Republicans and Democrats tend to oppose each other’s views and voting choices on many of the nation’s issues. However, this has not been the case regarding a unified approach to funding treatment and research for traumatic brain injury (TBI). An aligned, bipartisan effort to push along pro-TBI research initiatives is an example of how federal legislators can work together to address some of the nation’s toughest health issues.
This past June, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 1098, the Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization Act (TBIRA). The Act involves legislation to reauthorize programs designed to provide resources for traumatic brain injury patients while also allocating funds specifically for education and research on traumatic brain injury prevention. The bill has since moved along to the Senate, and officials believe it will be equally well received and supported as it was in the House.
Current data shows that new traumatic brain injury cases impact 2 million people living in the US each year. TBI does not discriminate, it can affect all ages and all walks of life. The groups most affected by TBI often involve military service members, children and teens injured in sports activities or in automobile accidents, and older adults hurt by falls. Medical science has been advancing quickly in the areas of treating and preventing head injuries, giving newly diagnosed TBI patients, and their families, new hope for recovery and restoration in their lives.
The Factors behind the Recent Surge in Traumatic Brain Injury Research
Up until the past few years, conventional scientific knowledge was that the brain had, at most, one year to recover after a serious injury. After that, it was thought, the patient plateaus and is no longer able continue to realize gains in brain function or to still regain any lost skills. However, research at the Center for BrainHealth has proven this school of thought to be outdated and ought to be abandoned. The brain is remarkable for its plasticity – otherwise known as its ability to change, adapt, or re-wire itself. The brain can access new cells, establish or bridge new connections, and reinvigorate old connections every day.
Furthermore, researchers also emphasize importance of monitoring brain injury patients longitudinally, in the same way those diagnosed with cancer are monitored to ensure the cancer remains in remission. Medical researchers now know the brain can continue making gains for months — even years — after a traumatic injury given the right interventions and treatments. The Center for BrainHealth in Dallas is currently working on strategies that teach patients and their families how to manage and use information more effectively, referred to as “brain training.” This series of strategies may help to strengthen overall brain function in many of those affected by moderate to severe TBI. Research has found that cognitive losses can be regained, or at least kept from getting worse.
One example involves a cutting-edge cognitive intervention known as Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (SMART) to teach individuals of all ages how to more effectively assimilate, manage and use information in health, following a head injury or disease diagnoses. Research has shown that the SMART program is particularly beneficial to both teens and adult patients coping with the long-term effects of a serious sports concussion or other injury. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and private donations helped to fund a research initiative to determine whether a month of the SMART program was effective in helping kids with TBI regain their ability to think reason and think critically. Researchers discovered that no matter the severity of the TBI or the length of time that had passed since the injury, cognitive performance improved in teen patients who were taught how to strategically process incoming information in a meaningful way, instead of just focusing on specific mental processes like memory.
Other separate, but related, peer-reviewed research conducted by the Center for BrainHealth has shown that targeted brain training significantly improves higher-order cognitive performance in civilian adults with TBI. By way of Department of Defense grants, scientists are now studying whether this specific type of re-training can benefit combat veterans returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq with traumatic brain injuries. Experts hope these programs will enhance recovering veterans’ mental productivity and to improve their cognitive capacity, helping them feel more in control and independent.
Congress’ Unified Support of TBIRA 2014 Demonstrates Federal Priority on Brain Injury Research
TBI patients and their families require consistent access to treatment and support resources throughout the entire course of the rehabilitation period – which could extend for several years. Hospitals, rehab centers and specialty medical providers require the funding and tools to deploy timely, appropriate, up-to-date intervention strategies whenever a new TBI case comes about or when an existing recovery plan needs tweaking and a change of course. Meanwhile, TBI research institutions need consistent support and funding to continue pressing forward with studies and trials geared toward finding better ways of diagnosing and treating TBI as well implementing more effective injury prevention tools.
All of these reasons make the passage of TBIRA crucial. The bipartisan cooperation on the House side has already been encouraging. This past year, the efforts of Reps. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), co-chairs of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force have been widely recognized for getting the bill before Congress and rallying such widespread, bipartisan support. Both Representatives have proven that dealing with a prominent health issue like traumatic brain injury can transcend party lines and political disagreements. Enactment of this bipartisan legislation will serve as an essential victory for both parties, as well as the millions of people living in the US affected by TBI.
Prior to 2014, funds authorization for the current Act’s predecessor, named the the TBI Act of 2008, would have expired at the end of 2013. However, temporary passage of the 2013 Act succeeded in carrying critical funding forward for TBI research until a renewed, longer-term option could be enacted. Most bills fail to make it as far as the TBI Act has. In general, bills face roughly a 3 percent chance of actually being enacted – facing opposition along the way compounded by party lines. However, the TBI Reauthorization Act is unique in its unified, bipartisan support – particularly attributed to the role it plays in furthering treatment and research for the veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan affected by TBI.
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