Whether you live in San Marcos or elsewhere in the San Diego County area, it is important to know about electric scooters and the personal injury risks they pose. According to a recent news release from the University of California, new research suggests that e-scooters are tied to high rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI), broken bones, and dislocated joints. Those who sustain these types of injuries on e-scooters require medical attention, and some seemingly less serious injuries also require riders to seek treatment in an emergency department.

Why are e-scooters dangerous, and how should residents around San Diego County respond?

New Study Ties Electric Scooters to Serious Personal Injuries

Researchers at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine conducted the recent study and published their findings in JAMA Network Open in January 2019. As the news release underscores, this study was the first of its kind to be published concerning electric scooter injuries. The authors of the study examined data from Southern California hospitals between September 2017 and August 2018. They determined that one-third of e-scooter accident victims actually arrived to the emergency departments by ambulance, suggesting that the injuries were too severe for those injury victims to transport themselves.

Dr. Tarak Trivedi, the lead author of the study, emphasized that we need to begin taking a closer and more sustained look at the effects of e-scooters on bodily injuries. As he explained, “there are thousands of riders now using these scooters, so it’s more important than ever to understand their impact on public health.” In the published study, the researchers provide some of the following findings about e-scooter injuries:

• Around 92% of e-scooter injuries affect riders, but about 8% of injury victims also include pedestrians;
• Only about 4% of e-scooter riders who sustained injuries severe enough to require treatment in an emergency department were wearing a helmet at the time of the accident;
• Approximately 5% of e-scooter injury victims had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above 0.05%, which physicians cite as the number to indicate “intoxication”;
• 40% of injuries were TBIs and other forms of head trauma;
• 32% of injuries were fractures or broken bones; and
• 28% of injuries were cuts, sprains, or bruises that did not affect the head.

Future of E-Scooter Injuries in San Diego County

While the study cites West Los Angeles at “the epicenter of the electric scooter phenomenon” and thus the location in which riders have the highest injury rates, the San Diego area also has its own share of e-scooter problems. Last year, an article in The San Diego Union-Tribune cited e-scooters as dangerous modes of transportation that cause a variety of injuries, “from broken bones and teeth to punctured lungs and lacerations requiring plastic surgery.”

Earlier this year, the Times of San Diego reported that the San Diego City Council is moving to better regulate e-scooters. For example, while the scooters can travel as fast as 15 miles per hour, new regulations would limit travel to 8 miles per hour and 3 miles per hour in certain areas. Proposed regulations would also require greater oversight of scooter companies.

Contact a Brain Injury Lawyer in San Marcos

If you or someone you love recently suffered a brain injury in an e-scooter accident or in another type of collision, you should reach out to a San Marcos brain injury lawyer to learn more about filing a claim. Contact the Walton Law Firm to discuss your case.

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(image courtesy of Nathan Dumlao)

Sports-related concussions and other types of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) caused by contact sports have received significant attention in the last decade after numerous athletes showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). In response to the high rate of brain trauma among youth athletes and professional athletes in contact sports in particular, researchers began engaging in in-depth studies surrounding football and head injuries. According to a recent study conducted at the University of Michigan, high school football players may have concussion biomarkers after taking a hit to the head without showing obvious symptoms.

This new research could help to prevent additional injuries among high school athletes, and it could ensure that youth football players receive the medical treatment and rest they need after suffering a mild TBI, even if they are not showing symptoms of a concussion.

Symptoms of Concussions May Not be Enough to Assess Likelihood of a TBI

According to Dr. Jacob Joseph, a neurosurgery resident at Michigan Medicine who was the lead author of the new study, “in high school football players, there is biochemical evidence of brain injury after a single high-impact hit to the head, even when the athlete is asymptomatic.” In other words, a youth football player might take a hit to the head, show absolutely no obvious signs of a concussion to the coach or athletic trainer, and the athlete might go back onto the field with a serious head injury. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Neurosurgery.

The University of Michigan Health Lab noted that, although coaches and athletic trainers now “talk with the athlete and determine if the player will sit out the rest of the game” after the player sustains a hit or bump to the head, “this might not be enough.” To be sure, “the subtle symptoms of head trauma can elude coaches and players alike.” This study is the first of its kind to suggest that there are biomarkers for brain injury even when symptoms do not appear to allow for a concussion diagnosis.

Continuing to Play Football After a Head Injury can Have Disastrous Results

It is extremely important for football players of all ages, but especially youth athletes, to stop playing after sustaining a head injury. Coaches and athletic trainers already have some difficulty keeping players off the field after a hit to the head because players lie about their symptoms or simply fail to report them. Going back onto the football field after a concussion—even if the player does not have symptoms and does not realize that he or she has been concussed—can have devastating results. The injury can alter the player’s ability to concentrate and focus in the long run, and the head injury could have lifelong consequences.

This new research could change the way that coaches and athletic trainers handle hits to the head among players. While there is still a substantial amount of research to be done on the topic, the research ultimately could allow players to know if they have brain injury biomarkers after taking a hit to the head with a simple blood test on the sidelines. In the meantime, the authors of the study urge coaches and athletic trainers to take a player out of the game when there is a hit to the head, regardless of whether the player shows signs of a concussion.

Contact an Escondido Brain Injury Attorney

If your child sustained a TBI while playing youth sports, you may be able to file a claim. An Escondido brain injury attorney can help. Contact the Walton Law Firm to discuss your case in more detail.

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Vista residents and others throughout Southern California who have suffered significant traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) should know that additional new research is being documented in this area all the time. More precisely, researchers continue to investigate the link between concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). According to a recent press release from University of California, Davis, funding from the Pew Foundation will support new initiatives that will involve research into the biochemistry behind brain trauma. The research is part of a broader initiative to investigate and combat TBIs—including concussions—in both youth and professional sports leagues.

Biochemistry, Hits to the Head, and Traumatic Brain Injury

As the press release discusses, we know that behavioral changes take place in the brain after concussions. What we do not know, however, is precisely how the biochemistry of the brain changes, ultimately leading to those mood shifts. Kassandra Ori-McKenney, an assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology at UC Davis, is researching TBIs and biochemistry. Ori-McKenney won fellowship and is the 2018 Pew biomedical scholar. The funding provides $300,000 over the course of four years, during which time Ori-McKenney “will investigate the role of the protein tau in the development of neurodegeneration resulting from traumatic brain injury.” Thus far, we know that there is a “strong correlation with the expression and spread of tau throughout the brain’s circularity.”

What part of the brain typically suffers long-term damage from sports-related concussions and other bumps or blows to a person’s head? Ori-McKenney argues that the only way to know the answer to that question for certain is to use animals to study micro-binding proteins and head trauma.

Animal Testing to Learn More About Concussions and Other TBIs

What do we know about biochemistry and head injuries? Most importantly, perhaps, when it comes to the relationship between mood changes and biochemistry shifts after a concussion, microtubule aggregation occurs, which ultimately leads to greater neurodegeneration. As we noted above, CTE is a condition that researchers currently believe stems from changes to tau proteins. More precisely, as the press release explains, “in a single neuron, important materials are transported through the cell via roadlike systems called microtubules.” Then, when brains are affected by concussions, “the tau is modified by other proteins,” and “it can dissociate from the microtubule aggregate, and spread from neuron to neuron, setting off a cascade of neurodegeneration.”

Ori-McKenney’s research, for which she won the Pew financial support, involves a research area in which flies are placed in a tube, which repeatedly “clams up against a styrofoam surface, rattling the winded occupants inside it.” After approximately four hours of this, Ori-McKenney has identified “closed-head traumatic brain injury.” Now, she plans to use similar techniques to study the behavior of flies and the relationship between TBI and behavior shifts.

Contact a Vista Brain Injury Lawyer

We still have a lot more to learn about mild traumatic brain injuries like concussions and their effects on human behavior, but more research is being conducted to address these questions. In the meantime, if you or one of your children suffered a brain injury caused by another party’s negligence or wrongdoing, you should speak with a Vista brain injury attorney about your case. Contact the Walton Law Firm to learn more from an advocate.

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Do you have a child who currently plays a contact sport such as football or soccer in Escondido? Do you often worry about the risks of concussion and the likelihood of coaches properly identifying concussion risks on the field? An article in the National Academies Press, which is a journal connected to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, concussions are notoriously difficult to detect.

The article underscores that “part of the underreporting of concussions stems from the fact that the injury cannot be seen,” given that “with a concussion, there is no obvious injury such as when an arm or leg is dislocated.” There are, of course, signs and symptoms of concussions, but these are not always dispositive. As such, teen athletes and others who sustain blows to the head may suffer from concussions but may not be properly diagnosed. A missed diagnosis or improper diagnosis can result in long-term harm.

However, according to a recent article in The New York Times, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now approved a blood test that is designed to detect concussions. How does it work?

Learning More About the Banyan Brain Trauma Indicator

The new blood test that is supposed to be able to detect concussions and potentially other traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) is known as the Banyan Brain Trauma Indicator. Not only is it supposed to be able to provide information about brain injuries for the purposes of more accurate diagnoses, but it is also supposed to be able to limit the exposure of radiation to many head trauma victims. Currently, most individuals who are suspected of having a TBI will undergo “CT scans, or computed tomography scans, that detect brain tissue damage or intracranial lesions.” As the article highlights, “if the blood test is adopted widely, it could eliminate the need for CT scans in at least a third of those with suspected brain injuries.”

According to Tara Rabin, a spokesperson for the FDA, the blood test “is going to change the testing paradigm for suspected cases of concussion.” The test will be helpful in cases involving athletes suspected of suffering from mild TBI, but also in cases involving soldiers who have been wounded. Indeed, part of the reason the blood test has been approved is because of support from the Pentagon, which provided funding for a clinical trial involving 2,000 people.

Challenges Involved in Diagnosing Concussions

In 2013, there were approximately 2.8 million emergency department visits due to suspected traumatic brain injuries. Of those cases, there were approximately 50,000 deaths. To diagnose TBIs, as we noted above, most physicians first perform a neurological exam, and then a CT scan follows. However, TBIs are very difficult to diagnose. Why is the diagnosis so difficult? One of the reasons is that “symptoms can occur at different times,” and as such a person might arrive at the hospital showing no symptoms while suffering from a serious TBI.

The blood test could change that. It could provide a “quick and accurate” way for healthcare providers to know if a patient has sustained a concussion, and to take appropriate medical action.

Contact a Brain Injury Lawyer in Escondido

Were you or someone you love injured in an accident in Escondido in which you sustained a head trauma? An experienced Escondido brain injury lawyer can speak with you today about your case. Contact the Walton Law Firm for more information.

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Age and Sex Impact Recovery: Details of the Study

According to Tracey Covassin, the lead researcher on the study, “females performed worse than males on visual memory tests” after sustaining a TBI, and females also “reported more symptoms postconcussion.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that concussions are a form of mild traumatic brain injury, and they’re typically characterized by a “bump, blow, or jolt to the head.” Typically, concussions aren’t life-threatening injuries, but they can have serious and debilitating effects nonetheless.

While women had more difficulty with visual memory tasks and had more pronounced symptoms than males after sustaining concussions, high school athletes involved in the study had even more problems. In relation to college athletes who sustained mild TBIs, athletes at high school age performed worse on “verbal and visual memory tests.” In addition, many of those high school athletes reported that they were still “impaired up to two weeks after their injuries.”

Covassin, who is a certified athletic trainer at the university, explained that researchers previously have suggested that female and younger athletes can take longer to recover after they sustain a concussion, but her team’s research makes clear that age and sex also play a role in a TBI victim’s cognitive abilities.

Promoting Awareness About Women and Sports-Related Concussions

While the study presents compelling information about the rate and severity of concussions among high school athletes and female athletes, it also begs for more awareness measures when it comes to sports-related head trauma. In particular, Covassin argues that “simple education” is largely lacking when it comes to women and sports. Discussing her study, she emphasized that “we need to raise awareness that . . . female athletes do get concussions.” For, as she explains, “too often, when we speak with parents and coaches, they overlook the fact that in comparable sports, females are concussed more than males.”

Female athletes in high school may be at particularly high risk of serious post-concussion injury. If young women aren’t closely assessed for concussions, they may not fully recover after sustaining a TBI. These women can be at risk of second-impact syndrome, a term that refers to a situation where a second concussion can produce particularly severe symptoms and debilitating brain damage.

Brain injuries are all too common among athletes who participate in contact sports, but it’s important to remember that a serious head trauma can result from many different kinds of accidents. If you have a loved one who recently suffered a TBI, you should talk to an experienced San Diego brain injury lawyer about your case. At the Walton Law Firm, we are committed to helping Southern Californians who have sustained serious brain injuries.

Photo Credit: Kris Krug via Compfight cc See Related Blog Posts: Sports-Related Brain Injuries Baseball Coach Sustains Traumatic Brain Injury

According to a recent article in Yahoo Sports, Tehachapi High School baseball coach Chris Olofson “suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain after being hit in the head by a line drive while coaching.” Will the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) change its tune about coaching and safety requirements?

Brain injuries can result from many different accidents, but contact sports can be particularly dangerous. If you have sustained a TBI while playing or coaching sports, you may be eligible to file a claim for compensation. ASan Diego brain injury lawyer at the Walton Law Firm can discuss your case with you today.

History of Baseball Coaching and Traumatic Brain Injury

Olofson isn’t the first baseball coach to sustain a severe head trauma while coaching a game. Back in 2007, Mike Coolbaugh, a 35-year-old minor league coach for the Tulsa Drillers, suffered an injury similar to Olofson’s and died. As a result of Coolbaugh’s death, the MLB adopted a new rule that “required base coaches to wear protective helmets.”

However, the NFHS hasn’t made the same decision. After Coolbaugh died from a TBI sustained while coaching, the NFHS recently emphasized that it “has not mandated that adult coaches shall wear protective head gear while occupying a coach’s box.” Rather, the NFHS explained, “it is the prerogative of the respective coach to wear such protective equipment.”

While certain states require coaches to wear protective helmets when they’re on the baselines, California isn’t one of those states. And Elliott Hopkins, the NFHS Baseball Rules Editor, indicated back in 2008 that he didn’t believe helmets were necessary for high school coaches. “We talked about it and gathered feedback,” he said, and ultimately determined that “coaches are far enough back” so as not to be in danger of sustaining a brain injury on the field. As a result, Elliott indicated that, “if a coach thinks it is necessary, then they are welcome to wear a helmet.”

However, Olofson’s injury makes clear that there’s a danger of brain injury while coaching high school baseball, and requiring coaches to wear helmets could prevent serious head trauma. The NFHS has indicated that it continues to conduct research “to determine if protective head gear should be required and, if so, which type (hard liner, flapless, one-flap, dual flap) would be most effective.”

Severity of Baseball Head Trauma

Unlike the fatal brain injury sustained by Coolbaugh back in 2007, Olofson appears to be recovering from his head trauma. After being hit by the line drive, he was rushed to a nearby medical center, where he was listed as being in critical condition. However, a day after the accident, Olofson “remained stable.” Indeed, he wanted to know whether his team had won the game.

But it’s important to remember that Olofson was lucky. Many brain injury victims don’t recover fully, and for some people, like Coolbaugh, their injuries prove fatal. If you or a loved one has sustained a traumatic brain injury, don’t hesitate to contact an experiencedCalifornia brain injury attorney to learn more about filing a claim for financial compensation.

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