Soldier’s Traumatic Brain Injuries May Be Treated With Hyperbaric Chambers

For members of the military, some war wounds can go unnoticed. Even though many of these injuries can be overlooked or misdiagnosed it’s important to realize that some could be more dangerous than they first appear.  A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a severe condition and affects over 100,000 troops each year. A TBI can cause irreversible harm to the physical and cognitive functions of the brain and even change how a person thinks and behaves. Many times a TBI is accompanied by years of treatment and care from facilities like CareMeridian Las Vegas nursing home that could effect decades of an individual’s life. This is why the Department of Defense is looking into hyperbaric chambers as a treatment to fight this devastating condition.

There have been small, yet inconclusive, studies that have shown that hyperbaric chambers, which are chambers that allow people to breathe 100% oxygen at an atmosphere of 1.35, could be beneficial for people who suffer from TBI. More studies need to be done, which is the reasoning behind the Department of Defense starting up a new clinical trial with servicemen who suffer from the injury. These new trials will hopefully give a definite answer to if hyperbaric chambers can reduce and even eliminate the symptoms of TBI.

Researchers are hoping to find that the pressure within the chamber will cause oxygen in the blood to break down, which will allow more oxygen flow throughout the body. This will result in the repairing of damaged tissue that will hopefully help to cut down, and possibly even eliminate, symptoms like memory loss. This treatment is just in the trial stages, but if hyperbaric chambers do serve as a way to treat TBI, then not only will service men and women benefit, but so will the millions of others who suffer from TBI every day.

Health Care Summit

President Obama held a health care summit in order to get Democrats and Republicans to talk about their differences and hopefully figure find a way to compromise on health care reform.  Supposely, the summit lasted over 6 hours and attempted to itemize specific things that Republicans and Democrats both agree and disagree on in hopes that the proposed health care plan can be reworked to incorporate the items that both parties favor.  You can follow the excerpts from the Health Care Summit by visiting CNN and reading the highlights.

While many people doubt that common ground will be found, it is imperative that they do. A lot of Americans do not have proper health care and an affordable public health care option is nothing short of vital for many of them.  As CareMeridian strives to provide exceptional rehabilitation services for some of the most intricately injured patients, it would be great if the government could figure out a way to provide citizens with access to some of the most basic health care necessities.

CareMeridian MentorABI Network

CareMeridian is part of the Mentor ABI network.  Mentor ABI is a select group of local providers who specialize in post-acute rehabilitation for people with acquired brain injury and other neurological challenges as well as spinal cord injury.

“MENTOR ABI is part of The MENTOR Network, a national network of local human services providers offering an array of quality, community-based services to adults and children with developmental disabilities, acquired brain injury and other catastrophic injuries and illnesses, to youth with emotional, behavioral and medically complex challenges as well as their families.  Being part of The MENTOR Network affords our participants the expertise and resources of an organization on the cutting-edge of care.” – Excerpt from the Mentor ABI website.

The Mentor ABI network consists of locations that span from the West Coast all the way to the East Coast.  Visit CareMeridian on the Mentor ABI website by following the link for CareMeridian.

CareMeridian Las Vegas Nursing Home Medical Terminology

Medical terms can be very confusing.  More often than not you’ll hear a medical term and not understand what it means, when really the definition is quite simple.  For instance, osteoarthritis is more simply, inflammation or swelling of a bone joint.  “Osteo” means bone, “arthro” means joint and “itis” means inflammation or swelling of.  CareMeridian is a subacute and skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility for patients suffering from the following conditions:

Traumatic Brain Injury
Pulmonary (ventilator and tracheostomy weaning)
Neuromuscular Disorders
Spinal Cord Injury
Pediatrics
Congenital Anomalies

Some of these might not be familiar terms.  So a small definition for each could probably be very helpful.  First of all, the term “subacute” refers to a length of time that a disease has been present.  While there is no exact length of time that the term subacute represents, in the medical world it refers to a time period between “acute” and “chronic” which mean “short” and “long” respectively. Therefore, “subacute” means longer than a few days, but shorter than several months.  So, CareMeridian is a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility for patients of a few months.

A “traumatic brain injury” is a brain injury caused by trauma.  Trauma is a body wound caused by sudden physical contact, such as a car accident.

“Pulmonary” refers to an illness or injury of the lungs.  “Ventilators” are devices that assist breathing.  “Tracheostomy” refers to a procedure that involves the creation of an artificial opening in the neck in order to assist breathing.  “Weaning” means to withdraw from something.  CareMeridian offers lung rehabilitation services that help patients withdraw from the use of assisted breathing devices and procedures.

“Neuromuscular disorders” refer to injuries and diseases affecting the nerves and muscles.

“Spinal Cord Injuries” naturally refer to injuries involving the spine.

“Pediatrics” refers to the development, care and diseases of babies and children.

“Congenital anomalies” refer to uncommon conditions inherited at birth.  “Congenital” refers to birth, while “anomalies” refer to something uncommon or uncharacteristic of the norm.

These brief definitions should help describe the type of patient services that CareMeridian offers.  For more information, feel free to browse the CareMeridian website.

CareMeridian Traumatic Brain Injury Specialist

In the previous story a man was able to communicate with his family after 23 years of silence resulting from a brain injury causing car accident.  While the man was deemed by doctors to be in a vegetative state, his family never gave up on him and remained hopeful that he would once again communicate with them. After 23 years, it finally happened. New technology proved that the man had normal brain activity and new medical breakthroughs allowed doctors to unlock part of his brain that would give him back the ability to reciprocate communication.

At CareMeridian Nursing Home, the medical staff specializes in the subacute and skilled nursing and rehabilitation of patients suffering from traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injury, or medical complexities such as neuromuscular or congenital anomalies.  They have medical professionals that are experts in the field and state-of-the-art equipment that provide patients with the best chance of rehabilitation.  They have a staff that develops a relationship with each patient individually and cares for them on a personal level. More than anything, the staff at CareMeridian provide patients, families and friends with hope.  After 23 years, hope is what kept the man in the previous story alive.

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