Brain injuries, 100 a day

[p.dath]

Saw an interesting statistic on TV this morning, and with it being brain innjury awareness week or something ...

Apparently 100 people suffer a brain injury every day in NZ. 30 of those are from strokes and medical conditions and the like. The other 70 are from accidents, with 90% of those being from vehicle accidents.

And that is only the ones they know about. Wow!

[Slyer]

63 brain injuries daily from car accidents?
I doubt that statistic. Unless you're counting a bruise on the head...

[sinfull]

I cough and it hurts ! But then i do have the flu !

[vifferman]

It's an alarming thing that your average Joe Public isn't aware of, as most brain injury people end up being at home, in a home, in a hospital, or otherwise out of the public eye.
Years ago, I worked with a guy who had a series of strokes at the age of 45. That was him pretty much fucked: he couldn't work any more, his new wife felt he wasn't getting enough support from his family so took him to Wellington, then decided she couldn't cope, so abandoned him.

The thing that shook me was visiting him in the hospital; here were all these people who had brain injuries. Some had had strokes, some had fallen off horses or bikes, some had had car accidents. We just aren't aware, because unlike someone who breaks a leg or whatever, they tend to NOT resurface after the event.

It bemuses me Mrkns who proudly state they're not gunna wear a brain bucket - they don't care if they crash their motosikkles and die. They don't seem to realise that in many cases, death isn't the outcome: sitting brain-damaged in a hospital drooling into their lap is a more likely destiny.
And it's REALLY scary how vulnerable the brain is - I had a fall at basically standstill, and barely hit my helmet on the road, and had mild concussion for three days.
My cousin tripped on a jetty, hit his head, and died.

Although the "wear a $50 helmet if you'cve got a $50 head" was largley propaganda from Bell in reponse to losing sales to manuafacturers of cheaper polycarbonate helmets, it is worth bearing in mind that a well-made, well-fitting helmet may just make the difference between even temporary brain injury and permanent damage.
[/rantyrave]

[kave]

My wife had a soccer goal post fall and hit her on the head a year ago. She is only now up to working three days a week. Hopefully by the end of this year she will be well enough to work a five day week.

People seem amazed by the number of injuries, they don't seem to realise that the brain is just another part of your body, more well protected than most but also very fragile. A lot of injuries go undiagnosed, especially those sustained playing sport, and because the symptoms of a mild to moderate brain injury are things like fatigue, loss of short term memory, increased impulsiveness etc... then even if someone you know has had a brain injury chances are that you may not notice.

We were very lucky. We were lucky that my wife didn't end up as a vegetable or dead, and we were lucky that I have family working in brain injury rehabilitation. We were able to find out all our rights, and were able to get a diagnosis and treatment in a timely fashion. A lot of people don't realise that they have actually had a brain injury till years after the incident. When someone is in the emergency room getting treated for broken bones and bleeding then a mild or moderate brain injury can easily be missed, and after recovery the symptoms can be written off as psychological.

63 injuries daily from car accidents would not suprise me in the least, your head doesn't even need to hit anything. The whiplash from a sudden stop can see your brain hitting the front of your skull, then bouncing off and hitting the back, its just basic inertia. The brain is a very soft structure suspended in a watery fluid, when the skull stops the brain keeps going till it hits it, and even from an accident at 50kph the effect can be severe.

Its a lot more common than people think, but because the injury is internal then it often doesn't get noticed unless the effects are very severe. When someone walks down the street with a broken leg or arm you will notice it, but when it's someones brain that is broken it is a lot less obvious.

[p.dath]

63 brain injuries daily from car accidents?
I doubt that statistic. Unless you're counting a bruise on the head...

That statistic came from ACC claims, with most of them coming from Hospitals.

[Mully]

The other 70 are from accidents, with 90% of those being from vehicle accidents.....


...and then those 63 join Kiwibiker......

[p.dath]

...
People seem amazed by the number of injuries, they don't seem to realise that the brain is just another part of your body, more well protected than most but also very fragile. A lot of injuries go undiagnosed, especially those sustained playing sport, and because the symptoms of a mild to moderate brain injury are things like fatigue, loss of short term memory, increased impulsiveness etc... then even if someone you know has had a brain injury chances are that you may not notice.
...

That's real interesting. I've had a terrible short term memory since an event in High School. It's something that has always bothered me, and I always wondered if I should have had it checked out. Oh well, too far down the track now.

[Sniper]

Saw an interesting statistic on TV this morning, and with it being brain innjury awareness week or something ...

Apparently 100 people suffer a brain injury every day in NZ. 30 of those are from strokes and medical conditions and the like. The other 70 are from accidents, with 90% of those being from vehicle accidents.

And that is only the ones they know about. Wow!

They just recount polititions and likely future politions and compile the data for which of them would be most suited for a PM job.

[James Deuce]

There's been quite a few posts on KB, interspersed with the words "just a concussion". That's a brain inury, and recorded as such, right there.

[skidMark]

I cough and it hurts ! But then i do have the flu !

u know your fucked when you start oinking...

but if u have an urge to roll in the mud if you like motocross it is perfetly acceptable.

[Ixion]

63 brain injuries daily from car accidents?
I doubt that statistic. Unless you're counting a bruise on the head...

That's 23000 MVAs that result in brain injury per year You're right. It's bullshit.Officially According to the Ministry of Transport website there were a total of 11667 injuries as a result of motor vehicle accidents in 2007 (latest year that they show figures for). Even if the TV data was based on later figures, there's no way that the number of crashes has doubled since 2007. And even *then* that would have to imply that *every* single motor vehicle injury accident resulted in brain injury. So this is just a totally bogus claim. Who do I send the official complaint to (ie which station ran the story)

[p.dath]

That's 23000 MVAs that result in brain injury per year You're right. It's bullshit.Officially According to the Ministry of Transport website there were a total of 11667 injuries as a result of motor vehicle accidents in 2007 (latest year that they show figures for). Even if the TV data was based on later figures, there's no way that the number of crashes has doubled since 2007. And even *then* that would have to imply that *every* single motor vehicle injury accident resulted in brain injury. So this is just a totally bogus claim. Who do I send the official complaint to (ie which station ran the story)

It ran on TV3 this morning.

[Str8 Jacket]

There's been quite a few posts on KB, interspersed with the words "just a concussion". That's a brain inury, and recorded as such, right there.

Too fucken right... "just a concussion" means it's fucken concussion and it can really fuck someone up!

[Mully]

God, another thread about the Brains.

Look, the jury found David not guilty. We weren't there, and we didn't hear all the evidence

[allycatz]

Ive always considered it a blessing that my daughter died after her car accident. The hole in her head after the car collided with a tree was the size of my fist....I think she would of been seriously brain damaged had she survived

[Slyer]

That's another sensitive subject altogether, whether we should be allowed to let extremely badly brain damaged people go...