Doctors Developing a New Test for Brain Injury

Researchers are coming close to being able to easily diagnose brain injuries. They are working on a study that will make it easy to identify biomarkers that could make diagnosing brain injuries as simple as taking a blood test. Biomarkers are proteins produced by a brain that has suffered an injury.

Brain injuries are hard to diagnose, particularly in people who don’t lose consciousness. Over 50,000 people in the United States die each year from brain injuries. Brain injuries can be easily confused with a stroke, and often the seriousness of the injury is not recognized quickly enough.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Defense Department is expected to spend $17 million on a major study of biomarkers in over one thousand patients. The study will take a year and a half and could result in a simple blood testing device that could check for brain injuries, which medical personnel could carry onto the battlefield. A smaller study using almost 70 subjects found that patients with the most severe brain injuries had levels of one biomarker that were sixteen times that found in patients without brain injuries. Scientists hope to develop a blood test that will check for that particular biomarker.

Have you suffered a traumatic brain injury in the San Fernando Valley due to someone else’s negligence? If so, contact the experienced Valencia brain injury attorneys at the Mandell Law Firm today at 818-866-6600. Our dedicated attorneys will strive to get you the compensation you deserve. Call today for a free consultation.