Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Saturday Halloween: Keep the Fun, Protect the Brain

Crossing guard standing at a neighborhood crosswalk on an autumn evening

Tomorrow, October 31, is both Halloween and Saturday, a weekend night. Because of this coalescence, some towns have moved trick-or-treating earlier, giving kids more daylight. However, when daylight fades, AAA and other organizations warn of possible danger, as costumed children will share dark streets with weekend drivers, partygoers and e-bike riders.

The risk is real. A 2018 study of 42 years of crash data, indexed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, found pedestrian deaths rose 43% on Halloween evening, peaking around 6 p.m. Children ages 4 to 8 faced tenfold risk, and alcohol didn’t explain it.

Adults face a different danger: NHTSA reports that, from 2019 to 2024, there were 201 alcohol-related deaths on Halloween night. A weekend party night may raise those stakes.

October is also National Pedestrian Safety Month, designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. “During National Pedestrian Safety Month, I want to remind drivers about the importance of following the speed limit, paying attention to the road ahead, and keeping an eye out for pedestrians,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said October 9.

For protection, the government reminds trick-or-treaters to use reflective tape, flashlights, face paint instead of masks, and helmets when on wheels. For their part, drivers need to slow down and plan sober rides. As the government-affiliated North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) states, “Halloween is a night for costumes, celebrations, and spending time with friends and family. A little extra caution can help keep the focus on the fun.”

Colorado’s Brain Injury Help Desk for Kids

Colorado Department of Education seal reading “Excellence in Education” and “Est. 1876”

Colorado Department of Education (CDE) just launched its brain-injury support office hours in the State, holding its first virtual session of the 2026-2027 school year on Thursday, October 22. The five Zoom sessions that are currently scheduled are open to anyone wanting to learn, ask questions or share issues related to brain injury.

In addition to this new endeavor, the CDE hosts Colorado Kids with Brain Injury that’s “website serves as a resource for educators, related service providers, community partners, families, and anyone seeking information, tools, and guidance to support Colorado students with brain injuries..” The CDE also manages Colorado’s youth brain injury program, through a 2011 agreement with the State’s brain injury agency MINDSOURCE, and in 2016 adopted BrainSTEPS, a school-consulting initiative modeled on that created by Pennsylvania’s health department in 2007. By fiscal 2024, MINDSOURCE’s legislative report reported 31 BrainSTEPS teams, with 265 members serving districts enrolling 75 percent of students, and 549 staff had completed concussion “Return to Learn” training.

(Most states have a specialized state department, agency or programs to oversee brain injuries, rather than relying on a federal Department of Brain Injury.)

Benefits of Tomatoes for the Brain Injured

In a tri and Beyondal indexed in the NLM’s PubMed database (PMC13203555) in May 2026, Antioxidants (a scientific journal from the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute based in Switzerland) published a study of 42 healthy adults who ate a measured amount of tomato paste daily for three months. At the end of the study, the participants gained 7.2 points on standardized cognitive tests in measurements of concentration. The authors determined that, “neural changes suggest that tomato intake, specifically lycopene, promotes functional reorganization of large-scale brain networks, enhancing neural efficiency and adaptability through the pruning of redundant cross-network interactions.”

Bowl of tomatoes, tomato paste jar, and basil tomato drink on table

Wide news coverage followed the publication of these finding, as it was “the first clinical trial to link changes in the antioxidant lycopene with alterations in functional brain connectivity.” These findings are promising and suggest that the lycopene in tomato paste is beneficial to all, though the study results are limited, as it only examined the effects on healthy participants.

Evidence of the benefit of tomato juice on those with a traumatic brain injury came recently from elsewhere. A 2026 Scientific Reports trial of 67 traumatic brain injury patients found that those given 300mL (1.25 cups) of tomato juice daily for 14 days had a lower C-reactive protein level, a higher Glasgow Coma Scale score and a shortened intensive care unit stay. Clinical investigations have also confirmed that lycopene reduces inflammatory markers and improves gastrointestinal and neurological functions in patients with TBI. 

Incorporating tomato paste and tomato juice into your diet is quite easy, and tasty. For example, thick uncooked tomato paste can be a base for bruschetta. Tomato juice is the base of a (Virgin) Bloody Mary. Additionally, a 2005 NLM-indexed study titled Increases in plasma lycopene concentration after consumption of tomatoes cooked with olive oil shows that tomato products retain lycopene after cooking, so simply adding tomato paste into sauce is beneficial.

The Ride of a Lifetime or a Lifetime Injury?

For years, thrill-seekers lined up at Six Flags Magic Mountain to be spun, flipped and dropped at 76 mph on X2. Now more than 100 say that momentary thrill left them brain-injured. On September 21, three riders sued the park and the ride’s car manufacturer, alleging brain bleeds, some requiring emergency surgery. Separately, Six Flags recently settled a wrongful-death suit following a man’s death from head trauma after riding X2 in 2022.

Roller coaster inspection scene with safety gear, Mechanical Inspection checklist, and ECG waveform labeled P, Q, S, T

Doctors state that through the rides’ rapid acceleration-deceleration, force can make the brain bleed even when the head hits nothing.

Currently, there is no national database of ride accidents, and no federal agency polices fixed-site rides. Permanently installed rides have been exempt from federal safety oversight since 1981. Rides are subject to state rules, such as that in California: Cal/OSHA closes hazardous rides and fine operators up to $70,000. On March 5, 2025, Rep. André Carson (IN) introduced HR1855, the National Amusement Park Ride Safety Act, “to amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to ensure amusement rides permanently fixed to a site are treated as consumer products.” In response, the amusement park industry’s trade group, IAAPA, says states already inspect rides.

For now, the thrill remains and can be enjoyed, with caution in mind.

Birth Brain Injury at Army Hospital Results in $11 Million Settlement

Legal settlement papers for birth brain injury

On September 11, 2021, Sarah Panter delivered a daughter at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. She was then given Pitocin, a synthetic medication version of oxytocin used to induce pregnancy.  Monitors signaled fetal distress, a noted effect of the drug, and Panter’s attorneys say a C-section should then have been offered, to prevent the infant from injury. Instead, hours later, a midwife delivered the baby, who initially didn’t breathe.

Panther’s daughter now lives with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, brain damage that occurs when a newborn’s brain does not get enough oxygen or blood flow before, during, or right after birth. Additionally, the child lives with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and cortical blindness, known consequences of brain injury. She also cannot walk or sit unaided, uses a feeding tube, and needs round-the-clock nursing for life.

While birth injury is known to “only” be about 2% for normal vaginal delivery and 1% for cesarean delivery, statistics in the United States report that that birth injury occurs in about 25.3 to 31.1 cases per 1000 hospital births. Because the head is typically the first part to enter the birth canal, it is also the most vulnerable and, therefore, common birth injury, as recognized by various studies available in the NLM database.

In September 2026, the Justice Department agreed to an $11 million settlement funding a lifetime-care trust. While the government settled mid-trial, prior to the judge’s ruling, it has not formally accepted responsibility.

Head Injury Sidelines AR Justice, Prompting Gubernatorial Appointment

Arkansas Supreme Court seal reading Supreme Court of Arkansas, Est. 1836

Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice Barbara Webb has been recovering from a serious head injury since May 6, 2026. The 69-year-old jurist slipped and struck her head on her kitchen’s wood floor. At the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, she underwent surgery. before relocating to a Houston facility for physical, occupational and speech therapy.

The injury, and the physical, occupational and speech therapy that accompany brain injury recovery, have kept Webb off the bench for months, leaving the seven-member court a justice short. Because at least four justices must concur to decide a case, her absence raised the risk of tie votes and stalled rulings. This was of particular concern now, as high-profile disputes over abortion, school vouchers and executions are advancing toward the fall term.

To fill the gap, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed attorney Cory Cox as special justice, a temporary replacement, on August 19, 2026. Cox shares Webb’s conservative outlook, thereby preserving the court’s balance. “As we pray for Justice Webb’s recovery, I know Cory has the character and work ethic to serve on the Court,” Sanders said.

Cook Brainfood With the Right Pan

Fried egg with colorful sautéed vegetables in a skillet

Every time you fry an egg or sauté a vegetable, the nonstick pan’s coating exposes you to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs). In fact, these “forever chemicals” reportedly are detectable in more than 99% of people. Research increasingly ties this seemingly inescapable PFA injection increasingly ties them to neurological risk.

A 2026 University of Miami study in Environmental Research report on the findings of this study drew wide attention last month, July 2026: Higher blood levels of the PFAS compound PFHxS were associated with roughly 53% greater odds of multiple sclerosis, climbing to about 56% in women, with the most-exposed participants more than 3.5 times as likely to have MS. MS is a widely known possible consequence of brain injury. [Scientists caution, though, that this evidence is associational, not proof of cause.]  Animal studies have provided further evidence that PFAS can build up in the brain tissue and disrupt learning and memory.

Irrespective of these concerns, nonstick pans remain valuable, as they make it easier to cook low-oil foods like eggs, salmon, walnuts, and leafy greens that nourish the brain. So, to protect yourself, recommendations include: (1) avoid overheating pans, (2) never preheat pens empty, (3) ventilate your kitchen, (4) use wood or silicone utensils, and (5) replace scratched or pre-2015 pans.

“Storm” That Some Endure After TBI

Translucent flames rising from a forest stream among moss and leaves

Excessive sweating is one of the most visible aftereffects of a severe traumatic brain injury. The problem, unfortunately, is far from rare. For decades, studies indexed by the National Library of Medicine have been examining this condition, with estimates showing that this condition strikes roughly 8 to 33 percent of severe TBI patients. In acute stroke, one study found that sweating primarily occurs on the paralyzed side of the body in 55 percent of patients.*

Clinically recognized as paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH), the condition causes sudden, severe surges in the body’s fight-or-flight nervous system. Damage to the hypothalamus, the body’s thermostat, deepens the disruption. The “storm” occurs when the injured brain disconnects the brain’s inhibitory centers from its excitatory ones. Patients then erupt in surges of racing heart, spiking blood pressure, fever and drenching sweat.

Treatment leans heavily on medication. A 2026 trial at Zagazig University, a public university in Egypt, that is published in BMC Anesthesiology and found in the NLM-database, concluded that “prophylactic propranolol significantly reduces PSH incidence.” Physicians also prescribe medications that are typically used to treat different ailments: clonidine, gabapentin, morphine, baclofen, and botulinum toxin injections.

* Can the reverse happen? Yes. The same hypothalamic damage can leave survivors feeling persistently cold, or even dangerously hypothermic.

Celebrating World Elephant Day

Elephant standing in grassland with a semi-transparent brain illustration on its head

“Elephants are the largest land mammals on earth and have distinctly massive bodies, large ears, and long trunks,” states the WWF (World Wildlife Fund). Today, August 12, is globally celebrated at World Elephant Day, which, in 2026, emphasizes amplifying community-led conservation, treating people who live alongside elephants as essential partners. While not codified as a federal holiday, elephants, and the day, are honored by certain states and government agencies. (For example, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service funds the Asian Elephant Conservation Fund across Asian range states. The State Department has previously honored the day by launching its “Zoohackathon” to combat wildlife trafficking through technology. In relation to this site, one topic to consider is the consequences of a brain injury in these majestic creatures:

Veterinarians caring for an elephant with head injury under shelter

An elephant can sustain brain injury from blunt blows, falls, fighting, or human abuse. As with other animals, including humans, primary injury can result in contusions, hemorrhage, and skull fractures. This is followed by secondary swelling and the risk of seizures, impaired movement, or death. Though direct NLM-indexed clinical reports in elephants and brain injury are limited, caring for them has followed typical veterinary TBI principles: nursing care, fluid therapy, hyperosmolar agents, analgesia, anticonvulsants, oxygen, and, sometimes, surgery – scaled to an enormous patient.

Though they may be a thrill to see at the zoo, human contact with elephants can be of great peril. NLM’s database’s case reports describe elephants producing head injuries in humans through trampling, stomping, squeezing, tossing, or crushing, commonly targeting the head and chest.  A five-year retrospective PubMed-available 2021 Chinese Journal of Traumatology-published study of 45 emergency-department elephant-attack victims documented injury patterns and outcomes. Nonetheless, elephants are an important part of our ecosystem and risk is unlikely if proper precaution is taken.

NJ Reopens Facility But Long-term TBI Care Residences Remain Limited Nationally

Healthcare worker helping man in wheelchair use keyboard for therapy

Congressman Tom Kean Jr. (NJ) recently helped reopen Complete Care at Willow Creek, the only long-term care facility for seniors with traumatic brain injuries in New Jersey. The Somerset County facility had closed after flood damage during Hurricane Ida nearly 5 years ago, followed by a fire. A terminated Medicare Provider Number threatened years of further delay. Kean’s office intervened, and the facility welcomed its first returning patient in August 2026. As Kean put it, “New Jersey’s seniors deserve access to the care they need.”.

Long-term facilities matter because severe TBI often requires round-the-clock skilled nursing, rehabilitation, and cognitive support that other house members can’t provide. While every state has general long-term care and nursing homes, specialized brain-injury facilities are comparatively rare: Willow Creek is New Jersey’s sole option and, in total, only around 17 states provide specialized TBI-specific Medicaid waiver programs to fund long-term residential and group-home placements.