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Drowning and Anoxic Brain Injury
The effects of drowning
Research shows that drowning is one of the main causes of death in children aged 1 to 14. This is because drowning deprives the brain of oxygen. Brain cells start dying within six minutes of oxygen deprivation and this can lead to the victim's death or death of brain cells. Often, the parts of the brain that are most affected are the parts that control memory, speech, and movement. That is why survivors of drowning usually have difficulties in areas regarding memory, speech, and movement. The brain injury they experience is called anoxic brain injury (ABI).
ABI is the most damaging type of brain injury it is often seen after cardiac arrest, drowning, and birth injuries. With this brain injury there is a combination of factors that affect the severity of the damage. Factors such as how long was the patient deprived of oxygen, how long to restore normal circulation, age, the efficiency of CPR, pre-existing conditions etc all effect the severity of the brain damage.
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What does Anoxic Brain Injury effect ?
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Anoxic brain injuries can have a variety of symptoms based on the factors above. The effects will depend on which parts of the brain are affected, which are different from person to person. Some of the common symptoms are:
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Altered level of consciousness
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Decreased cognition
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sensory problems
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compromised bowl or bladder function
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Impaired motor coordination
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Balance difficulties
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Difficulty swallowing and eating
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Seizures
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Semi-consciousness
How can HBOT help Anoxic Brain Injury and Drowning?
Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy (HBOT) is where there is a combination of pressure and 100% oxygen to help increase recovery time. Healing of the body can only take place if the cells and tissue are receiving the correct levels of oxygen. A victim of drowning will receive maximum benefit from HBOT if the treatment is delivered to him soon after the anoxic brain injury.
For many medical conditions HBOT should be administered as close to the injury as possible however for anoxic brain injury it is even more vital for this to be done. If HBOT is delivered within three hours of anoxic brain injury 90% of injury can be prevented, especially the secondary components of injury which occurs when blood flow and oxygen levels are restored.
Both the initial injury (loss of oxygen) and secondary injury (heart beat is regained) cause large amounts of grey matter, which are the outer and deep parts of the brain where the brain cells are and white matter, which connects the pathways of the brain to decrease.
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