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About Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI):TBI is an injury that is sustained after birth from an external force to the brain or any of its parts, resulting in psychological, neurological or anatomical changes in brain functions. The leading causes of TBI: • Falls (28%) • Motor vehicle accidents (20%) • Blows (19%) • Assaults (11%) Long and short-term effects of a TBI include: • Memory loss • Difficulty understanding others • Loss of self-control • Physical aggression • Flash anger • Difficulty expressing thoughts • Apathy • Poor judgment and reasoning • Seizures • Inappropriate sexual behavior • Physical disabilities • Impaired social skills • Inability to recognize or accept limitations The incident rate of TBI: • Every 21 seconds, a person sustains a TBI resulting in 1.4 million new TBI’s each year. • More than 50,000 people die each year from TBI. • 5.3 million Americans live with disabilities resulting from TBI. • 350,000 TBI survivors live in California. • Nearly 60% of Iraq and Afghanistan combat injuries including explosions, vehicle accidents or falls and gunshot wounds resulted in a brain injury. The people at highest risk for sustaining a TBI: • Males are about 1.5 times as likely as females to sustain a TBI. • Children ages 0 to 4 years of age and young adults 15 to 24 years of age. • Older adults 75 years and older who experience fall-related injuries. • Military personnel performing certain duties, particularly those who are prone to blast-related injuries. • African Americans have the highest death rate from TBI Resources Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC)
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