Posted by gardenergirl on June 25, 2007, at 9:21:19
In reply to Re: Can the Brain suffer Physical Damage?, posted by Squiggles on June 25, 2007, at 8:33:11
Hi Squiggles,
It sounds like you've been in a difficult situation. I can tell you really care about your friend, and he's lucky that he has friends who will step up and advocate for him. That's always such a fine line, though, as I'm sure you've experienced. And of course you also have to take care of yourself in the process--the old airline instructions of putting your own oxygen on first before helping others is really good advice.About head trauma, research is showing that repeated mild head trauma and mild concussions have led to problems down the road. Recently a study showed that football players with repeated concussions are at a much higher risk for dementia. Also, it's believed that Muhammad Ali's Parkinson's disease may have been influenced, in part, by all the head trauma he had in his boxing career. Finally, children with a history of multiple head trauma, not necessarily even a diagnosed concussion or other injury requiring medical intervention, have a higher risk of ADHD, cognitive problems, etc. That's part of the push for increased safety in childhood sports and the increased use of helmets even for recreational activities. Shoot, as many times as I've bashed my head accidentally, both in childhood and adulthood (just the other day, in fact!), I'm worried about my own cognitive health down the road.
So I think your concern is valid. Some docs are less likely to pursue investigating something like this, especially if there are other factors which could explain the symptoms, i.e a dx of a severe mental disorder. Unfortunately, ability to pay/insurance also is a factor. And it sounds like the personality of the doc is also affecting the collaboration in treatment planning.
If it's a moot point now, perhaps you can take this time to focus on your own wellness, if needed. And you can always tuck information away for down the road should it become a need then.
I admire your caring.
gg
poster:gardenergirl
thread:765508
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070622/msgs/765615.html