Additional Information on Brain Injuries
Work with Our San Jose Injury Lawyer
Brain injuries are much more common than many people realize. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people in the United States sustain brain injuries. Because of the complexity of the human brain, predicting the outcome of such injuries is impossible. Thousands of people die as a result of brain injury, and many others must deal with mental and physical effects that may persist for the rest of their lives.
To complicate matters further, the effects of a traumatic brain injury may not be obvious to the victim and his or her loved ones right away. The myriad of possible consequences – including emotional problems, seizures, and personality changes just to name a few – can actually get worse as time passes.
Terms to Understand for Your Brain Injury Case
If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury, the following terms may be useful:
- Aneurysm - a blood-filled sac formed in an artery or blood vessel by the weakening of a vessel wall or serious disease.
- Aphasia - loss of the ability to understand and / or produce written or spoken language as the result of a disease or serious injury.
- Brain death - an irreversible end to all brain function and activities.
- Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) - the fluid that protects the spinal cord and brain, also called spinal fluid.
- Closed head injury - injury in which the head is fiercely shaken or strikes an object, not puncturing the skull.
- Coma - sleep-like state typically caused by a serious injury from which the victim cannot be aroused.
- Concussion - serious injury to the brain which is caused by violent shaking or a blow to the head. This injury may cause unexpected and temporary impairment of a variety of brain functions.
- Contusion - swollen brain tissue (bruise) that is mixed with the blood from broken blood vessels.
- Depressed skull fracture - a skull fracture in which part of the broken skull presses into brain tissue.
- Epidural hematoma - bleeding in between the skull and the dura. Also called extradural hemorrhage.
- Fluent aphasia - a condition in which a patient can fluently speak but with no meaning, and has difficulty understanding written words or spoken language.
- Global aphasia - inability to produce or understand speech. This disability can be caused by damage to the parts of the brain that control speech and language skills.
- Hematoma - damage of a major blood vessel in the head which causes heavy bleeding in or around the brain.
- Hemorrhagic stroke - a stroke which is the result of bleeding out of one of the major arteries that leads to the brain.
- Intracerebral hematoma - bleeding in the brain which results from damage to a blood vessel.
- Ischemic stroke - the most common type of stroke, and it is caused by a clot that blocks blood flow within an artery to the brain.
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) - a noninvasive technique which is used to detect subtle changes in brain tissue by means of magnetic fields.
- Neuron - a nerve cell that makes up the spinal cord, nerves, and brain.
- Neurotransmitters - movement of chemicals which transmit nerve signals from one neuron to another.
- Non-fluent aphasia - a disorder in which people have difficulty remembering words and talking in complete sentences.
- Open head injury - a head injury in which the skull is penetrated or punctured by a foreign object.
- Seizures - convulsions, emotional problems, muscle spasms, and / or unconsciousness caused by abnormal activity of nerve cells in the brain.
- Subdural hematoma - bleeding located between the dura and the arachnoid membranes.
- Thrombosis - a blood clot which forms on the brain in the location where an injury occurred.
- Vegetative state - a condition in which serious injury patients are unconscious but continue to have a sleep/wake cycle and are sometimes alert.
How Caputo & Van Der Walde LLP Can Help
When someone suffers a brain injury, he or she may feel as though the situation is hopeless and that there is nowhere to turn. If someone else was the cause of a brain injury, however, the victim and his or her family may be able to seek damages for lost wages, pain and suffering, hospital bills, and the months or even years of therapy the victim may require.
If you are currently in this situation, it's important to talk to a San Jose brain injury lawyer as soon as possible. He or she can help you decide whether your situation warrants legal action and determine the types of damages you should seek.
For a free initial consultation and case evaluation, contact our legal team at Caputo & Van Der Walde LLP today.
