Until now, sufferers of mild to moderate traumatic brain injuries have been forced to live with a variety of debilitating symptoms, with no reasonable answers or substantially effective treatments.
The problem is epidemic.
The long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) afflict millions of civilians and military personnel. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2000 estimated that 1.5 million Americans sustained a TBI annually. As of 2006, the estimates had risen to 1.7 million brain injuries annually. There are over 2.5 million annual visits to emergency rooms for suspected TBI in the United States alone. Estimates are that another 2-3 million people sustain a mild TBI each year, but do not seek medical attention. The World Health Organization predicts that TBI will be among the most prevalent causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide by 2020.
Patients with TBI can experience headache, visual disturbance, cognitive impairment, loss of executive skills, impulsivity, impaired judgment, emotional outbursts, memory impairment, dizziness, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Indeed, the risk of depression and/or anxiety is greatly increased in the year following a TBI. Secondary and/or co-morbid PTSD, depression, and anxiety clouds the situation, because the symptoms of each of these disorders overlaps with those described above. Indeed, the overlap of TBI and PTSD has been estimated at 33% to 42% among Veterans and military personnel.
