Nov
27
Let me rephrase my question: If alcohol and tobacco are legal, why isn’t marijuana?
Filed Under Other - Health | 9 Comments
HERE ME THROUGH ON THIS.
ok, theres a lot of info in here, so dont answer until i say its alright
first of all, I AM NOT A POTHEAD! i am a 3.5 student who has never touched, smoked, or done anything with pot. This is all strictly facts that i have put together from numerous websites, and sources will be provided when needed.
Ok first, some facts about alcohol, tobbaco, and marijuana
Tobacco:
-47 million in us. use it.
-438 thousand deaths every year (1 in every 5 deaths)
-More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.
- Deadly Diseases: Lung Cancer, Heart Cancer, Chronic Airway Obstruction, Bronchitis, Emphysema.
-Pluses: Umm…it was the cool thing to do in the 60’s
Alcohol
-175.6 million life time users in us
-9.4 million abusers.
- 64,000 deaths from harmful drinking (Accidents, Poisoning)
-Brain Damage,
, Liver Cancer.
-Pluses: euphoria
Marijuana
-163 million worldwide
- Very little deaths from the actual marijuana, 120,000 ER appearances from bad judgement from marijuana.
-Affects memory
- 1 joint may equal 4 cigarettes, but most smokers smoke way more than 4 cigarettes between the time a casual pot smoker smokes 2 joints.
- Causes some similair effects to smoking
Pluses
-Euphoria
-Helps depression, Eye problems
- No recorded death in history.
So..why hasnt the government realized that marijuana is a safer drug then alcohol and tobacco. I hear people say “oh, well less people do alcohol and tobacco, so its better” You know what else less people use that kills more people? Cocaine, Memphanphetamines (spelling sorry), Heroine, all other illegal drugs. Marijuana is the safest out there.
I’m not saying the government should legalize marijuana or illegalize alcohol or tobacco, but i think they need to rethink this. If pot was legal, they can make millions off
the tax from it.
Thank you for letting me say this….please debate….im am considering writing this up for real…
thank you for waiting, you can answer now.
to dj_cnja. My original question is if marijuana is illegal, why is alcohol and tobacco, and i ended up getting all this “oh, the U.S. government will lose all its money”
Nov
26
Automobile Accidents and Traumatic Brain Injury
Filed Under Law | 2 Comments
Of the 1.4 million Americans who sustain a traumatic brain injury each year, half of them will be involved in an automobile or motorcycle accident. The National Institutes of Health cite automobile accidents as the number one cause of traumatic brain injury in people under 75.
Accident-Related Brain Injury: Mechanisms
In an auto-accident-related TBI, the victim is jolted violently, sometimes against an object. This causes the brain to twist within the skull and bump against the skull walls, damaging the brain’s axions, which are the connections between neurons. This disrupts the brain’s internal communications, reducing the patient’s ability to perform basic functions. Patients with more severe axion damage may go into comas or die immediately. Other types of brain injuries that are commonly caused by an auto accident include concussion; contusion, or bruising of the brain tissue; skull fracture; and anoxia, a lack of oxygen to the brain.
A closed brain injury, in which the skull is not broken or penetrated, is the most common kind of TBI caused by auto accidents. It is also more difficult to diagnose than a penetrative brain injury, because the symptoms may not be obvious at first. Right after the accident, victims may feel fine, or show only a short loss of consciousness or a mild headache. They may be sent home from the hospital with a clean bill of health. However, more symptoms can appear in the days and weeks after the accident. They include:
* Headaches
* Dizziness and lightheadedness
* Double vision or blurred vision
* Confusion or agitation
* Fatigue
* Memory loss
* Mood or behavior changes
* Trouble concentrating
* Slurred speech
* Dilation of the pupils
* Repeated vomiting or nausea
* Loss of coordination
These secondary symptoms can occur when the brain swells in response to the original trauma. Because the brain is trapped inside the skull, this swelling can cause complications of the original, seemingly mild, injury. About 40 percent of TBI patients develop some of these symptoms, sometimes called post-concussion syndrome, in the days or weeks after an accident. Accident victims who show any of these symptoms should insist on being thoroughly rechecked for a traumatic brain injury, even if doctors originally said they were fine.
Costs of Automobile Accident-Related TBI
The costs, both personal and financial, of a traumatic brain injury can be high. Because brain tissue cannot regenerate the way other body tissues can, brain-damage patients may never fully recover from their injuries. Such patients will live the rest of their lives with disabilities such as trouble seeing or hearing, memory loss, motor skills damage, depression and personality changes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that more than 5 million Americans need help with daily tasks because of a traumatic brain injury. All of these things take a toll on the lives of the patients and their loved ones, as well as costing millions of dollars to treat.
To minimize the chance of living with a disability, accident victims who think they might have a TBI should insist on a thorough medical evaluation after an accident, so they can begin treatment as soon as possible. If you believe that someone else may be at fault for an auto accident that caused you or a loved one to sustain brain damage, or if you believe you are being unfairly denied treatment or compensation, you may wish to speak to an experienced brain injury attorney.
Nov
20
Scientists Study Brain Injury Treatment
Filed Under Health | Leave a Comment
Peter Kent inquired:
earch into prevention and treatment for traumatic brain injuries (TBI), it still continues to be a top condition affecting millions of Americans annually. The side effects of TBI are severe and can range from a coma or death to cognitive disorders to social and behavioral issues to mental and physical disability.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), common TBI disabilities include difficulties with cognition affecting memory and reasoning; communication through expression and understanding; sensory processing, affecting the five senses in various combinations and ways; behavior and mental health problems ranging from personality changes to increased aggression to social inappropriateness; and TBI can also cause an individual to become unresponsive and even fall into a coma.
The seriousness for which TBI can range and the length of time these disabilities affect a victim is based on the severity of the injury, and while there are several common treatments, a large number of individuals suffering from TBI are never fully rehabilitated. Luckily, with advances in technology a breadth of emerging alternative treatments and research methods are being developed to help lessen and even cure the ill effects of a severe brain injury.
A Tidal Wave of Brain Injury Treatment Research
The U.S. National Institute of Health currently monitors and recruits over 150 clinical trials for TBI victims ranging from preventing epilepsy in a victim after TBI to continued research for Vietnam head injuries to TBI-related hormone deficiency treatments of adults.
Testing For TBI Injuries Gets a One-Up
One of the most recent TBI research studies was completed by senior author and neurology professor at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, M.D., Ph.D. A new method of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analyzation has been discovered by Diaz-Arrastia, with help and contribution from other scientists. Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is a condition that is often forgotten, but it is addressed in this study.
According to researchers, DAI is a type of brain injury that affects axons, which are a type of nerve cell. An automobile accident or similar TBI accident can be the cause of the injury, which occurs when head movement is disrupted unexpectedly. Even modern day computerized tomography scans or MRIs are not adequately capable of detecting the damage done by a DAI. Scientists use a technique in this method deriving from a mathematical analysis known as diffusion tensor tractography where water, which has been released by damaged axons, is monitored to determine healthy axons, which absorb water, compared to dead axons, which release water when they die.
Real-time brain activity scans have been developed to accurately assess a TBI patient. The scan is known as magnetoencephalography (MEG) and allows victims who suffer from TBI-induced epilepsy to find reprieve through more accurate diagnosis and monitoring.
According to Anto Bagic, M.D., a neurologist at the Center for Advanced Brain Magnetic Source Imaging at UPMC in Pittsburgh, who was recently quoted in news reports, the imaging scan allows for thousands of magnetic field samples of brain activity to be recorded every second, which is unlike any other scan. Additionally, when using a combination of the MEG scan with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), it will enable neurosurgeons to have a detailed map of the brain allowing them to remove damaged tissues and keep healthy tissue intact.
Cognitive Developmental Methods
One of the most researched and augmented methods of treatment for TBI deals with cognitive repair and it’s controversy is often discussed among the science and medical community. Many argue that permanent injuries cannot be changed, however, as researchers are learning, it is becoming more noted that the winning side of this argument sees that once thought as a permanent injury can actually be reversed. A recent study completed by the Laboratoire de Neurobiologie des Processus Adaptatifs found exactly this when TBI victims that suffered from brain damage are likely to have the ability to restore cerebral function.
Scientists found that by development of a small amount of new and specifically targeted innervations proves successful in restoring cerebral functions. Reinnervation is when nerve function restoration occurs, often through nerve grafting. The scientists found that with behavioral tests, there was a high success rate of new cell axons “interacting with the network of undamaged neuronal cells to restore their associated functions, such as synchronized movement and spatial orientation,” according to a Science Daily news report. Previously, researchers were using a large amount of non-specific connections when attempting reinnervation.
Uncovering Controversial Drug Treatments
There are a multitude of medications available on the market that allegedly treat of a TBI injury, however, as dangerous medications slip onto shelves and under the radar of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) it is important to research and understand any and all medications prescribed after a TBI accident.
An example of semi-controversial drug treatments comes from a recent research team at the Hangzhou Normal University. Researchers there concluded a study that uncovered a common component found in progesterone, which is a contraceptive pill, “may actually improve the neurological outcome for patients with severe head injuries.” The team, supervised by Weiqi Yan, a professor, that the female hormone may be a safe and effective treatment, although the test could not expand on the neuroprotective effects. However, the results did conclude that progesterone was adequate in treating individuals with a TBI for up to six months.
Likewise, a rather interestingly and debatable study by a group of physicians reported on the link of alcohol blood content levels among TBI patients who survived. The physicians recently discovered that patients who had a low- to moderate-level of alcohol in their bloodstreams after arriving at the hospital because of a TBI-related accident were less likely to die or become worse because of the alcohol, which physicians believe to act as a neuroprotective. Neuroprotection occurs after a brain-related injury and happens when a mechanism in the nervous system protects cells and neurons within the brain from degeneration.
However, individuals with a significantly high amount of blood alcohol in their system were more likely at risk for death. But the study suggested an interesting method that may be explored where administering small doses of alcohol into patients of TBI upon arrival may improve their outcome. Although the authors of this study were extremely hesitant in clarifying their results, and research will likely continue for extremely injured TBI victims.
Protecting and Healing TBI Victims
Because TBI is so prevalent in the United States it is important to understand that there is are vast plentitude of causes of brain injury as well as types of brain injuries, symptoms and treatments. The best way to protect an individual suffering from TBI is to consult a medical professional immediately. Once a victim has been diagnosed, it will be apparent that medical bills can quickly calculate to large sums of money, which is why speaking with an experienced traumatic brain injury law firm is also just as important to protect and heal a brain injury victim.
Nov
15
Brain injury is the effect of the physical trauma occurred on to the head, which leads to the damage of the brain. The Brain injury could be limited to the sole region of the brain, or disperse, also affecting the additional part of the brain. Throughout the definition, brain injury involves to be the head injury or bodily attack to the head and leads up to the damage of the scalp, skull or brain. Although, not all head ache is connected with the brain injury.
The number of common symptoms, the neurological behavior and most of the complaints of the brain injury depends on the total quantity of the injured brain and location of the brain injury. Usually the brain injury might cause involving the particular region of the brain anywhere head got injured. Though brain injury is worst at the straight impact or entrance, brain injury may cause numerous of other diffused brain injury concerning to various other brain region. The numbers of symptoms are evident straight away, whereas others do not demonstrate until numerous weeks or days after the injury. Additional symptoms of the brain injury include: headache, lightheadedness, dizziness, mental confusion, tired eyes, blurred vision, fatigue or lethargy and awful taste in the mouth. The Closed brain injury leads to the traumatic brain injury where the patients head is hurt by an object devoid of flouting the skull of the patients. This type of brain injury is severe and needs proper concern and treatment from the doctors. The Traumatic brain injury, is the distressing injuries to the brain, it is moreover called intracranial damage or the head injury which crop up when an unexpected disturbance causes head damage. The Traumatic brain injury can result starting from the penetrating head injury or to the closed head injury.
Penetrating the head injury is one of the two subtypes of all the acquired brain injury. The other subtype is the non-traumatic brain damage which is usually known as the meningitis, anoxia and stroke. Throughout the traumatic brain damage part of the brain that might be damaged are the brainy hemispheres, brain stem and cerebellum.
The common symptoms of the traumatic brain damage include severe, mild, or moderate depending on the quantity of the damage to the brain. Consequences can be incredible from complete improvement to enduring disability or occasionally death
Nov
9
Victims suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) or TBI caused by a stroke-induced brain injury were recently introduced to new technology enabling improvements of motor and physical skills among victims. Several companies have made advances in technology allowing victims to learn to reuse limbs paralyzed by TBI and stroke-induced TBI as well as to assist in stimulating nerves and muscles.
According to Bioness, manufacturers of the technology units known as NESS, the wearable technology can be worn in areas where extreme damage has been done to the muscles and nerves due to TBI. The technology uses mild electronic shocks to stimulate the muscles and nerves of the afflicted area, thus allowing movement.
The products have been implemented in several hospitals, including Sierra Providence Physical Rehabilitation Hospital in El Paso, Texas, for individuals suffering from brain injuries that may need short- and long-term assistance from their TBI injury.
Some of the technology in existence available to aid victims includes hand and foot rehabilitation devices. The hand rehabilitation technology is a plastic cuff molded around the hand, wrist and forearm and consists of six electrodes that transmit electronic impulses to stimulate nerves and muscles. The stimulation causes the muscles to become less stiff while also increasing circulation and strength of the injured area.
The hand rehabilitation device is attached to a small computer that, according to news reports, is similar to a handheld gaming gadget. The gadget is used to control electric shocks.
The foot cuff wraps around the leg and knee and is ideal for victims of TBI who suffer from what is known as foot drop, otherwise described as when an individual cannot walk correctly or lift their foot. The cuff, also attached to a game-like gadget uses sensors that detect the range of motion for a foot and heel to hitting the ground. Through nerve stimulation, the cuff allows a victim to control their foot mobility.
Additionally, the Journal of Biological Engineering recently published a study from researchers at Purdue University who found that patients being treated with an injectable simple polymer, polyethylene glycol (PEG), into the blood stream immediately following a head trauma had comparative less damage than compared to those that were delayed in receiving the polymer or who did not receive the polymer at all.
Technology Assists TBI Victims
As TBI becomes an ever-increasing technology among Americans, the technology has grown to encompass or assist the wide-range of TBI side effects. Not only are manufacturers looking at developing technology to assist victims of TBI, but scientists also continue to work on alternative treatments including the most recent technology that is being led by Nicholas Schiff of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. Weill and his colleagues are studying the effects of electrically stimulating parts of the brain to improve TBI after-effects.
The study found that patients of TBI who have seriously debilitating side effects have a surprising level of brain activity and that if the victim’s neural circuits are left intact, the brain can benefit and become active with stimulation.
Scientists used a procedure known as deep brain stimulation, in which electrodes are surgically implanted into the effected area of the brain. These electrodes are also connected to a pacemaker implanted in the chest. The device can be turned on or off, but once the device was turned on in many of their patients, arousal of cells occurred, and, with time, a patient’s behaviors and abilities improved gradually.
Causes of TBI
While researchers, scientists and manufacturers continue to make strides with technological devices to assist brain injury victims there are still approximately 1.4 million victims of TBI a year, with 235,000 of those affected with TBI being hospitalized, 1.1 million individuals being treated and released, and approximately 50,000 TBI-related deaths per year. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 5.3 million Americans suffer from long-term TBI after affects and that the medical costs associated with TBI range have been speculated to be around $60 billion.
There are numerous ways in which an individual can sustain a brain injury including but there are four accidents that make up most of these injuries:
* Falls, accounting for 28 percent of TBI accidents
* Automobile and traffic accidents are responsible for 20 percent of brain injury accidents.
* Nineteen percent are caused by being stuck by or against something
* Assaults account for 11 percent of brain injuries among individuals.
Those who have been injured in a TBI accident should not only seek medical attention immediately but should also consider developing brain injury litigation. Often times, expenses of medical bills associated with treating a brain injury can be far too costly for an average individual to pay for, which is why it is a necessity to speak with a TBI lawyer. Learning about developing a lawsuit to receive monetary compensation for the pain and suffering caused through a TBI.
Other Common TBI Treatments
There is an array of TBI treatments already available for TBI victims, and there are additional treatments being researched worldwide as well. Some of the most common treatments including surgery, medications or decompression of the brain, although counseling and therapy, both physical and mental, are most often outcomes from TBI as surgeries and experimental treatments are costly.
To learn more on protection yourself from a TBI injury or how to find protection while suffering from TBI, locate an experienced brain injury attorney who can provide insight into bettering the situation.