Northern California Anoxic Brain Injury Lawyers
Anoxic Brain Injury
If you suffer an anoxic brain injury in northern California, it means that you have experienced either a partial or complete loss of oxygen to your brain. The results can range from mild to devastating depending on the amount of time your brain was starved for oxygen.
Anemic Anoxia
If you suffer anemic anoxia, it means that the blood supply to your brain isn’t carrying enough oxygen to support maximum function. The causes may include these:
- Chronic anemia
- Acute hemorrhage
- Carbon monoxide poisoning
Anoxic Anoxia
This rare form of anoxia occurs when there isn’t enough oxygen available in the air around you to support brain and body functions. This form of high-altitude anoxia is only likely to be experienced by mountain climbers and pilots.
Stagnant Anoxia
Internal conditions that prevent enough oxygenated blood from reaching the brain are called stagnant anoxia or hypoxia-ischemic injury. These conditions often arise abruptly and can rapidly cause a great deal of damage. The most common conditions responsible are the following:
- Stroke
- Cardiac arrhythmia
- Cardiac arrest
Toxic Anoxia
Exposure to toxins that interfere with your ability to process and supply oxygen to your brain can cause toxic anoxia. One of the most common causes of this condition is exposure to carbon monoxide fumes.
Effects of Anoxia on the Brain
Any form of anoxic brain injury can kill off vital brain cells. The longer your brain goes without sufficient oxygen, the greater the likelihood is that you will suffer some combination of severe and/or permanent cognitive, mental and physical disabilities. Initially, you may suffer from a loss of consciousness. Depending on how long you are deprived of oxygen, this could last anywhere from a few seconds to days, weeks or even longer. An extended period of unconsciousness is referred to as a coma, which is a condition from which it is difficult or sometimes impossible to recover. Alternately, you could lapse into a persistent vegetative state, which differs from coma in that you are conscious yet unable to respond to outside stimulus.
In the long term, you may experience the following:
- Short-term memory loss
- Difficulty making decisions
- Poor coordination and other movement disorders
- Inability to perform common tasks
- Difficulty processing visual information and words
- Severe headaches
- Hallucinations
- Personality changes
- Weakness in all four limbs (quadriparesis)
Treatment and Rehabilitation
Initial treatment focuses on restoring oxygen flow to the brain as quickly as possible since deprivation for five minutes or longer increases the severity and permanence of brain injury. Once this is accomplished, medications such as steroids and barbiturates may be administered to reduce swelling and heal damaged brain tissue. Once the cause has been treated and the damage minimized as much as possible, your doctor will begin a program of rehabilitation. Studies have shown that patients who get to work on their physical, mental and emotional deficits as soon as possible after suffering anoxic brain injury are more likely to experience the maximum recovery.