Advances in traumatic brain injury to be presented at the University of New Mexico

Dr. David Durham will present Advances in Traumatic Brain Injury at the University of New Mexico on Friday, September 4th to physicians and medical students in the departments of psychiatry and neurology.

A neuropsychiatrist specializing in traumatic brain injury, Dr. Durham is Managing Partner and Director brain injury and neurocognitive regeneration for The Mosaic Neuroscience Group in Santa Fe and Roswell New Mexico. He is a former medical consultant to the Fox Ten o’clock News and has done extensive research in cognitive neurophysiology, specifically with frontal lobe executive function. He is also the founder of Neurocognitive Therapy - a novel integrative rehabilitative approach to improving attention, memory, speech, visuo-spatial and sensory integration in brain injury patients.

During an informal briefing between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Dr. Durham will address the basic mechanisms of TBI and explain the clinical importance of categorizing TBI as either combat-sustained or non-combat sustained to optimize treatment outcomes. He will explain many of the more subtle cognitive and affective symptoms that arise early in TBI and briefly review the more common comorbid neuropsychiatric disturbances. Finally, he will review the importance and basics of properly evaluating brain injury patients from a neuropsychiatric perspective and review recent advances in treatment, including the potential for Perflourocarbons such as Oxycyte, currently under FDA review, to revolutionize TBI severity and prognosis.

According to the most recently published statistics, 1.5 million Americans suffer TBI annually. In 2010, it is estimated that traumatic brain injuries will account for approximately 34% of all injury-related deaths. At present, it is the single most common disabling event for persons under 40. More than 30% of the veterans recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are estimated to be TBI victims. Almost half of all TBI victims die within hours or days of injuries due to a lack of oxygen reaching the brain. New Mexico has almost 200,000 veterans, which include numerous who have suffered a brain injury while in combat and are currently treated by Dr. Durham.

“With TBI, time is never on our side,” said Dr. Durham. “The earlier we can start to normalize way the brain processes sensory stimuli, we create a much greater chance for patients to not just survive, but to achieve greater functional recovery in their daily lives…and that means being able to enjoy their lives every day. There is a sense of collective urgency to identify brain injuries early; it is real, and it is critical.”