Colleagues,
Over the last few weeks brain injuries have been in the news on a number of fronts, so much so that not everything can be posted onto our website. For those who wish to keep themselves fully informed try Google Alerts – Traumatic Brain Injury and you will be kept up to date on a daily basis.
Our conference is a month away and for the first time in our history BIAC has exceeded pre-registrations of over 125 people with applications trickling in on a daily basis. We may be looking at having over 200 registrations for 2010. BIAC Conference Brochure
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Interested persons are asked to send the following information to Shirley Johnson, BIAC President:
• Introductory letter expressing why you would like to sit on the Board and what you feel you can contribute to BIAC
• Curriculum vitae
BIAC is looking for particularly for persons with experience in finances, business management, governance, policy, government relations as well as persons involved in the field of acquired brain injury. However, all submissions will be given serious consideration.
Deadline for submission of expressions of interest is September 15, 2010. Those persons selected to nomination to the Board will be asked to attend the Annual General Meeting to be held in Regina, Saskatchewan, on October 1, 2010.
Tralee Pearce
From Monday’s Globe and Mail Published on Monday, Aug. 30, 2010 12:01AM EDT Last updated on Monday, Aug. 30, 2010 12:08AM EDT
Gone are the days when a coach could do an on-the-spot diagnosis of a teenager who had taken a ball or elbow to the head, and then send the player back to the field in a matter of minutes.
In a new report, aimed at members of the American Academy of Pediatrics, two researchers at Washington University’s medical school are advising pediatricians to discard many outdated procedures, and to take a more cautious approach to the treatment of concussion, which is a disturbance in brain function caused by direct or indirect force to the head.
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CBC News
The family of a Nova Scotia man with brain damage plans to file a complaint after he said he was humiliated by an Acadian Lines bus driver on Saturday.
David Wilcox, 52, was in a serious car accident 25 years ago that left him with brain damage and slurred speech.
After a conversation with the driver of a bus he boarded in Lower Sackville, N.S., on Saturday, Wilcox said he was ordered to the back.
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Family fights for Ricky’s care
By Hugh Adami, The Ottawa Citizen August 29, 2010 7:37 AM
Ricky King, 21, suffered severe head injuries in a car accident in 2006 and remains in a semi-comatose state. His parents, Roger and Nadira King, have for the last four years provided round-the-clock care for Ricky, putting their own careers as a massage therapist and an acupuncturist on hold. The stress and pressure are catching up. They can’t get sick, they say, because Ricky needs their care. They’ve asked a home-care agency to provide a nurse for a five-hour shift every other week so they can go out with family or friends, but they say they aren’t getting the response they need.
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Dear BIAC:
We are currently looking for investigators interested in participating in a Phase II traumatic brain injury (TBI) study: I have included some information below:
1. The study was initiated a few months ago in the US and we are looking at adding 4-5 Canadian sites at Level I or II trauma centers.
2. The study sponsor is Neuren Pharmaceuticals, with the involvement of the US department of defense (DoD) and the Geneva foundation.
Physicians who may be interested in participating in this study PLEASE contact Ms. Fok? Your help is much appreciated. Thank you.
Kind regards,
Leigh-Anne Fok
Clinical Research Associate
lfok@cato.com
Cato Recherche Canada / Cato Research Canada
9900, boulevard Cavendish, bureau 400
St-Laurent QC H4M 2V2
Téléphone / Telephone: (+1) 514-783-0840
Télécopie / Fax: (+1) 514-856-0100
We have been working with a small project group including representatives of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care, in Phase 1 of a planned 3 phase project. Our purpose is to develop more effective supports for persons with challenging behaviours, often resulting from a cognitive impairment related to a form of dementia or other neurological condition. In the course of our activity, we have consulted with persons serving other populations that may share some of the patterns of challenging/responsive behaviours that we are exploring. We have met with folks in the field of ABI, developmental disabilities and additions.
We would like to extend an opportunity to the NHCC members in Ontario to meet with us via teleconference so that we can share some of our thinking and learnings and seek your input and reaction. There are sometimes, small but significant numbers of persons with other neurological conditions that share services and might benefit from better systems management.
If you are interested in joining a 60 minute teleconference on this topic, please advise rfernandes@alzheimeront.org by August 31 and we will seek to arrange a suitable time. Information on the project can be found at www.bssproject.ca.
Also, for non-Ontario folks, we are working with the Canadian Dementia Knowledge and Research Exchange to encourage collaboration nationally. If you are interested in this work, please contact Sarah Clark through clark3@providence.ca.
Thank you
David Harvey
Chief Member Services Officer
Alzheimer Society of Ontario
Suite 1600, 20 Eglinton Avenue West,
Toronto ON M4R 1K8
416-847-8908
Here we are with the end of the summer and Labour Day just around the corner. The leaves have already started changing and students are preparing to go back to school — all signalling that autumn is coming and so is the BIANS Bowlathon taking place on Saturday, October 23 at the Fairlanes Bowling Centre, New Minas from 10 am to 12 pm and the next Saturday (October 30) at various times at the Woodside Bowlarama in Dartmouth.
So, strike up a four-person team (no bowling experience required!), raise funds and then come join us for a fun time at the alley of your choice!
Team packages will be available shortly after Labour Day. Sign up now!
Brain Injury Association of Nova Scotia
Room 13-009/010
13th Floor, Victoria Building, VG Site, QEII
Phone: (902) 473-7301
Fax: (902) 473-7302
Mail: PO Box 8804, Halifax, NS B3K 5M4
Website: www3.ns.sympatico.ca/bians1
A Helping Hand to a New Beginning
Thursday, August 19, 2010
BY PHILIP DEVENCENTIS Wyckoff Suburban News OF SUBURBAN NEWS
When Michael Rezzonico strapped on his football helmet, all of his fears subsided. He felt invincible.
Yet Michael, who played one season for Indian Hills High School in Oakland, will never play the game he loves again.
Too many concussions have sidelined the 16-year-old Oakland resident from all contact sports. A doctor said repeated blows to Michael’s head could result in permanent brain damage.
Michael, entering his junior year, has incurred eight concussions since receiving his first one playing ice hockey in seventh grade. Most of them occurred last season, he said, while playing linebacker and tailback for Indian Hills’ varsity football team, which did not win a game in the 2009 season.
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Published: August 18th, 2010
AboutLawsuits.com
The findings of a new study suggest that Lou Gehrig may not have actually had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which has become commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Instead the baseball legend may have been the victim of multiple traumatic head injuries, which could have led to a different condition that was mistaken for ALS.
The head trauma study (pdf), published in the September issue of the Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, suggests that repetitive head trauma experienced in collision sports might cause a motor neuron disease. This disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), could be, and probably has been, mistaken for Lou Gehrig’s disease, scientists say.
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