress in this field. Banyan is currently engaged in efforts to develop such a device. The U.S. military has also jumped in, investing more than $17 million in a brain injury biomarker study that includes more than 1,000 patients. While this is certainly not going to be a part of the battery of standard diagnostic tests that most neurologists run when trying to diagnose and treat head trauma, the initial results seem promising and, hopefully, there will be more insight from this new approach to diagnosing brain injuries, head trauma, concussions, and the resulting signs and symptom of these injuries.
Robert J. Fleming has been handling wrongful death cases, dental malpractice, bus accidents, car accident cases and premises injury cases for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 20 years. He practices in and around the Atlanta area including handling lawsuits in Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Gwinnett, Cobb and other counties and nearby cities including Alpharetta, Austell, Avondale Estates, Chamblee, College Park, Conyers, Duluth, Decatur, Doraville, Hapeville, Johns Creek, Jonesboro, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Peachtree City, Riverdale, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Stone Mountain, and Smyrna. If you have been seriously injured in a car accident and would like quality legal representation, contact Robert J. Fleming directly on (404) 525-5150 or contact us online.