About acquired brain injury
Causes
Acquired brain injuries can come about as a result of many things, below we have listed some of the more common:
- Head injury, e.g. through road traffic accidents, falls and assaults
- Stroke
- Tumour
- Aneurysm
- Hypoxia or anoxia (too little oxygen)
- Toxic damage
- Virus or infection (e.g. meningitis and encephalitis)
- Neurological disease
Effects
The brain controls everything that we do, which means damage to the brain can have a wide range of effects.
The consequences of brain injury are generally viewed under four categories:
- Physical disabilities
- Thinking and learning problems
- Executive functions (e.g. planning and organisational skills)
- Emotional and behavioural difficulties, including personality change
How many people are affected by brain injury?
National estimates suggest that over 1 million people a year attend A&E as a result of a head injury. This figure does not include other acquired brain injuries such as strokes or tumours. If we include the other injuries then the number is easily double that and more.
To find out more
Headway Devon are the local specialists in acquired brain injury and we offer a range of courses for anyone who would like to learn more about understanding and living with brain injury. For more information about our training opportunities, please click here.
