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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Mayo Clinic Housecall
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Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffFollow these tips to reduce the risk of brain injury:
- Seatbelts. Always wear a seat belt in a motor vehicle. Small children should always sit in the back seat of a car and be secured in child safety seats or booster seats that are appropriate for their size and weight.
- Alcohol and drug use. Never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, including prescription medications that can impair your ability to drive.
- Firearms. Store firearms, unloaded, in a locked cabinet or safe. Store bullets in a separate location.
- Helmets. Wear a helmet while riding a bicycle, skateboard, motorcycle, snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle. Also wear appropriate head protection when you bat or run bases, ski, skate, ride a horse, or play a contact sport.
Preventing falls
The following tips can help older adults avoid falls around the house:
- Install handrails in bathrooms
- Put a nonslip mat in the bathtub or shower
- Remove area rugs
- Install handrails on both sides of staircases
- Improve lighting in the home
- Keep stairs and floors clear of clutter
- Get regular vision checkups
- Get regular exercise
Preventing head injuries in children
The following tips can help children avoid head injuries:
- Install safety gates at the top of stairs
- Install child-height handrails on staircases
- Keep stairs clear of clutter
- Install window guards to prevent falls
- Put a nonslip mat in the bathtub or shower
- Use playgrounds that have shock-absorbing materials on the ground
- Don't let children play on fire escapes or balconies
References
- Living with brain injury: Education. Brain Injury Association of America. http://www.biausa.org/education.htm. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Heads up: Facts for physicians about mild traumatic brain injury. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/headsup/physicians_tool_kit.html. Accessed July 7, 2010.
- Traumatic brain injury: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/detail_tbi.htm. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Ling GS, et al. Management of traumatic brain injury in the intensive care unit. Neurologic Clinics. 2008;26:409.
- Nolan S. Traumatic brain injury: A review. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly. 2005;28:188.
- Living with brain injury: Treatment and rehabilitation. Brain Injury Association of America. http://www.biausa.org/treatmentandrehab.htm. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Traumatic brain injury. Family Caregiver Alliance. http://www.caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=579. Accessed July 21, 2010.
- Coping with behavior problems after head injury. Family Caregiver Alliance. http://www.caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=396. Accessed July 21, 2010.
- Brown AW (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Aug. 11, 2010.
- Traumatic brain injury in the United States: Emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths, 2002-2006. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/TraumaticBrainInjury. Accessed Aug. 16, 2010.
- Military & veterans. BrainLine.org. http://www.brainline.org/landing_pages/categories/military.html. Accessed Aug. 23, 2010.
- Thinking/cognitive symptoms. BrainLine.org. http://www.brainline.org/landing_pages/categories/cognitivesymptoms.html. Accessed Aug. 23, 2010.
- Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. Understanding brain injury: A guide for the family. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2008. http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/tbims/upload/ubi_families.pdf. Accessed Aug. 23, 2010.
- Moessner AM (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. August 16, 2010.
- Behavioral and emotional symptoms. BrainLine.org. http://www.brainline.org/landing_pages/categories/behavioralsymptoms.html. Accessed Aug. 23, 2010.
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