What are the connotations of disease? To most, it signifies blight or illness—emaciation in hospital rooms, careful sterilization against contagion, or viral matter invading a host—and is a matter of public health. But, taken more broadly, disease is simply a chronic and detrimental force on human health. Though it may seem odd compared against, say, heart disease, serious injuries caused by trauma are as impactful as disease, on both personal and public scales, in virtually every category. Considering traumatic injury as disease on a public scale, then, means approaching it from multiple angles, beyond health alone: such as using a head injury lawyer.
Trauma Statistics
To clarify, traumatic injuries are not, as the title might imply, just serious injuries of any sort. Rather, “trauma” refers to an acute event caused by sudden impact (or violent force of some kind). Though traumatic injuries are the result of “one-time” accidents, the statistics reveal the very chronic nature of this disease.
- Trauma is one of the leading disease factors in the world, having represented 16 percent of disease cases globally in 2002.
- In Canada, trauma is the leading cause of death for people aged 1 to 35.
- Sadly, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) deemed 90 percent of traumatic injury deaths “preventable”.
Delving deeper, into the specific causes of traumatic injury, the facts are even more harrowing.
How Traumatic Injuries Happen
The causes of traumatic injury are widespread, impacting vastly different demographic groups depending on the scenario. As with multifaceted diseases, like cancer, this quality makes preventing traumatic injury exceedingly difficult. Nonetheless, we continue to expand our knowledge base according to each cause.
- Motor Vehicle Accident Injuries
- Across all ages, motor vehicle collisions are the main cause of traumatic injury.
- Automobile accidents account for more than a third of hospitalizations and just under a third of all traumatic injury deaths.
- Sports and Recreational Injuries
- As you probably expected, sports and recreational injuries primarily affect youth, as young people are most able to participate in these activities.
- Despite a slimmer demographic area, these types of injuries account for 13 percent of all injury cases.
- As a head injury lawyer knows, cycling is one of the largest contributors to recreational injuries (at 24 percent), and the majority of cycling deaths result from brain injury.
- Slip and Fall Injuries
- At the other end of the demographic spectrum, slips and falls are endemic to the elderly, who are more prone to limited mobility.
- 40 percent of all nursing home admissions are generated by falls.
The Financial Impact: Public and Private
Viewed publically, the economic impact of traumatic injury borders on epidemic. In 2009, a study found that traumatic injury cost Canada a total of 19.8 billion dollars—10.1 billion in direct costs (e.g. medical costs, damage, etc.) and 9.7 billion in indirect costs (e.g. lost income, disability, etc.) On a personal level, this costs 600 dollars for every Canadian citizen; however, considering that trauma is “low-incidence, high-cost”, each injury costs the sufferer far more than 600 dollars. The best head injury lawyer knows this, and can use their experience to get you the compensation you need. If you’ve had a traumatic injury, you’re suffering a disease—get the treatment you need with a head injury lawyer.
Sources:
https://www.cna-aiic.ca/~/media/cna/files/en/fact_sheet_23_e.pdf?la=en
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/ti/