Your Weekly Dose of #5ThoughtsFriday: A description of what we think is important at BIAMD
   #5ThoughtsFriday
06/09/2017


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Here are the 5 things we thought were
worth sharing with you this week (plus a few more):

“Our study suggests that the closer the body temperature patterns of a severely brain injured person are to those of a healthy person’s circadian rhythm, the better they scored on tests of recovery from coma, especially when looking at arousal, which is necessary for consciousness,” said study author Christine Blume, PhD, of the University of Salzburg in Austria.

Circadian rhythms, which are rhythmic variations in body functions brought about by the body’s internal clock, are the daily cycles that tell us when to sleep, wake or eat. This biological clock also regulates many of the body’s other functions including temperature. It is set by environmental cues, like periods of daylight and dark.

In healthy people, daily variations in body temperature closely follow the sleep-wake cycle, the 24-hour daily sleep pattern controlled by the body’s internal clock. Other studies have found that disruptions to the sleep-wake cycle may affect various aspects of health like the immune system and short-term memory. During a normal sleep-wake cycle, the body’s core temperature fluctuates and can drop one to two degrees during the early morning hours.

To read more, CLICK HERE

                                                                A human astrocyte.  Credit: Bruno Pascal Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
4) What Happens When the Brain's “Helper” Cells Turn Toxic in Injury and Disease?
Star-shaped cells called astrocytes—often characterized as “helper” cells—may contribute to damage caused by brain injury and disease by turning toxic and destroying neurons, according to study results published recently in Nature.

Astrocytes are one of the three types of glial, or non-neuronal, cells, the most abundant kind found in the brain. They are widely regarded as support cells that nourish neurons and pack the spaces between them, but it is becoming increasingly clear that they play other important roles in normal, healthy brain function. They can synthesize neurotransmitters to send signals among glial cells, and form networks that regulate neuronal activity.

Astrocytes can also react to brain injury and disease in various ways. Following nerve damage, for example, they form scar tissue that can aid in the regeneration of severed fibers. But they are also implicated in a wide variety of neurological and psychiatric diseas es.

To read more, CLICK HERE
30th Annual BIAMD Conference 
Call for Presentations
Due Date: Oct. 20, 2017  
Conference Date: March 15 -16, 2017
Radisson North Baltimore, Timonium MD

The Conference Presentation Selection Committee will meet in October and November. Decisions will be made and announced by the end of November. 

Up to 2 presenters per session will attend for free on the day of their presentation and a discounted rate to cover food and material costs on the day that they are not presenting. 

(The Brain Injury Association of Maryland is unable to pay for presenters' travel, lodging, meals or other expenses associated with the conference. We greatly appreciate your time and interest.)

Please click the button below and complete all steps outlined on the online application.

If you have any questions, please call Caitlin Starr at 410.448.2924.

Every summer I read about a new line of helmets promising to protect athletes from concussions, especially on the football field. They promise state-of-the-art technology and cutting edge new safety innovations, such as the recent inclusion of motion sensors to monitor hits taken by athletes.

The only problem is, they overpromise what they can achieve every time. No matter how advanced helmets get, they simply can’t cure the brain injury epidemic in football.

Don’t get me wrong, new helmet technologies may be taking steps towards marginally reducing the rates of brain injury. Using new sensors directly installed in the helmets can also give teams more information to track the hits most likely to cause an injury.

Despite this, they are just a skin-deep treatment for a problem much more deeply rooted in football.

To the read this op-ed on helmets,  CLICK HERE.  
  2) What We Are Reading That You Might Enjoy...

Flicker is a survivor. Or at least that's what people have been telling her ever since she was nearly killed by a drunk driver at age sixteen. The doctors said that she would not live. She lived. Then they said that she would never walk or talk again. Flicker did those things and more. But as she would say, living with a traumatic brain injury sucks big-time: the memory lapses, the feeling that her brain is operating in slow motion, the sudden outbursts of anger, and the habit of getting into sketchy situations with the wrong type of guys. But the worst part is being able to remember what life was like before the accident and what the future held in store. For Flicker, those dreams seem like ancient history.


Late one evening, during a date-gone-wrong, Flicker is rescued by Jesse, a middle-aged cook at a local diner. A friendship develops, and Flicker soon discovers that there is more to this short-order cook than meets the eye. Jesse helps her begin to think about what she wants out of life, and Flicker sets some ambitious goals. But just as Flicker is beginning to see the results of her hard work, a former high school classmate asks her out and starts leading her down a dark path.

Join Flicker as she experiences the ups and downs that are part of her journey toward a more independent life. 

For More, CLICK HERE. 

  (If you decide to buy anything mentioned in #5ThoughtsFriday, don't forget to use  Amazon Smile  and select the Brain Injury Association of Maryland as your donation beneficiary.) 
1) Quote We Are Contemplating...

"Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success."
                                                                                                                                     - Swami Sivananda
Did you enjoy #5ThoughtsFriday?  If so, please forward this email to a friend! 

Got a story we need to follow or share?  Send it to info@biamd.org.

 Want to find a story from a past #5ThoughtsFriday blog posts, visit the archive by clicking HERE.

 Please let us know your requests and suggestions by emailing us at info@biamd.org or contacting us on Twitter. 

 Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Let us know! Just send a tweet to @biamd1 and put #5ThoughtsFriday in there so we can find it.

 Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend.

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