New Beginnings Campaign.

HEAD INJURY IS A SILENT EPIDEMIC!

THE STATISTICS AROUND THE WORLD ARE NOTHING SHORT OF ALARMING!                      

With the publication of my autobiography, From Tragedy To Triumph,  my aim is to bring world attention to the plight of  the head and brain injured, who are today's " forgotten people.". There is a petition to World Governments in my book.  It consists of ten articles for the betterment of people with acquired brain injury.  My book helps A B I survivors to have "hope" and the "determination to get well." It has also saved the lives of three brain-injured survivors.

My autobiography is very much part of my campaign. Yet it has "mass market appeal." In the book, I petition governments, medical people, the media, and the public in general, to refrain from using the demeaning terminologies 'brain-damage' as opposed to 'brain-injury,' and 'vegetable,' as opposed to 'anoxiated' (lacking in oxygen). These terminologies are totally antiquated.

"Jessica, You have presented a compelling case against negative terminology and I applaud your efforts. In time, as more people become aware of the heart-ache these terms can cause, we can hope for a greater understanding and a change to more enlightened attitudes. Well done!"  (Kathleen Falvae. Stroke Recovery Association. Oceanside Branch)
 
                        IN THE U.S., SOMEONE IS HEAD INJURED EVERY 21 SECONDS.
 
Brain-related illness costs 1.3 trillion dollars in the U.S... annually.  The lifetime cost for just one person surviving a severe injury can reach $4 million.  Unfortunately, 41 percent of head-injured people live below the poverty line, and only one in twenty receive the rehabilitation they require.  The Federal government spends less than $3 per brain-injured survivor on Traumatic Brain Injury research and Services.

RAND study reports that nearly 20% of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan--320, 000 in all-- report symptoms of traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment.  Nineteen percent have suffered various degrees of brain injuries.

In Ireland, 10,000 people are head- injured annually.  In Great Britian that number exceeds one million.  In Queensland, 11,000 people are expected to have a head- injury in the coming year.  In New Zealand, 30,000 people suffer a head- injury annually. In British Columbia alone, the number of people head- injured annually is 14.000.
 
 How many more studies and statistics have to be generated in order for something positive to be done? All the world needs now is a call to action. Realizing that tomorrow we, or someone we love could suffer a traumatic head injury is the first step towards change.
 
B.C. opposition Health Critic, Adrian Dix says "there is a lack of rehabilitation for head and brain injured survivors and this is a serious national problem."

Since it has been recently discovered that head- injured survivor, Ron Houben, from Brussels, was conscious for the 23 years when thought to be in a coma, more advanced diagnosis must be practiced.
 
CHILDREN AND CONCUSSION.
                                  
Concussions in children should be renamed "mild traumatic brain injuries," to better convey their seriousness, some Canadian researchers say. Children diagnosed with a concussion were released from hospital sooner and returned to school faster than those diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.
 
Researchers analyzed data on 434 children who were admitted with acquired brain injury to McMaster Children's Hospital over a period of two years. Of 341 who were found to have traumatic brain injury, 32 per cent received the diagnosis of concussion.  But 24 per cent of children who had moderate or severe scores on tests of neurological function were labelled as having a concussion, the team found.
 
Children diagnosed with concussion were also 1.5 times more likely to be released from hospital earlier than those who did not. They were also 2.4 times more likely to return to school just a few days after the injury.
 
Carol DeMatteo, a clinical professor in the school of rehabilitation science at McMaster, said she wants parents to have good information before deciding whether children should return to school or activity, since doing so too soon puts them at greater risk for a second injury and poor school performance.  
                                                   
Singing Helps Stroke and Head-Injured Survivors.
 
Teaching stroke patients to sing "rewires" their brains, helping them recover their speech, say scientists.   By singing, patients use a different area of the brain from the area involved in speech. If a person's "speech centre" is injured by a stroke, they can learn to use their "singing centre" instead.
Researchers presented these findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Diego.
Gottfried Schlaug, a neurology professor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, US, led the trial.

Melodic Intonation Therapy.

The therapy is already established as a medical technique. Researchers first used it when it was discovered that stroke patients with brain injury that left them unable to speak were still able to sing.
Professor Schlaug explained that his was the first study to combine this therapy with brain imaging - "to show what is actually going on in the brain" as patients learn to sing their words.
 
To read a survivor's poem, click here.
 

 For anyone who would like to correspond please write to me at

10-493 Pioneer Cres., Parksville, B C, Canada V9P 1V2.   .

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