For Immediate Release
Contact: Derek Berry
Washington, DC – October 13, 2010 – Brain injuries are not uncommon. They can result from a traumatic experience - hence the name traumatic brain injury (TBI), or they can result from other non-traumatic causes, called acquired brain injury (ABI). The most common causes of TBI are falls and motor vehicle accidents, whereas stroke is the most widespread cause of ABI.
Published by the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) Press, a book called Managing Brain Injury: A Guide to Living Well with Brain Injury, by Michael R. Yochelson, MD, and Penny Wolfe, PhD, discusses the causes and effects (both temporary and permanent) of TBI and ABI. The book also provides ways to prevent brain injury, substance abuse in relation to brain injury, and gives first person accounts of brain injury and life afterward.
Managing Brain Injury categorizes the cognitive and behavioral changes a person with brain injury may experience, and sheds light on the physical changes and effects, the initial changes such as increased temperature and heart rate; changes in blood pressure; changes in movement including spasticity and motor control; and sensory, visual and perceptual changes.
The book’s foreword is written by ABC news anchor and reporter, Bob Woodruff, who suffered a TBI in January 2006, while reporting in Iraq. Woodruff notes the dramatic change his life, and that of his family, faced when the unexpected took place. “I am a walking miracle, as so many have called me, and I am a testament to the power of the brain, the value of intensive rehabilitation, the love of family, and the resiliency of the human spirit,” said Woodruff.
Managing Brain Injury gives readers several inspirational and triumphant personal stories of men and women who have suffered from brain injury, their loved ones who suffer with them, their long journey through the rehabilitation process, and how they have prosperously rebuilt their lives. The book supplies readers with various terms often used when discussing brain injury, including detailed definitions in a reader-friendly glossary.
There are chapters on medications that are commonly used in brain injury treatment, life skills and recreation activities complete with plans to complete those activities post-brain injury. The book features patient resources that include suggestions on applying for healthcare, social security, and helpful tips on going home after getting a brain injury. The book also includes a list of brain injury support groups, phone numbers and websites for people to get further information.
“With TBI being one of the major causes of disability each year in the U.S., affecting 1.7 million Americans, this book can be an asset to those who have suffered a brain injury and ask: ‘What’s next for me now that this has happened?’” said Dr. Yochelson.
The book is available through NRH Press for $16.95 plus shipping. Click to order
National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) is a private, not-for-profit facility located in Northwest Washington, D.C. NRH’s services are designed specifically for the rehabilitation of individuals with disabling injuries and illnesses such as stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury and disease, arthritis, amputations, post-polio syndrome, chronic pain, back and neck pain, occupational injuries, cancer and cardiac disease that require medical rehabilitation, and other neurological and orthopedic conditions. NRH admits approximately 2,200 inpatients annually, has appeared on the “Best Hospitals” list in U.S. News & World Report for 16 consecutive years and is currently ranked among the top hospitals in medical rehabilitation in America. NRH has the only CARF accredited specialty program for both Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke in the region. In addition, NRH’s Spinal Cord Injury Program has been designated one of only 14 Model SCI Systems of care in the country by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), a part of the Department of Education. NRH is a proud member of MedStar Health.