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Anyone can suffer a brain injury in a serious accident. These injuries are often caused by a jolt to the head or penetration of the skull that impairs the brain’s functions. They frequently occur in auto accidents, falls, construction accidents, and acts of violence. Brain injuries can also be the result of medical negligence. This type of brain damage is usually the result of a lack of oxygen to the brain. It can occur as a result of an anesthesia error, failure to timely diagnose a stroke or heart attack, or any other medical error that results in hypoxia.
Victims of traumatic brain injuries can suffer from severe headaches, slurred speech, dizziness, blurry vision, nausea, vomiting, confusion, seizures, loss of coordination, and emotional problems. Symptoms can manifest themselves differently depending on the severity of the injury. Individuals who suffer brain damage due to a lack of oxygen can suffer injuries that can manifest in many ways, including but not limited to, cognitive issues, memory loss, visual disturbances, lack of coordination, poor judgment and information processing, and issues with speech.
Research indicates that men and women can also experience these brain injuries differently, particularly when it comes to concussions.
How Are Brain Injuries Different for Women?
Everyday Health evaluated medical research and identified some of the ways that brain injuries are different among women:
- Women suffer from more symptoms that last longer. According to research on concussions among athletes, women may experience symptoms of these brain injuries as long as three or four weeks. Men, on the other hand, may recover from this type of injury within 10 to 14 days.
- Weaker muscles may play a part. According to one study, women generally have weaker neck muscles, which could result in a greater impact to the head.
- Hormones can affect recovery. A woman’s menstrual cycle can have a major effect on her recovery, research shows. This is because when hormone levels, particularly progesterone, are high, brain injury symptoms are worse.
More Research Needs to Be Done
Unfortunately, research on how women experience brain injuries is much sparser than data on men. As The New York Times Magazine reports:
“Most of what scientists know about the potential prevalence and consequences of mild traumatic brain injury has come from studying contact sports, especially football — so, mostly men and boys — over the past 15 years. It’s a vivid illustration of a broad and pernicious problem in medical research, which is that some groups of people get far more attention than others — often leading to important gaps in medical understanding, even around conditions that the public regards as ‘widely studied.’”
Common Causes of Brain Injuries Among Women
Brain injuries are typically caused by a blunt force trauma to the head, however, there are also other causes. The most common causes of brain injuries among women include:
- Motor vehicle accidents: Accident victims can hit their head on the steering wheel, dashboard, or windshield. Loose debris in the vehicle can also strike a person in the head during a crash.
- Slip and falls: When a person falls, her head may hit the ground or another object during the fall.
- Violence: Incidents such as assault and domestic violence can cause serious head injuries.
- Medical negligence
Do You Need Legal Advice? Contact a Brain Injury Attorney
Brain injuries can alter a person’s life drastically. Catastrophic injuries can take months or even years before accident victims make a full recovery. Some never go back to the life they had before the accident.
If you have suffered a brain injury and need legal advice, call our Avon brain injury attorney today. At the Law Office of Kelley J. Johnson, we can evaluate your case and help you demand the full and fair compensation you deserve.
Contact us online to schedule your free case review.
