Junior Seau, a former San Diego Chargers linebacker,  killed himself last Wednesday with a gunshot to the chest. The San Diego County medical examiner’s office declared Seau’s death a suicide.

Junior Seau’s family has decided to let researchers examine his brain for evidence of trauma that could link his 20-year NFL career to CTE or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE is a degenerative brain disease brought on by multiple head injuries or concussions that can be linked to depression. Researchers had been contacting his family with the hope that they could see if he had CTE.

Multiple research centers have been studying CTE including Boston University who looked at  former Chicago Bears safety, Dave Duerson’s brain.  Duerson’s brain showed brain damage due to repeated hits and  commited suicide in 2011. Duerson had left a note saying that he wanted his brain to be looked at for possible damage.

The NFL has a class action lawsuit against them over concussion-related injuries. The lawsuit names more than 1,000 professional players. Multiple NFL players have had experience with memory lapses, anger and deep depression after suffering from multiple concussions.

Seau had not participated in any of the pending lawsuits against the NFL. The only way to see if he had suffered from CTE is to wait and see what the researchers find after examining his brain.

Patrick Donohue became an expert on TBI, or traumatic brain injury when the baby nurse he and his wife hired after their daughter, Sarah Jane, was born shook her, causing four broken ribs, two broken collarbones and severe brain damage. However, after everything he has learned, there is still one thing he can’t seem to figure out. Why does funding for TBI lag behind most other health conditions when it is the leading cause of death and disabilities for kids and young adults?

Approximately, 765,000 kids are sent to the emergency room each year with traumatic brain injuries, and according to Donohue, $6.4 billion a year is spent on HIV/AIDS research, which affects 56,000 people. Autism, which has 24,000 new cases each year, is getting close to receiving $1 billion for research. Of those that go to the emergency room with traumatic brain injuries, 80,000 are hospitalized and 11,000 die each year, but only $10 million a year is spent on research.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 5.3 million people in the United States are suffering from a brain injury that will have long-term effects. The emotional stress, physical and financial burden that these victims and their families’ face are beyond what they even could have expected, so why shouldn’t funding be increased?

Congressional legislation and federal guidelines, such as in road safety, sport rules, and product efficiency, have gone only as far as prevention of accidents leading to traumatic brain injury. Well, they might have gone farther such that laws and guidelines have also provided for legal remedies for victims of injuries. Medical science also has gone as far as reducing and preventing the effects of traumatic brain injury.

But things might change very soon. Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit is researching a new drug called clazosentan. According to Michael Kaufman, the author of the drug study, said that, “there are currently no primary treatments for TBI, so this research provides hope that effective treatments can be developed.”

Traumatic brain injuries commonly cause oxygen deprivation of the brain. This decrease of oxygen is usually aggravated by a receptor called endothelin receptor A (ETrA). Research revealed that the clazonsentan drug can counter the endothelin receptor A and thus allow oxygen to flow in the brain, thus preventing dramatically effects of traumatic brain injury.

This is still in its research stage, but high hopes is given to this new drug. If all goes well, victims of traumatic brain injury can be given a better chance of avoiding permanent disabilities, and even death.

But for now, prevention still remains better than cure.

LegalView provides information about the causes and effects of traumatic brain injury and offers legal assistance for victims of traumatic brain injury.

Researchers are buffled by illnesses sustained from contact sports such as football. Football stars Steve Gleason and Kevin “The Collision Expert” Turner, are reported to have developed amyotrophic lateral scleros (ALS), or commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. A controversial research from Boston University, however, suggests that they may not actually have ALS, but instead another motor neuron disorder. The clear cause? Repeated blows to the head.

The debate on whether ALS may develop from brain injuries is still a grey area among researchers. But they are one in saying that concussions, one type of traumatic brain injury, sustained during football games can cause depression, mood and behaviour changes, memory loss, and even early stage of dementia. In medical terms,  this is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), characterized by the buildup of two proteins, tau and TDP-43, which leak out when brain cells are injured and can buildup where they aren’t supposed to be.

Second-impact syndrome is the one to look out for. While CTE syndrome can be cured with proper medical attention, second-impact syndrome, on the other hand, can lead to a lasting brain damage, or even death. Second-impact syndrome may occur to those who stay on the game after suffering concussions to the brain.

Contact sports are called that because they are exactly contact sports. Football is not the only sport that has this risk. Boxing, rugby, and hockey are also considered high risk when it comes to concussions and traumatic brain injury because of repeated blows to the head.

LegalView is sad to hear of the passing of Sarah Burke, Canadian freeskier, who died from a traumatic brain injury that occurred after she crashed during training. She was 29.

It was the famous football coach Vince Lombardi who said: “I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”

Sarah Burke has inspired athletes and sports lovers alike. Not only because she has proven herself a formidable competitor in her field, but also because she has proven to be an effective ambassador in promoting superpipe skiing. Sarah is loved not only because of her skills, but also because of her legacy. Even in her death, Sarah has still proven that what she lived for is worth dying for, too. In the words of Lombardi, she has worked her heart out in a good cause and lies in the field of battle, victorious.

This fateful accident opened debates over freestyle skiing. Extreme sports are highly susceptible to accidents leading to traumatic brain injury. This comes as no surprise. This incident has opened for more talks on how to make innovations for the sport and make it safer and better.

Sarah Burke’s death is a reminder to us. A reminder not of fear but of purpose. Sarah lived her life according to her purpose, and died still embracing her purpose. The achievements of Sarah Burke, both personal and for the love of the sport, is her victory. Her finest hour is when she laid there knowing that she has left a legacy; not just a legacy of sportsmanship, but a legacy of courage. Traumatic brain injuries not only occur from sporting events, but from car accidents, abuse, and every day slips and falls. They can be life-changing and expensive. For more information about brain injuries, visit LegalView.com.

What Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords went through, is going through, and will be going through, may be described in two words: life changing.

A lauded public servant, she nonetheless found the wisdom to resign from her office to fully recover from the traumatic brain injury she is now recuperating from. That unfortunate incident which claimed innocent lives and injured many more, including Rep. Giffords, indeed can be said to be life changing. Looking at it, one could say that it wasn’t only Rep. Giffords’ life that was affected by her injury, but also the lives of those whom trusted her to be their voice in the government.

Rep. Giffords must still have many things to do in her lifetime. One who survives such ordeal could only say that luck was on her side and that she still has a mission to complete. Nevertheless, the feisty representative needs to retreat for the time being and recover from the many consequences of a traumatic brain injury.

Rep. Giffords is not alone. Many who suffer the pains from a brain injury – the loss of good health and bodily functions, piling medical expenses, endless treatments, emotional trauma, and foregone opportunities – can testify to the hardship of suffering from such an injury.

But from all this, Rep. Giffords, through her example, is showing us that life goes on. Hope springs anew for those who embrace life-changing circumstances; for those who look at these injuries not as thorns but tools in life. Her resignation is not a sign of defeat. To paraphrase her, giving time to concentrate in recovering from a brain injury is not a sign of defeat, but a sign of victory over an ordeal.

Visit LegalView for ongoing updates about brain injury survivors, treatment options and legal resources at http://braininjury.legalview.com.

Sarah Burke, a Canadian freestyle skier who was injured on during a practice run had successful surgery to repair a vertebral artery tear, which had caused bleeding in her skull. The tear in Burke’s neck artery which supplies blood to the brain, caused an intracranial hemorrhage, a statement released by her publicists on Thursday said.

Dr. William T. Couldwell, who performed Wednesday’s surgery and is neurosurgery chair at University of Utah, said that he and his team need to monitor her brain functions before making any definitive prognosis can be made. Dr. Couldwell says that they frequently see this type of traumatic brain injury with car accident victims.

Burke reportedly fell during a practice run and was treated on the scene before being flown via helicopter to the University of Utah located in Salt Lake City.

Burke is considered a pioneer in freestyle skiing and was a major force in getting the ski halfpipe event added to the 2014 Winter Olympics.

A new study has found that suffering a head injury can drastically increase the chances that someone will commit a violent crime.

This study looked at 22,914 people who had experienced a traumatic brain injury. Almost 9 percent of them went on to commit acts of violence after diagnosis. Compared to the general population, people with brain injuries are three times more likely to commit a violent crime.

The researchers from Sweden and Britain defined violent criminals as those who were convicted of homicide, assault, robbery, arson, sexual offense, or illegal threats or intimidation.

The findings were published in the online journal, Public Library of Science Medicine.

When someone suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI), a quick and accurate diagnosis can mean the difference between life and death. Researchers at the United States National Institute of Health have created a hand-held device to quickly detect brain injuries, including hematomas which occur when blood vessels become damaged and blood seeps into surrounding tissues. This leakage can cause significant and dangerous swelling.

The device uses motion to detect changed in blood volume in the tough, outmost membrane that envelopes the brain and spinal cord. One of the uses of this device will be to detect TBI in patients before using more expensive techniques such as CT scans and MRI imaging. The researchers believe that this device will be most beneficial in places that do not have CT scans or MRIs available, including battlefields or on the scene of an accident.

Traumatic brain injuries are costly and can be damaging mentally for the families’ of the victim. It is estimated that over 1.4 million Americans suffer a TBI every year.

While law libraries provide useful and crucial information for lawyers, they can also be helpful to non-attorneys involved in litigation. Some states, like New York, require that each county have a court law library with access to the general public. These libraries have case law, statutes and secondary source material with regards to state law, and several have additional materials. Information resources are provided in print and electronic formats, and all libraries have friendly and knowledgeable librarians to help you find information related to your specific case.

LegalView also provides a wealth of information, including a legal dictionary, encyclopedia, and current newsfeeds on a wide variety of legal topics. LegalView also has many websites with information about various legal issues like vaginal mesh, mesothelioma, and car accident litigation. LegalView also offers free consultations to those who feel that they have been injured through someone else’s negligence or intent.