About Brain Injuries

  
Brain injury can affect anyone, anytime, anywhere and can result in life-long cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and/or physical disabilities. Some major causes of brain injury include motor vehicle crashes, falls, strokes, bicycle crashes, aneurysms, violence such as Shaken Baby Syndrome, and diseases such as encephalitis. Concussions are also considered a type of brain injury.

Every brain injury is unique. Therefore, the nature of the service delivery system must be flexible and leverage community assets to address the drives needs of each individual with brain injury.

Persons with brain injury often find that their lives will never be the same as before they experience injury. Fortunately, many rehabilitation and treatment programs can assist persons with brain injury to rebuild their lives and achieve more independence. With the support of family, friends, and quality professionals, thousands of persons with brain injury in Minnesota have increased their community integration and quality of life and their ability to remain in their home communities.

Facts and Figures

• Each year about 20,000 Minnesotans experience a brain injury.
• 94,000 Minnesotans live with a disability due to brain injury; of those individuals, 12,000 are children and youth under the age of 19.
• Brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in children and adults under age 34.
• Motor vehicle crashes represent the leading cause of brain injuries in Minnesota.
• Each year in the United States, 1.5 million persons experience a brain injury (That's more than the combined 241,000 people who each year experience either HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, or spinal cord injuries). 
• Every 21 seconds, one person in the United Sates experiences a brain injury.

Long-term Consequences

• Short-term and long-term memory loss 
• Fatigue 
• Anxiety and depression 
• Difficulty with balance 
• Visual impairment such as double vision 
• Loss of smell or taste 
• Headaches or migraines 
  Problems with arousal, attention, and concentration. 
• Speech and language comprehension difficulties 
• Problems with judgment 
• Seizures 
• Sexual dysfunction 
• Impulsive behavior or easily agitated