July 9 was Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Day here in Ohio. We're a little late, but now is as good a time as any to talk about traumatic brain injuries and why we need to continue to develop our understanding of them.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich declared July 9 Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Day thanks to the efforts of one Ohio woman. This woman suffered a TBI after she was struck by a drunk driver in 2004. The woman lived despite the fact that doctors gave her just a 10 percent chance of survival. She went on to start a foundation dedicated to improving the lives of female brain-injury victims.

One of the reasons she had to create her foundation is that brain injuries are not the sorts of injuries you get over in a week or even in a month. Brain injuries can result in long-lasting damage and sometimes that damage does not become apparent for quite awhile. And, of course, given how important the brain is to the very experience of living, any damage done to the brain can greatly impact one's lifestyle in a multitude of negative ways. This is why people who suffer brain injuries in car accidents or other mishaps often have to be very careful that they don't understate their injuries when they pursue a lawsuit, if that's what they choose to do.

Even with our advanced medical technology, we still do not understand as much about brain injuries as many patients wish we did. In order to develop better therapies and treatments, we need to continue our study of and research into this type of injury.

Source: WHIZ News, "Local woman doesn't let injury hold her back," Erika Brooks, July 7, 2012