n the July-August 2010 issue of Discover magazine. Carl Zimmcr published an article that outlines the cellular and molecular consequences of head injuries. According to Mr. Zimmer. recent evidence suggests that "a blow to the head can change the neural architecture of the brain from clastic to brittle, with devastating consequences." ' Head injuries (Traumatic Brain Injun orTBI) can lead to the neurological consequences associated with brain injury, such as cognitive deficit including memory loss, learning disorders and dementia, visual impairment, hearing loss, tinnitus, sleep disorders, headache, vertigo, seizures, depression and mam other conditions affecting work performance and overall quality of life. The costs to society, both medically and economically, arc enormous. Cost: Human and Economic Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in persons under 45 years old. occurring more frequently than breast cancer. AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injury combined. Some relevant statistics*: • Brain injury is suffered by someone in the United States every 15 seconds Each year, approximately 100.000 people die from TBI and 500.000 more arc permanently disabled 80.000 people experience the onset of long-term disability following a severe brain injury annually Approximately 5.3 million Americans—more than 2% of the U.S. population—arc living with a disability that results from TBI The cost of treatment, rehabilitation and care for the victims of traumatic brain injury costs the United States approximately $30 billion each year In North America, brain injuries are the number one killer and disablcr of people under the age of 44. It is estimated that approximately 13 million people arc living with an acquired brain injury. Of the 1.7 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States: • 52.000 die; 275.000 are hospitalized: and 1.365 million are treated and released from an emergency department.2 The number of people with TBI who are not seen in an emergency department or who receive no care is unknown. These arc some of the reasons that TBI is extremely common and has been referred to as a "silent" epidemic. Research: Evidence of Cellular Damage TBI has been the subject of an ongoing study by Douglas Smith. MD. director of the Center for Brain Injun and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania. He and his team of researchers have discovered how even mild brain injury can cause subtle damage to the molecular structure of brain cells. Utilizing an ingenious method by which the effects of mild brain injury can be examined in great detail in a laboratory setting. Smith has been able to reproduce the effects of mild trauma. In these experiments, brain cell cultures ("miniature brains") arc exposed to gentle puffs of air. This creates the effect of a mechanical injury to the cells. Nerve cells, like many other forms of tissue, arc remarkably elastic, and can recover easily from most of these types of "injuries." However, when the puffs of air arc delivered in a more sudden and forceful manner, the cells developed more significant and permanent structural changes at the level of the microtubular structure of the cell. The cumulative effects over time lead to tissue swelling, axonal damage and eventual death of the nerve cell. These experimental insights may provide an explanation for the some of the more serious effects of TBI. which medical researchers refer to as diffuse axonal injury. Recent evidence also suggests tliat anterior pituitary dysfunction after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common.1 Treatment Options: New Hope Despite the immensely important insights into the effects of TBI. most researchers and clinicians agree on one fact: there is nothing tliat can currently be done to reverse the effects of brain injury. Other than managing the effects of TBI through occupational retraining, family counseling and providing guidelines for assessment, medicine has very little to offer the sufferer of this devastating condition. Recently, however, clinical evidence is pointing to new hope for recovery from the effects of certain types of traumatic brain injury. Matrix Rcpattcrning is a gentle form of structural therapy, developed by Dr. George Roth and his team of clinicians and researchers at the Matrix Institute in Newmarket Ontario Canada (just north of Toronto). Therapy is based on the restoration of cellular structure and elasticity through the use of specifically targeted manual treatment, which releases mechanical tension at the cellular level by stimulating piezo-clcctric current.4 Supportive procedures include electrotherapy and laser. Matrix Rcpattcrning has been recognized as an effective form of therapy in sports medicine, and is currently in use with several professional sports organizations and with Olympic athletes in Canada and Great Britain. Clinical evidence has been mounting that measurable cellular improvement is being achieved through these techniques. Certified Matrix Rcpattcrning Practitioners (chiropractors, physiotherapists, massage therapists, and various other medical specialists) treat a variety of structural conditions, including back. neck, shoulder, hip and knee pain, headache (including migraine), carpal tunnel syndrome, gatro-esohagcal reflux (GERD). snoring and sleep apnca. and TMJ syndrome among others. In addition, patients who have undergone Matrix Rcpat-tcniing treatment have achieved improvements in other areas of the body affected by traumatic injury, including cardiac and hepatic function, as determined by supportive hcmatologic evidence. Recently, clinical evidence is suggesting that Matrix Rcpattcrning treatment for head injury, results in measurable neurological and cognitive improvement subsequent to TBI. A New Understanding of the Mechanism of Injury Matrix Rcpattcrning assessment and treatment is based on the alteration of the electrical properties of tissue, as a result of common strain and impact injuries. It is based on the proper-tics of the cytoskelcton. as elucidated by researchers such as Donald Ingbcr. Gerald Pollack and Stephen Lc\ in.5''r Impact injury, for example, is thought to be more easily absorbed by the more dense fluid-filled stnictures. such as internal organs and the cranium (head and brain), as well as osseous stnictures (bone).8 Therefore, many of the symptoms associated with the soft tissues, such as muscles, fascia and joints, may in fact be influenced by these deeper, denser stnictures. Recent evidence is demonstrating that cellular injury leads to electromechanical changes causing inflammation and enlargement of internal organs and bone, leading to mechanical stress on the more superficial stnictures. which produce symptoms. Matrix Rcpat-tcniing is usualh directed to the deeper stnictures (bone and the deep fascia associated with the internal organs), which are considered to be the source of many of clinical presentations previously thought to reside in the superficial stnictures alone.9 TBI often involves direct injury to the head or indirect injury by way of spinal trauma. Head injury affects the boncy plates of the skull, as well as the fluid compartment surrounding the brain itself. Matrix Repatteming has demonstrated clinical effectiveness in restoring the stnictural and mechanical properties of the body, including the spine and the skull, leading to a profound and lasting noniialization of stmcture and function. As chiropractors, it is imperative that we address all of the stnictural and neurological implications in the clinical management of this common condition. Patients from all walks of life, from professional athletes to medical professionals, and young children, have experienced significant levels of improvement in functional capacity, the reduction of pain, as well as relief from many of the consequences of traumatic brain injury. Further research to determine the potential of Matrix Repatteming is being actively pursued. Dr. George Roth, BSc, DC, ND is recognized worldwide as an authority in the treatment ofmus-culoskeletal and structural disorders. He is the co-author of Positional Release Therapy: Assessment and Treatment of.Musailoskeletal Dysfunction (Elsevier Science), and the author of The Matrix Repalterning Program for Pain Relief (New Harbinger Publications). Contact: g.rothtimatrixwellness.ca. References: 1. 'Aimmer C. What happens to a linebacker s neurons? In: Discover Magazine. July August 2010. 2. haul M, Xu /,, JVald MM, Coronach VG. Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Emergency Department J Isils, Hospitalizations and Deaths 2002-2006. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease ("ontrol and Prevention. Xalional C 'enter for Injury Prevention and Control: 2010. 3. AghaA. Rogers B. Sherlock.M. O 'Kelly P. Tormey W Phillips J, Thompson CJ, Anterior Pituitary Dysfunction in Survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 89. Xo. 10 4929-4936. 4. MacGuintie LA. Streaming and piezoelectric potentials in connective tissues. In: Blank M (ed) Electromagnetic fields: biological interactions and mechanisms. Advances in Chemistry Series 250. American Chemical Society, Washington DC, ch. 8. pp 125-142. 1995. 5. higher DE. The architecture of life. Sci Am 1998:278:48-57. 6. Levin SM: The tensegrity-truss as a model for spine mechanics. Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology 2002, 2:375-388. 7. Pollack GH. Cells Gels cf- the Engines of Life. Seattle. Ehner A Sons. 2001. 8. Sierpowska J. et al. Predictions of mechanical properties of human trabecular bone by electrical measurements. Physiol. Meas. 26SU9-S131, 2005. 9. Roth GB. The Matrix Repatterning Program for Pain Relief: Self-treatment for Musculoskeletal Pain. Oakland, CA, New Harbinger. 2005.
