This event is so much fun and is one of our very successful fundraisers, helping us to raise money for our organization. Funds raised of course go to support our members, our respite care program and to keep our organization going. Your donate funds are going towards Brain Injury Prevention, Brain Injury Awareness and the Brain Injury Community.

Our goal this year is to raise $10,000.

Ways to sponsor the Bowl-a-Thon are:

• Buy a lane for $250.00
• Donate items for the Silent Auction & Raffle
• Donate prizes for the bowlers

You can also join a team and help us to meet our goal that way! Join or organize a team and collect pledges from team members, family and friends!

To register, send an e-mail to biaph@biaph.com or fax your registration sheet to 905 823-9960 with the name of your Team Captain and the name of your Team mates!

Event Details:

Date:  Thursday, February 16, 2012

Location: Classic Bowl – 3055 Dundas Street West, Mississauga, ON L5L 3R8

Time: 6:30-9:30pm

Contact: www.biaph.com, biaph@biaph.com or

(905) 823-2221 for more details.

Details:

• Bowling from 7-9pm
• Silent Auction full of amazing items!!!!
• 50/50 draw
• Raffle Tickets
• Bowling Prizes
• Face Painting & Clowning from Party California

Thank you to our members and our sponsors!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter! We are @BrainAwareBIAPH!

Here is this week’s installation of Brain Injury News.

According to the Vancouver Sun, a former bomb expert has developed a device to measure concussion-causing shock data. The Ottawa 67′s junior hockey team has joined forces with a former bomb disposal officer, Danny Crossman, who served with the British Army in Iraq, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Crossman now runs Impakt Protective, that has developed a simple, affordable hockey helmet sensor, “The Shockbox”, which instantly alerts team officials or parents, when a player suffers a dangerous blow to the head. The sensor uses Bluetooth wireless technology to send data to subscriber’s smart phones, submits data to a  webbased application. The app then issues a colour-coded message based on the severity of the hit.

An Anti-Inflammatory chemical could prevent stroke damage according to a recent article.  Drugs that block inflammation in the brain could help patients who have a stroke or a brain haemorrhage, according to Manchester scientists at the British Society for Immunology Congress on December 5, 2011. A naturally occurring chemical known as IL-1Ra is used to treat inflammatory conditions and Professor Nancy Rothwell, a neuroscientist at the University of Manchester has found that once it is injected into the brain, it helps to prevent long-term damage caused by too much inflammation. It also markedly improves traumatic brain injury in rodents and has shown promise in stroke patients.

In sports news, Soccer is the latest focal point for brain injuries. Heading the ball (hitting the ball off your head) is now being seen as a cause of head injuries. Israeli researchers are finding that repeatedly ‘heading’ the ball can result in a concussion like injury and impaired cognitive functioning. The researchers presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago and said that in adult recreational soccer games, the ball can travel at speeds of more than 50km/hr, in professional games, it can reach speeds of more than 125km/hr. The researchers said that repetitive headings were the problems, and players who played a lot were at the greatest risk. They established a threshold of 1000-1500 headings a year as the point where injury was most likely to occur. This equates to a couple of times per day for people who play regularly.

Dr. Mayland Chang of the University of Notre Dame is the recipient of an NFL grant, which allows her to study damage from traumatic brain injuries. Her research has been written about in medical journals. Her research focuses on the idea that after a traumatic brain injury, enzymes in the fluid of the brain eventually begin to kill the brain tissue. Her research has isolated an inhibitor, which may prevent the “destined brain damage”. Her goal is to be able to provide a treatment to athletes, which will provide quick-response intravenous solution to the body, essentially to save part of the patient’s brain.

If you or someone you know is a brain injury survivor, visit biaph.com for a list of services we provide, to read about our events and find out how we can help you and your loved ones.

The iPad can act as a communication tool and rehabilitative device for people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries and acquired brain injuries. There are many applications that are available that specifically cater to therapy practices and rehabilitation.

For example if you visit the website tactustherapy.com they have listed many of the applications including:

• Audio Memos – to help you record notes
• Conversation Cards
• 3D Brain – a great visual teaching tool
• “Bla Bla Bla” – a tool used to diagnose and assist people with Parkinsons, aphasia and encouraging loud speech and voicing
• iSwallow – for professionals only, provides videos and guides for assisting patients with swallowing exercises and a personalized exercise regimen can be set up as well
• Awesome Memory- a memory card game
• Dexteria- a game developed for occupational therapy use

Many applications are free or available at a very low cost. As well, many of these applications are “universal” and available on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

If you visit brainline.org, you will find a slideshow of helpful applications, as well, there is a downloadable chart of 27 applications that are helpful to brain injury survivors, found here. You will find full descriptions of each application in the chart.

Interesting applications featured on that list include:

• Lumosity Brain Trainer- exercises targeting memory, speed and problem solving for TBI patients
• My Emergency Info- aside from the standard information, includes a space for your blood type and all emergency contacts and caregivers
• Penultimate- a handwriting app that allows you to feel as if you are writing on paper
• Pic Z Tag – a fun name tag application, useful for those who can’t communicate
• Pill Time- keeps track of your medications and reminds you when to take them, you can enter multiple medications and dosage times
• Proloquo 2 Go- provides text to speech communication, has high resolution symbols and advanced word prediction
• PTSD Coach- designed for veterans and those who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, provides educational information, resources, relaxation skills and more.

In Cleveland, a clinic is studying how the iPad 2 can be used to help screen for concussions! In the field of sports medicine, new techniques are always being developed, but one biomedical engineer is taking advantage of the unique platform that the iPad 2 offers, being the ability to gauge direction and acceleration. Trainers will be able to use this technology to measure the changes in the body pre- and post-injury.  Trainers at John Carroll University and Solon and Brecksville high schools used the iPads in August 2011 as part of a baseline assessment of cognitive and neural functions of about 100 athletes. In addition to this, they tested balance by strapping iPads to each player’s waist, then ran an app that measured changes in “postural stability” on both soft and hard surfaces.

The hope is that new iPad app will help determine if players’ head injuries are serious by having quantitative data to compare pre- and post-impact balance ability.

It is evident that there are many, many applications available for TBI survivors. The question is, how to bring this technology to the community? Perhaps with the funding of our sponsors, BIAPH will be able to introduce this technology and some community meetings.

Our meeting will be held at our usual spot, The Cooking School at Loblaw’s Heartland Market, beginning at 7:15pm.

We will be discussing/participating in:

• The health benefits of laughter and humour
• How laughter and humour can help you maintain emotional health and well-being
• The contagion effect of humour and laughter
• How to re-kindle the joy in your life with Laughter Yoga
• A demonstration of Laughter Yoga
• A Laughter Yoga group exercise
• Resources for laughter clubs

Laughter Yoga is a revolutionary idea, it is simple, profound and becoming ever so popular. Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician from Mumbai, India launched the first laughter club in 1995 and today it has become a worldwide phenomenon with more than 6000 Social Laughter Clubs in 60 countries worldwide!

So, what is Laughter Yoga? A combination of Unconditional Laughter with Yogic Breathing. Laughter is simulated as a body exercise in a group, it is playful and it becomes real, and contagious and natural. The concept of Laughter Yoga is based on a scientific fact that the body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter. One gets the same physiological and psychological benefits.

Laughter Yoga has made a major difference in the lives of many people, with physical and mental disabilities in India, Canada, USA and Portugal. In Bangalore, India, the introduction of Laughter Yoga for the mentally and physically challenged has revealed a marked improvement in their motor and expressive skills.

This event is in support of Acquired Brain Injury Survivors, their families, friends, advocates, caregivers and professionals. This is an evening of celebration and companionship.

Come join us at this event, which is open to everyone!

Date: Friday, November 25, 2011

Time: 6pm Doors Open, Dinner begins 7:30pm, Dancing until 12am!

Location: Banquet Royale, 5080 Timberlea Blvd, Unit 34, Mississauga,                    ON  L4W 4M2, (905) 238-5335

Tickets: $75.00 ($40.00 for Survivors, Caregivers), $600.00 per table (seats 8).

Please R.S.V.P. with your payment ASAP!

Please visit our website for ticket information: www.biaph.com