A car accident—even one involving slow-moving vehicles with little apparent vehicle damage or injuries—can cause a person to develop traumatic brain injury (TBI). Sometimes the symptoms do not arise until weeks or months after the accident. However, a new blood test is being developed that could quickly determine whether a person has TBI and enable him to receive treatment even before the debilitating symptoms emerge.
How the New Blood Test Detects TBI Sooner
Accident victims who develop TBI can experience long-term symptoms, such as blurred vision, seizures, confusion, memory, reasoning, and concentration problems, muscle weakness, or coma. Currently, doctors use CT scans to diagnose TBI and determine whether a patient needs to be hospitalized. However, these tests can only show if there is bleeding in the brain, not damage to the brain cells, which generally causes the more severe cases of TBI.
Now, researchers have developed a new test to determine if a patient has brain-injury problems by measuring the levels of three proteins that they suspected play a key role in brain cell activity. They found the following:
- The level of the protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) can predict the severity of TBI and its effects on a patient if taken within 24 hours of the head injury. Patients with TBI had levels of BDNF of one-third or less the level of healthy people.
- Patients with the lowest levels of BDNF suffered more long-term symptoms of TBI that continued six months or more after their head injury.
Using this test in the emergency room when an accident victim is first seen by the doctor could help with his treatment. The doctors would use the results to more effectively advise patients on whether they could return to school or work and whether they would need further treatment with a rehabilitation doctor or neurologist. If the test suggested severe TBI symptoms, the doctor could recommend that the patient sign up for clinical trials for new drugs or therapies targeting acute TBI.
If you are suffering with TBI after a car accident caused by another driver, we understand how extended your medical treatment could be and how this condition could change your life forever. We’re here to help you get the compensation you deserve for the medical care and support you’ll need throughout your life. Fill our online form to schedule a free no-obligation consultation.
