Trampoline Park Craze Sweeps Nation Causing Numerous Injuries

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New indoor trampoline parks are cropping up all over the U.S. Their increasing popularity is also bringing to light the possibility of potentially catastrophic injuries.

Take for instance twenty-two year-old Stephen Merrill. Stephen was just finishing his freshman year of college two years ago when he and some friends visited an indoor trampoline park in Utah for a day of jumping, flipping, and bouncing.

At one point, Merrill leapt into a pit full of foam blocks from an overhead platform. He sank right through the blocks and landed on his head, breaking a vertebra in his neck. Mr. Merrill was left paralyzed from the neck down.

Citing a list of injuries such as, broken necks, shattered leg bones, and even death, some doctors and government officials say Stephen Merrill’s injury serves to underscore the dangers of jump parks. Government officials are scrambling to regulate the indoor trampoline centers, which have quickly become a popular rain-or-shine suburban entertainment for children and adults.

“It seems like things aren’t properly regulated if something like that is possible,” says Stephen Merrill of his life-altering injury.

Utah and California have proposed regulations to address growing concerns in the burgeoning industry, which has grown from a handful of centers in the Western U.S. in 2007 to about 160 throughout the world.

Typically, the parks are large warehouses filled with a series of trampolines allowing individuals to bounce in all directions, doing gymnastic moves and slam-dunking basketballs. Some parks feature foam block-filled pits and angled, sloping trampolines.

For safety, most gyms post employees around the trampolines to enforce rules, much like lifeguards. Some have posted signs warning visitors of risks of “serious catastrophic injury or death.”

However, emergency room doctors who have seen severe injuries akin to those sustained in high-velocity motor vehicle accidents, say more needs to be done to safeguard against injuries. The injuries, which include dislocated feet, brain hemorrhaging and paralysis, are mostly seen on young men around 19-years old.

In an effort to prevent further serious injuries in the name of fun and exercise, an Arizona woman is promoting a safety bill after her 30-year old son died when he broke his neck at a trampoline park and the Utah County Health Board will hold a public discussion this fall on its proposed regulations.

Operators of the gyms, however, say that safety fears are over-blown and that severe injuries are rare. They claim that organized sports such as baseball and football have a higher injury rate, and that the parks offer children and adults a place to get much-needed exercise while having fun.

Seattle Personal Injury Attorneys

If you are injured in a trampoline accident in Seattle, Bellevue, Everett, Tacoma, or anywhere in the State of Washington, the personal injury attorneys at Phillips Law Firm are here to help. We will do everything we can to ensure that your interests are protected and that you receive the maximum compensation. Contact the experienced Seattle personal injury attorneys at the Phillips Law Firm today for a free consultation and review of your case. Call us at 1-800-708-6000 today.

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What Are Some Natural Ways to Help Heal Broken Bones In A Car Accident?

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Broken bones are some of the most common personal injuries that medical professionals come across when treating accident victims either at the scene or when they enter the hospital. These injuries can be painful and take months to heal. Not only that, depending on the victim’s age, older people can find that the healing process can be extended by weeks, even months.

Bones healing is a process of time, circulation, and health. It takes 3 to 4 months to recreate the solid, stable bone in most cases, but some bones have more blood supply so they heal faster. Toe bones have less mass and more circulation thus they heal faster. Wrist bones, on the other hand, can take longer.

The outer layer of the bone is made of hardened mineral deposits, whereas the inner layer is porous and bloody with a soft substance called “marrow.” The red marrow makes red blood cells, while the yellow marrow is used to store fat.

Bones continually undergo changes in a process called “bone remodeling.” Osteoclast cells break down old bone and osteoblast cells trigger new bone cells to form. As soon as a bone breaks, the osteoblasts begin mending the bone, sometimes even when they are out of alignment.

But this process is long and painful leaving many (especially older) patients wondering how they can speed the process as well as create a more complete healing process. Well, natural healing advocates say that they may have the answer.

Broken Bones and Natural Healing

If they are set properly and the person is careful not to put any strain on the area, the bone will eventually knit itself. Though there are no drugs in conventional medicine to help this process along, there are many things that believers in natural healing swear hurries the process along and helps in more complete healing.

  • Stop smoking – There are tons of reasons to stop smoking, but when it comes to bone healing, the science is pretty solid on this issue. Smoking slows the blood flow to the bones, thereby slowing the healing process.
  • Stop drinking alcohol – Another fairly obvious one that slows the formation of the osteoblasts.
  • Stop drinking caffeine – This is a hard one to do for Puget Sound residents, but by eliminating caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea, and soft drinks, you can seriously curb calcium excretion. Since your body needs all the calcium it can get to heal your bones, it is wise to minimize ALL sources of calcium loss.
  • Healthy Foods – Bones need protein to build, so it’s wise to add proteins to your diet. One major source of protein for bone patients is milk, because it also adds much needed calcium to the mix. Other proteins that are good are:
    • Meat
    • Fish
    • Soy
    • Nuts
    • Beans
  • Calcium Supplements – Most doctors recommend at least at 800-1200 milligrams of calcium a day for adults. There is little research connecting the addition of calcium to the diet to the increased speed of bone healing, however, taking the recommended daily amount can’t hurt.
  • Vitamin C – Vitamin C is probably the largest contributor to the formation of collagen, the main component in connective tissue. Adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet contribute greatly to collagen creation. ,
  • Vitamin D – This aids in calcium absorption with 2,000 to 4,000 IU daily dose. Sitting in the sun for less than 30 minutes creates about 10,000 IU, however, it is processed differently. Be sure to take in that much while healing bones and take it in tandem with Omega 3 supplements to aid absorption.
  • Vitamin K – This can be found in course leafy greens such as kale and collard greens, also aids bone repair.
  • Arnica – This flowering plant some people say has a remarkable ability to reduce bruising and swelling from trauma. They recommend using it immediately after the break, to reduce swelling and vascular congestion. Be aware that you should ONLY take it in small amounts, follow the directions explicitly, and only purchase it at certified vitamin supplement stores and pharmacies.
  • Ultrasound bone growth stimulators – These machines were approved by the FDA, and treatments are available to speed certain types of broken bones with the use of electrical stimulation, ultrasound, and magnets. It increase blood flow to the area. It can be expensive and may not be recommended for all patients.
  • Deep tissue massage – When massage and techniques like cranio-sacral massage are delivered by a professional certified in injury massage, it has proven to increase blood flow and aid in the healing process.

Puget Sound Personal Injury Lawyer

Broken bones in a car accident can keep a person out of work, from doing their normal activities, and depending on the severity, can seriously hamper a person’s quality of life for an extended period of time. Along with pain and suffering, the victim has the opportunity to collect lost wages and damages.

Phillips Law Firm is a Seattle law firm with a substantial track record of success Personal Injury Litigation. We take the time to fully assess the injured party’s case in order to assure that the victim receives the compensation they deserve. Call our Personal Injury Attorneys today for a free consultation.

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Driving Under the Effects of Marijuana

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As Washington State gets closer and closer to legalizing marijuana, the fact that the National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) found Washington to have one of the highest rates of drugged driving in the country has raised some questions as to what effect that kind of legislation will have on drivers and pedestrians.

Not only is marijuana legal to use as a medicinal pain remedy for various approved illnesses in Washington, but Seattle as a municipality has de-prioritized it for police officers, basically saying to recreational users that it’s okay to use if an officer isn’t around.

In fact, almost every ballot over the past few cycles has marijuana related legislation for voters to give their voice to. Even some politicians can be seen stumping at Hemp Fest, which indicates where the marijuana legislation winds are wafting.

Now this upcoming November ballot has not only a choice for president, but also the option to decriminalize marijuana in Washington and rendering it legal to be packaged and sold to the public as well as being taxed and regulated as such. The Initiative-502, dubbed “New Approach Washington,” is not only expected to inject millions of dollars into the state budget, but also widen access.

This is not only expected to increase the number of customers who wouldn’t have bought marijuana due to the risk and lack of access, this could potentially skyrocket Washington to number one on the list of drugged driving states. Many advocates point to studies that show there is no change in driving ability when a person is high on marijuana, however, a recent study released this week strongly disputes those claims.

Marijuana and Driving

Researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada reviewed nine studies involving 49,411 people involved in accidents on public roads involving one or more motor vehicles. The study including all vehicles licensed to drive on streets, cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles, where the drivers cited the use of marijuana or use was confirmed by blood tests.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) this month, found drivers who had used marijuana within three hours of beginning to drive had nearly double the risk of causing a collision, especially those that were fatal.

“Results show that if cannabis is consumed before driving a motor vehicle, the risk of collision is nearly doubled. Previous results have also found that there is also a substantially higher chance of collision if the driver is aged 35 or younger,” researchers wrote.

Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug worldwide and rates of its use in drivers are increasing. The study cites a 2007 study in Scotland that found 15% of 537 drivers aged 17 to 39 had used marijuana within 12 hours of driving at the time of the study.

“The consumption of cannabis impairs motor tasks important to safe driving, increasing the chance of collisions and that future reviews should assess less severe collisions from a general driving population,” the authors of the study suggested.

Drugged Driving in Washington State

Currently only 19 states have laws prohibiting any amount of drugs while operating a vehicle, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). The laws in Washington State for driving under the influence (DUI) are pretty explicit.

According to RCW 46.61.502: (1) A person is guilty of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug if the person drives a vehicle within this state:

  • (a) And the person has, within two hours after driving, an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher as shown by analysis of the person’s breath or blood made under RCW 46.61.506; or
  • (b) While the person is under the influence of or affected by intoxicating liquor or any drug; or
  • (c) While the person is under the combined influence of or affected by intoxicating liquor and any drug.

Testing for drugs is also a lot different than alcohol. Many times a police officer needs to see the telling signs of drug use and take a suspect in for tests alternative to breathalyzer in order to determine the type and amount of drugs taken. The telling signs vary according to the drug the suspect has taken. Some of the signs of various drugs are:

  • Marijuana – This has a distinctive sweet or nutty and smoky smell. Drivers often speak slowly or take longs pauses before responding. They have blood shot eyes and can show signs of fatigue. Field sobriety tests are unreliable. Blood tests and hair follicle tests required.
  • Amphetamines – This category includes cocaine and meth amphetamine. When smoked, they can have a distinct toxic burning smell. There can also be residue left over on the dashboard. The driver speaks quickly in bursts, interrupts, and elicits paranoid behavior. Field sobriety tests are unreliable. Blood tests and hair follicle tests required.
  • Pharmaceuticals and Opioids – Many people don’t view these as dangerous or illegal to drive on, however, many pain killers are made from opium, the same as heroin. These drugs are known as opioids, and they can cause numbness, drowsiness, and blackouts. Field sobriety tests are effective in detecting that the person is under the influence. Blood tests and hair follicle tests required.

Seattle DUI Victims Lawyers

Marijuana legislation and the outcome is only our concern when it comes to the safety of our roads. DUI has been on the decline and is expected to further decline as laws become more strict and the consequences become more costly. Hopefully, if marijuana laws are passed, the proper education programs and media are implemented in order to warn the public and kids about the dangers of marijuana use and driving.

If you or someone you know have sustained serious personal injuries as a victim of a negligent driving accident then you need experienced counsel to protect your interests with the insurance companies and health care providers. Call the Seattle car accident attorneys at Phillips Law Firm for a free consultation.

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Are Tour Busses More Prone to Accidents

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You may be surprised to hear that there is more than 100,000 charter, tour, and transit bus accidents in the United States every year. That’s nearly 12 bus crashes every hour somewhere in the US, most of them happening in urban areas.

Last year had some horrific news regarding bus accidents including fatal bus crash in the Bronx that killed 15 passengers returning to New York City from a Connecticut casino. This was followed by a tour bus load of Canadian tourists traveling back to Ontario that killed one person and sent another 46 people to the hospital with personal injuries.

One of the issues raised by bus safety advocates is the lack of laws surrounding the use of seatbelts. This was highlighted just last month when a tractor-trailer clipped a bus full of students, flipping the bus onto its side, ejecting a 9-year-old boy out the hatch on the roof and sending 32 people – 29 of them children – to the hospital with serious personal injuries.

Now, a new study conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found that the fatal bus accident rate for discount intercity carriers is seven times higher than the rate for conventional bus operations.

Why are tour buses and charter buses more prone to accidents than other operators?

NTSB Findings

The NTSB research intended to study curbside bus companies as a distinct sector of the interstate motorcoach carrier industry. These curbside motor coach operations are defined as “interstate bus companies that conduct scheduled trips between cities and serve passengers at locations other than bus terminals.”

These operations pick up passengers at a series of advertised locations and bring them to destinations such as casinos and other attractions. The study set out to compare relative safety records and evaluate existing federal safety oversight of these companies.

NTSB Researchers found that:

  • Newer and smaller companies have a higher accident rate – Ten is the magic number. Tour and Charter operations with ten or less buses or have been in operation less than 10 years have both higher bus accident rates and higher violation rates during roadside inspections.
  • Higher fatal accident rate – The six-year fatal accident rate for curbside carriers leading up to March 2011 (the date of the Bronx fatal bus crash) was seven times the rate of terminal-based bus operations.
  • Less Regulation – Terminal operations are easier to monitor and inspect. However, because pick up and drop off is often by appointment or not in established bus areas, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has found it difficult to fully inspect these operations to detect and enforce safety violations.
  • Lack of regulation resources – The FMCSA, like many organizations, runs o a shoestring budget and thus does not have budget or manpower to regulate properly. In fact, the organization only has 1.15 investigators for every 1,000 motor carriers nationwide. To ensure compliance with federal regulations, the NTSB recommends an increase in the number of inspectors.
  • Operator hours – The FMCSA has been going back and forth with carriers and the trucking industry about the issue of number of hours worked, number of breaks, and operator fatigue. Fatigue is one of the biggest causes of bus and trucking accidents.
  • Regulating curbside ticket brokers – Curbside ticket brokers can be potentially regulated by many agencies, but the NTSB recommends that the FMCSA be given the authority to regulate them both on site and online.

Charter Bus and Tour Bus Safety

In Washington State and across the country, there are major problems with bus safety overall. In 2010, Texas implemented a program to install seatbelts into all school buses. This has run into serious budgetary and monitoring issues. Almost every school district has put up resistance, not because they’re not concerned about safety, but because they were given the order to do the task, but no money with which to achieve it.

With this as an example and a fair amount of lobbying money, the bussing industry has been successful in staving off many regulations that may prove to save lives. However, as more people die and studies are conducted, they will not be able to stop the inevitable. That is why many regulators and legislators from around the country are contemplating some sweeping changes.

Some of these regulations are:

  • Seat belts – Industry representatives contend that the installation of seat belts would be cost prohibitive, raise operating costs, and thus ticket prices in an already struggling industry. They cite that there is little evidence that seat belts on busses would save lives. This is the same argument that the car industry used to fight installing seatbelts in cars and they have long been proven wrong. The bussing industry also says they cannot control who uses the belts, however, safety advocates say that passengers should be given the option.
  • Training – According to regulators and safety advocates, more stringent training and supervised driving time would go a long way to improving safety. Industry reps dispute that their training standards are strict enough and say that these regulations may shrink the pool of drivers and raise the cost of eligible drivers, thus driving up operating costs.
  • Operator rules – Regulating strict rules around when and how long an operator can drive, plus the number of breaks, will go a long way to increasing safety by curbing driver fatigue. The NTSB says that 36% of motor coach collision deaths during the past 10 years have been caused by driver fatigue. This needs to change.
  • Crash Sensors – In the coming years you will see some innovative new technology that will help drivers avoid accidents such as crash sensors that not only tell the driver how many cars are around them, but also where the cars are located. Some bus companies have utilized this technology, but the majority has not. This will go a long way to preventing accidents involving lane changes and narrow roads.

Washington Bus Accident Lawyer

When people are on vacation or wishing to move a large group from one place to another, they choose charter bus companies because they have trained drivers who know the area and are licensed to drive large vehicles. However, if this employee is under paid and forced to work long hours to make ends meet or is not adequately trained, this can put passenger’s lives in jeopardy.

If you or someone you know has sustained an injury in a bus accident some of the best advice you can get is to seek legal council from a law firm that is successful in bus accident litigation. Call Phillips Law Firm for a consultation.

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Are Drunk Drivers Aware Of Their Dangerous Behavior?

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New Years Eve has passed and slowly the tally of drunk drivers caught over that notorious night and the DUI heavy holiday season come in from local and state law enforcement agencies. So far, the tally looks pretty normal with some municipalities showing an increase and some a decrease. But what they don’t seem to tally are the excuses. When some people make a mistake, they like to blame the alcohol. “I was drunk!” they might say, but this is seldom an excuse used by drunk drivers for obvious reasons. So how do they explain away their behavior? Well, who knows or cares, because as new research shows, there are no good excuses when it comes to DUI, because the drivers are fully aware of what they’re doing. That’s right, DUI drivers can now give a laundry list of excuses, but that won’t eliminate the fact that they were completely aware that they had been drinking and were then getting into a car and that is not only a mistake, but illegal.

DUI Awareness Study

The new study called Alcohol Effects on Performance Monitoring and Adjustment: Affect Modulation and Impairment of Evaluative Cognitive Control, can be seen in the upcoming edition of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology and was paid for by the The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the University of Missouri Research Board. The study took brain tests of 67 people and showed that alcohol dulls a mechanism in the brain that tells an individual to stop their behavior when they realize they’re making mistakes. Essentially, the study shows that people who commit blunders while under the influence of alcohol know they’re doing it; they just don’t care.

“This isn’t the first study that shows alcohol alters the behavior of those who consume it, but it’s the first to show they don’t care that they’re making mistakes,” said Bartholow, associate professor of psychology at the University of Missouri-Columbia and lead researcher.

The implications of this study is that people who put the public in danger by drinking and getting behind the wheel can’t blame it on not having control because they are fully aware of their behavior, the potential for serious car accidents. The study group derived of people between the ages of 21 and 35 that were broken into three groups:

Group A – One-third of the participants received drinks with enough alcohol to raise their blood levels to just under the legal driving limit of .08 blood alcohol content (BAC). Researchers noted that all participants in the control group got the same amount and they didn’t measure if the effect was gradual. Group B – Another third of the participants received non-alcoholic placebo drinks, however they didn’t know if the drinks contained alcohol or not.Group C – A third received drinks they knew contained no alcohol.

Each group was then assigned tasks designed to elicit mistakes. Researchers used devices on the participants to measure brain activity as the subjects took the tests. Medical technology exists to measure brain activity for impulse control, emotion, mood and other functions. With these devices they recorded results as they observed various factors in participants behavior during the tests such as

  • Mood and demeanor
  • Accuracy in computer tasks
  • Perception of accuracy in the tasks

Though this was a computerized test and not a driving simulator, the moral and reactionary tests were similar. When the mechanism is working, researchers observed that the participants that didn’t ingest alcohol slow down and either tried not to make the mistake again, or they take corrective action. However, the control group that had alcohol was observed to be more likely to disregard the moral stop sign, even though they knew what they were doing. It became apparent that non-drinkers had normal activity in the part of the brain that regulated recognizing mistakes, whereas drinkers had less activity.

“Normally, someone who makes mistakes is aware and makes an effort not to make that mistake again,” Bartholow said. “Drinkers made less of an effort or simply moved past their errors even though they knew they’d made errors.”

The dulling of the brain’s mistake alarm only occurred among people who had alcoholic beverages, he said, and added that using alcohol doesn’t allow someone to escape culpability.

Drinking and Driving In Washington State

Washington State DUI laws, like most laws around the world, prohibit the operation of a motor vehicle by a driver not only under the influence of alcohol, but also under the influence of a controlled substance such as marijuana, cocaine, inhalants and other intoxicants. These include prescription drugs that specifically warn against operating machinery. The .08 percent limit is a general standard used across the US to determine which drivers are “impaired.” Washington has lower BAC limits for commercial drivers (.04) and drivers under the age of 21 (.02). This ensures that underage drivers and commercial drivers stay alert and responsible. The DUI limits translate as such: DRINK EQUIVALENTS: 1 drink / 1 dose equals:

  • 1 1/2 ounces of rum, rye, scotch, brandy, gin, vodka etc.
  • 1 12-oz. bottle of normal-strength beer 3-4%
  • Approximately 7 – 8 oz. of Malt Liquor, or a strong micro brew.
  • 3 ounces of fortified wine
  • 4 – 5 ounces of table wine

Allow an hour per dose before returning to work. Example 2 glasses of wine, allow two hours from time of last dose.

Seattle DUI Victims Lawyers

If you or a loved one sustain serious personal injuries caused by a drunk driver then it is imperative that you find a good lawyer with a proven track record of success in personal injury litigation. Call Phillips Law Firm for a free consultation. Learn More About:

  • Types of Injuries Sustained in a Car Accident
  • Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit
  • Personal Injury Settlements
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Can A Personal Injury in a Car Accident Alter the Victim’s Immune System?

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People who are personally injured in a car accident know that one of the main procedures that emergency medical staff perform when treating victims throughout the process is preventing infection. This is particularly important for victims with open wounds and burns. However, medical experts have even found that patients without open wounds are in serious danger.

While victims are in the hospital it seems that they were still susceptible to infection and other illnesses regardless of the fact that the patient is in a sterile facility. Some assumed that the infections and other illnesses were due to proximity and environment (i.e lots of sick patients nearby), but new research suggests that a lowered immune response is caused by the personal injury itself.

These findings could potentially make the liability for an illness that might threaten the life of the victim suffered directly after an injury accident fall on the shoulders of the negligent party that caused the accident.

Post-Accident Genomic Immune System Research

The research was conducted by a collaborative program involving investigators from 20 academic research centers from around the United States, and appears in the December Journal of Experimental Medicine.This important study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers found that traumatic personal injuries and major burns, set off what they called a “genomic storm” in human immune cells. The trauma resulted in altering 80% of the cells’ normal gene expression patterns. This has a major effect on the immune system.

They discovered that the genomic response to personal injury was essentially the same regardless of the patient’s individual genetic background. The genomic response in the immune system was also present whether the injury was caused by major tr

auma or serious burns, or if recovery is rapid or complicated.

“When this project was organized more than a decade ago, the question was raised whether responses would differ so much from person to person that no patterns would appear,” said Ronald G. Tompkins, MD, ScD, director of the Sumner Redstone Burn Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and principal investigator of the study. “It is amazing how similar our responses to injuries like serious burns or trauma actually are.”

The Inflammation and Host Response to Injury Consortium was created in 2001 to study how our bodies react to personal injuries and burns and what factors set off excessive, uncontrolled inflammation that can lead to the overwhelming body-wide infection called sepsis or to multi-organ dysfunction syndrome, a life-threatening failure of vital systems.

Blood samples were taken from 167 patients being treated for severe trauma at seven U.S. hospitals within 12 hours of the injury and several times during the next 28 days after the injury. The research team analyzed whole-genome expression patterns in white blood cells. Gene expression pattern changes were tracked and compared with samples from 133 patients treated for serious burns, 37 healthy controls and four volunteers treated with a bacterial toxin that produces brief flu-like symptoms.

The genomic changes in almost all trauma and burn patients in the study began with inflammation and with the first-response innate immune system accompanied by simultaneous suppression of adaptive immune pathways. Through the 28 day study period, these patterns changed only by intensity and duration.

 

Potentially New Personal Injury Treatments

These findings fly in the face of widely accepted theories that the initial “pro-inflammatory” response in patient is soon followed by an “anti-inflammatory” response that opens the door to complications like sepsis and organ failure. Instead the only differences between patients with and without medical complications due to their personal injuries were in the levels of gene expression changes and the duration of those changes. Even the volunteers who received bacterial toxin, whose symptoms lasted for only 24 hours, had similar changes in 40% of the gene pathways that were altered in the seriously injured patients.

This expression could last longer in burn patients, who may take months to years to recover from their injuries. Trauma patients, on the other hand, usually recover a month or two. So researchers said that it was entirely unexpected that gene expression patterns in burns and trauma patients changed in exactly the same directions 91% of the time.

“If you consider two patients with identical injuries from a serious auto accident – a 20-year old who is ready to go home in a week and a 55-year-old who is still in the ICU and on a ventilator at the same point in time – it would be logical to think that the complications suffered by the older patient must have a genome-based difference,” Tompkins said. “But it turns out that the gene expression changes are the same and the only differences is how much they change and how soon they return to normal. There are no new genes or pathways recruited to deal with those serious complications beyond those already involved in the body’s basic response to serious injury.

This knowledge allows the medical community to begin to design therapies to promote improvement in patients who would otherwise have complicated recoveries. It would also researchers to determine whether measuring genomic changes soon after injury can help them predict which patients will recover well and which will need more intesive treatment delivered in ICUs. This extra treatment can sometimes be harmful to the patient and could now be avoided unless they truly need it.

“The scientists have now created a detailed picture of the genomic aspects of this response, and among their findings are some surprises about the role of inflammation that could point to new strategies for treatment,” said Scott Somers, PhD, of the NIGMS.

Washington Personal Injury Lawyer

This is exciting for patients because with this knowledge they have a whole new understanding of the effects of traumatic personal injuries and burns suffered in automobile accidents that will allow first responders and trauma care workers make proper recommendations for patient care.

Phillips Law Firm is a law firm with a substantial track record of success Personal Injury Litigation. We take the time to fully assess the injured party’s case in order to assure that the victim receives the compensation they deserve. Call our Personal Injury Attorneys today for a free consultation.

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