DCoE Blog

• Clinician’s Corner: Top 10 Concussion Research Articles of 2015

  Posted by Inbal Eshel, DVBIC senior principal scientist, and Dr. Donald Marion, DVBIC senior clinical consultant on January 28, 2016

  

  As the Defense Department’s center of excellence for traumatic brain injury (TBI), one of the primary goals of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) is to stay up-to-date on the latest in brain injury research. A team of DVBIC experts with a variety of clinical backgrounds reviewed approximately 250 abstracts from the TBI clinical research literature published in 2015, choosing the ten articles they felt advanced the field of TBI research the furthest.

  Listed below and categorized by topic are the titles and summaries of these top 10 concussion research articles of 2015. Click on the links provided to access the complete abstract or article on PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

  Categories: Traumatic Brain Injury, Research, Clinician’s Corner, Providers, DVBIC   |   Comments (4)

• TBI Experts Debate Causes of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

  Posted by Myron J. Goodman, DCoE Public Affairs on January 26, 2016

  With the public taking a close look at whether repeated sports injuries cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) hosted a webinar Jan. 14 on the topic.

  CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated head injuries. To date, it has mainly been studied by examining the brain tissue after death of a relatively small number of professional athletes who played contact sports.

  Two officials of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) — senior clinical consultant Dr. Donald Marion and program analyst Anne E. Bunner — staged a mock debate on whether sports injuries cause CTE.

  Categories: DCoE Webinar Rewind, Traumatic Brain Injury, Research, webinar, DCoE   |   Comments (0)

• A Head for the Future Launches ‘TBI Champions’ Video Series

  Posted by DVBIC Public Affairs on January 20, 2016

  Ed Rasmussen and Brian O’Rourke are former Navy SEALS who experienced multiple traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) from training incidents, received help and now manage their symptoms with support of their families.

  Randy Gross is a former Army staff sergeant who sustained a TBI from a motor vehicle collision. He sought treatment immediately for his injury, made a full recovery and is now a regional education coordinator at Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC), helping other service members and veterans who have sustained a TBI.

  Categories: Traumatic Brain Injury, Personal Stories, DCoE Products, DCoE, Treatment, DVBIC, A Head for the Future   |   Comments (0)

• Success Story: Change What You Eat, Improve How You Feel

  Posted by Rich Lamberti, DCoE Chief Information Officer on January 13, 2016

  Good nutrition is linked to brain health, good sleep, improving mental health and building resilience. In this blog post, Rich Lamberti, Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) chief information officer, shares how he lost weight last year after years of trying.

  Happy new year, everyone! It’s that time of year again for resolutions and new gym memberships. On almost everyone’s list: drop a few extra pounds and get back in shape. Many of us don’t reach that goal; I know I didn’t until last year when I dropped 50 pounds. I hope my story motivates you to end 2016 with a little less weight and maybe even a new wardrobe.

  Eat Real Food

  I’ve been on a few diets in my life. Some worked, some didn’t, but the golden ticket for me wasn’t a diet. What’s the secret that took away my muffin top? Eat real food. Not so fast, you say, “I eat healthy every day, but I can’t shed a single pound.” I thought so too. I suggest that you start a journal and write down everything you eat for a week, and see what you are putting in your body. I think the results will amaze you.

  I’d been sweating my butt off, putting mile after mile on the stationary bike in my home gym, going nowhere fast – and not losing any weight. I’d sworn in January to get back to my baseball-playing weight of 180 pounds, but it seemed like 2015 was going to be another year I passed up the chance to play a sport I enjoy.

  Categories: Personal Stories, DCoE, Psychological Health   |   Comments (0)

• Disabled Veterans Use Baking to Work through PTSD Symptoms

  Posted by DCoE Public Affairs from Shannon Collins, Defense Media Activity on January 6, 2016

  Service members are discovering unique ways to cope with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), including practicing mindfulness meditation, competing in a new sport, and working with a service dog. This story, originally posted as a news feature on the Department of Defense website, describes how learning a new craft — baking — is helping some service members cope with health challenges.

  Smiles and the smells of freshly baked bread, cakes and cookies greet visitors of Dog Tag Bakery in Georgetown, a place where disabled veterans can learn more than just baking.

  Disabled veterans, their spouses and caregivers can participate in a work-study fellowship that will help them as they transition from the military to the civilian workforce, said Kyle Burns, senior program director for the fellowship program at Dog Tag Bakery.

  Categories: Traumatic Brain Injury, PTSD, Community Support, DCoE, Treatment   |   Comments (0)