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Anoxic Brain Injury: Causes and Effects

Table of Contents

Introduction
About Anoxic Brain Injury
Causes of Anoxic Brain Injury
Effects of Anoxic Brain Injury on the Human Body
Conclusion
References

Introduction

People with existing conditions are always at risk of experiencing additional negative health outcomes, and one of them is anoxic brain injury. At the same time, such a brain injury can also affect healthy individuals, including children, as a result of accidents such as drowning. Moreover, the eventual health outcomes following anoxic brain injury for individuals are often worse than those resulting from traumatic health injuries (Agrawal et al., 2020). Essentially, anoxic brain injury is a severe condition, the aspects of which must be analyzed thoroughly. I believe it is particularly vital to list, describe, and summarize all of the core effects of anoxic brain injury on the human body.

About Anoxic Brain Injury

It is first necessary to provide a comprehensive definition for the condition in question to ensure a better understanding of its impact. Anoxic brain injury refers to a type of injury which constitutes the result of the reduced supply of oxygen to the human brain or a limited cerebral blood flow (Zasler et al., 2021). Since oxygen is vital for the proper functioning of peoples bodies, the lack of it can lead to severe health consequences, including the death of brain cells. Every instance of anoxic brain injury must be identified as an emergency situation and therefore requires immediate medical assistance.

Causes of Anoxic Brain Injury

The causes of anoxic brain injury are diverse, and generally, people of all ages can suffer from them. Due to the fact that patients with limited cerebral blood flow also may have anoxic brain injury, the condition is common in people who get a clot (Capizzi et al., 2020). The most common cause of the condition is respiratory failure due to the aforementioned drowning, tracheal obstruction, carbon monoxide poisoning, or strangulation (Hrishi et al., 2019). At the same time, anoxic brain injury also can be caused by cardiac failure resulting from septic shock or substantial blood loss (Annoni et al., 2021). Thus, despite the fact that anoxic brain injury can affect any person, people who have problems with their heart, usually older adults, are more susceptible to the condition.

Effects of Anoxic Brain Injury on the Human Body

The effects of anoxic brain injury on the body are different depending on the severity of the causes experienced by the patient and range between mild and severe ones. Effects can include dizziness, headache, vision problems, and numbness in different parts of the body (Zasler et al., 2021). Essentially, such symptoms may be difficult for the patient themselves to recognize as indicative of anoxic brain injury since they are quite universal. Cyanosis is one of the key signs of the condition since it involves a change in the tint of the skins color to a bluish one which demonstrates the lack of oxygen in the blood (Hrishi et al., 2019). Moreover, the person experiencing the condition may also partially lose their ability to concentrate and maintain attention, as well as short-term memory (Kim et al., 2019). Therefore, anoxic brain injury can adversely affect a persons life for a short or even long-term period, and requires analysis and detection of symptoms of additional abnormalities.

Nevertheless, the mild effects of anoxic brain injury may soon transform into more severe ones, which will require immediate hospitalization of the suffering person. In the case of anoxic brain injury, neuronal injury occurs progressively, and its magnitude is directly linked to the initial insult and its duration. According to research, during anoxic brain injury, the dead tissue begins to swell at a rapid rate due to increased volume of the water content of the cells becoming pale while arteries narrow (Fugate, 2017). At the same time, neurons are not the only cells which become subject to necrosis. In addition, oligodendrocytes, myelinating cells of the nervous system also suffer from it. Essentially, under anoxic brain injury, the aforementioned cells start to gradually die as the oxygen stops being supplied to the brain. In response to the necrosis, inflammation occurs, which involves a production of cytokines and proteases, while at the level of molecules, catabolic products accumulation can be observed (Hrishi et al., 2019). Thus, the aforementioned processes lead to neurological deficit accompanied by demyelination emerges, which eventually result in physical symptoms listed earlier, such as vision problems.

At the same time, there are certain areas of the brain which may be more susceptible to the condition and its effects. Necrosis resulting from the absence of oxygen can begin to impact the occipital and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and hippocampus (Prosser et al., 2018). As a result, as each of these areas becomes affected, the person suffering from the condition starts to experience numerous physical symptoms. For instance, once the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex become impacted, the individual can sense weakness in their feet and arms, as well as problems with coordination and balance of their body. The function of muscles may also be hindered since they can turn rigid and even spastic, preventing the person from staying in control of their limbs. Basically, the person may start to exhibit movements which are convulsive and may get tremors. The Man-in-the-Barrel syndrome is one of the conditions which accompanies anoxic brain injury, and it involves an inability to move arms which is caused by cerebral hypoperfusion (Hrishi et al., 2019). Apart from physical symptoms, there are many other ones affecting different parts of the body.

As mentioned above, the person suffering from anoxic brain injury can experience problems with vision, speech, and ability to think in a proper manner. For example, the occipital lobe, which is susceptible to the condition in question, when affected, can cause cortical blindness, which can be permanent (Zasler et al., 2021). Additionally, with a damaged hippocampus, the patient may have problems with memory which can become long-term. Due to the aforementioned symptoms, the person with the injury may be unable to communicate both verbally and in writing. It is also common among people with the injury to experience problems with the ability to reason and analyze information which happens due to the frontal lobe damage (Hrishi et al., 2019). Nevertheless, the most severe effects of anoxic brain injury are coma and persistent vegetative state, which can last until the death of the person.

Conclusion

Anoxic brain injury constitutes a condition which involves the lack of oxygen supply or cerebral blood flow to the brain. It was discovered that injury can be caused by cardiac failure, excessive blood loss, strangulation, drowning, and carbon monoxide poisoning. By now, I recognize the fact that the effects on the human body of anoxic brain injury are diverse, and their severity depends on how long the person is prevented from getting the oxygen they need. Based on the literature review which was conducted, I can conclude that the answer to the research topic is that it is important to list, describe, and summarize all of the core effects of anoxic brain injury on the human body.

References

Agrawal, N., Faruqui, R., & Bodani, M. (2020). Oxford textbook of neuropsychiatry. Oxford University Press.

Annoni, F., Peluso, L., Gouvea Bogossian, E., Creteur, J., Zanier, E. R., & Taccone, F. S. (2021). Brain protection after anoxic brain injury: Is lactate supplementation helpful?. Cells, 10(7), 1714.

Capizzi, A., Woo, J., & Verduzco-Gutierrez, M. (2020). Traumatic brain injury: An overview of epidemiology, pathophysiology, and medical management. Medical Clinics, 104(2), 213-238.

Fugate, J. (2017). Anoxic-ischemic brain injury. Neurologic Clinics, 35(4), 601611.

Hrishi, A., Prathapadas, U., Lionel, K. Puthanveedu, D., & Sethuraman, M. (2019). Anoxic brain injury: The abominable malady. Journal of Neuroanaesthesiology and Critical Care, 6(2), 96104.

Kim, Y. H., Lee, K. S., Kim, Y. S., Kim, Y. H., & Kim, J. H. (2019). Effects of hypoxic preconditioning on memory evaluated using the T-maze behavior test. Animal cells and systems, 23(1), 10-17.

Prosser, D., Grigsby, T., & Pollock, J. (2018). Unilateral anoxic brain injury secondary to strangulation identified on conventional and arterial spin-labeled perfusion imaging. Radiology Case Reports, 13(3), 563567.

Zasler, N., Katz, D., & Zafonte, R. (2021). Brain injury medicine (3d ed.). Springer.

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