A brain injury (also called an acquired brain injury or ABI ) is damage to your brain that happened because of an accident, illness, or medical condition.
An ABI can be mild, moderate or severe and happen for many reasons.
For example:
– Traumatic brain injury (TBI): this can happen because of a fall, or accident (e.g., a car accident), or sports injury.
- – Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can also be called concussion.
– Childhood stroke: this is when blood flow to part of your brain gets blocked or a blood vessel bursts.
Other blood flow problems are aneurysms (when a vessel ruptures) and embolisms (when a vessel is blocked by a blood clot or debris).
– Brain tumour: this is when extra tissue grows in the brain.
– Infection: this is swelling in the brain that can cause pressure and damage to the tissue. Examples include encephalitis and meningitis.
– Anoxia or hypoxia (lack of oxygen): this is when your brain doesn’t get enough oxygen for a period of time.
How does it affect thinking and communication?
