The term brain injury is something no one wants to hear. While some individuals who suffer brain injuries recover seemingly no worse for wear, others are not so lucky. Though the affected individual's appearance may look normal, things may be anything but normal inside one's brain. This is particularly true when it is classified as a traumatic brain injury, or TBI. These types of injuries could lead to comas, hematomas, brain damage and even death. In addition, individuals who suffer a brain injury may be at a higher risk for other medical conditions such as epilepsy.

Research conducted over a decade ago determined that TBIs that resulted in blood that had circulated throughout an individual’s body and contained albumin, getting to the brain, is a culprit where epilepsy is concerned. The presence of the high levels of protein in the albumin affects the signals between neurons, possibly leading to seizures. Understanding why this happens has made it possible to try to create a way to avoid it.

Researchers at UC Berkeley are currently working on that. Their current focus is a blood pressure drug and they are trying to determine if administering it to individuals who arrive at the emergency room with a brain injury, respond positively. The goal is to reduce the odds of a patient contracting epilepsy.

Brain injuries can affect individuals of all ages and be incurred in a variety of situations including workplace accidents, motor vehicle accidents, bicycle accidents, boat accidents and slips and falls. Whatever the cause of a brain injury, it can be life changing and result in expensive medical bills. For that reason, when the incident that caused the brain injury is due to the negligence of another person, a personal injury lawsuit is sometimes filed.

Source: Healthline, “Berkeley Researchers Developing Emergency Drug for Brain Injuries,” Brian Krans, Feb. 21, 2014