Talk:Concussion of the brain

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[edit] TV Medicine

Why would a person who has a concussion have to stay conscious? For example, a person falls in an icy cave and struggles through the episode to stay awake until help arrives. Does this have any basis in medicine? --Orthografer 20:34, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

The only basis I can think of is that staying awake faciliates ongoing assessment. Staying awake when in a cave is useful because one can call help to come closer when it arrives. Otherwise, there's little to it. JFW | T@lk 01:57, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

There's that, and the fact that the parents of a child who has had a head injury are often instructed to "wake him up every hour through the night" when they take him home - the purpose being to check that he's ok, but the instructions being mistaken as treatment rather than an aid to diagnosis. For Orthografer, the point of the exercise is to be sure that the person is still capable of consciousness (and get medical assistance if he is not), rather than to keep him conscious. - Nunh-huh 02:00, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Ok - TV makes it seem like physical harm follows from loss of consciousness due to concussion. Thanks! --Orthografer 02:42, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Orthografer is correct. In television and movies, it is said that a person should not fall asleep after a concussion because he\she will (might) die. PrometheusX303 23:42, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Missing Citation?

Compare 1st para under Pathophysiology to description from Mayo clinic concussion article at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/concussion/DS00320 : "Your brain floats within your skull surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). One of the functions of CSF is to cushion the brain from light bounces of everyday movement. However, the fluid may not be able to absorb the force of a sudden hard blow or a quick stop."

Should this be referenced? Vandersluism 04:12, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Excellent catch. I just rewrote it to The brain floats within the skull surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), one of the functions of which is to protect the brain from normal light "trauma", e.g., being jostled in the skull by walking, jumping, etc., as well as mild head impacts. More severe impacts or the forces associated with rapid acceleration/deceleration may not be absorbed by this cushion. I'm not sure that's not enough to avoid any copyright violation, but it's a start. —Ryan McDaniel 01:31, 20 July 2006 (UTC)