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Anoxia Continued

© Shannon Lester

Most of us are aware of the two most common types of brain injuries--traumatic brain injury and acquired brain injury. But the thing most of us don’t know is that there is also something called anoxic brain injury. Most people who are living with anoxic brain injuries aren’t aware of its long-term ramifications. And in many some cases, people who have suffered from anoxia may eventually endure an anoxic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury is typically the result of “bruising and swelling" of the brain while anoxic brain injury takes place when the supply of oxygen to the brain is cut off. Anoxic brain injury kills brain cells. And the diagnosos is often complicated by other factors, such as heart problems, treatment options, and the duration of anoxia.

According to the Joseph Corpina Foundation, motor vehicle accidents, incidents involving deadly weapons, and falls are the three leading cause of most brain injuries. The brain uses approximately twenty percent of the body’s total oxygen intake. The brain uses ninety percent of its energy to fire electrochemical impulses. When oxygen is not accessible to the brain, a number of problems can occur. Oxygen and glucose, a type of sugar, maintain a variety of chemical reactions within the brain. And when these are disrupted, or brain cells are killed due to a lack of oxygen, a number of reactions take place.

When Neurotransmitters, such as norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin are damaged due to anoxic brain injury, these neurotransmitters cannot function properly. These neurotransmitters are used to help the brain carry out specific functions, such as sleep patterns. Dopamine is responsible for emotions, movement, as well as pleasure and pain. And when an anoxic brain injury takes place, these neurotransmitters are damaged, one’s emotional stability, motor activity, and sometimes memory are sometimes affected, if the neurotransmitter acetocholine is involved.

One can experience anoxia from any number of activities. Smoke inhalation, though uncommon, can cut off one’s oxygen supply, and cause anoxia. Drowning or breath holding for long periods of time. An extreme loss of blood can also cause anoxic brain injury. Depleting the brain of oxygen makes it impossible for vital parts of the brain to function properly. As a result, anoxic brain injury occurs. Anoxic brain injury has much of the same effects as traumatic brain injury, as it has the ability to cause problems with the different lobes of the brain.

If there is not enough blood flowing to the brain, one may experience stagnant or ischemic anoxia. The occipital and frontoparietal lobes are particularly susceptible to anoxia. The hippocampus plays a key role in memory, and is also vulnerable to a lack of oxygen. Ischemic anoxia can also be caused athlerosclerosis, mistakes in administering anesthesia, electrocution, and asphyxia, or the act of attempting suicide or drowning.

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