To help educate the public during the month of March for Brain Injury Awareness Month, Evan Packer, MD, FACS, FAANS, a Palm Beach County neurosurgeon, is offering his expertise on the topic.
“Brain injuries can take many different forms. Whether it’s an athlete who suffered a concussion or someone in our family or community who had an accident that resulted in a brain injury, we are seeing an increased understanding of the many who suffer from more moderate to traumatic brain injuries,” said Packer. “To help destigmatize the topic, it is important to understand brain injuries, discuss options for prevention, and review access to care and support services for those who have sustained this kind of trauma.”
According to the CDC, traumatic brain injury affects as many as 1.7 million children and adults in the U.S. each year. They experience changes in thinking, memory, behavior, emotional stability, movement, balance and more. In some cases, they lose the ability to care for themselves and require a caregiver.
A recent report by the Brain Injury Association of America states that every nine seconds, someone in the U.S. sustains a brain injury. Every day, 137 people die in the U.S. because of a traumatic brain injury-related injury. And, at least 5.3 million Americans live with a traumatic brain injury-related disability.
Packer is a managing partner and neurosurgeon at Brain and Spine Center South Florida, a comprehensive practice in brain and spinal surgery, and has extensive clinical training and experience in diagnosing and treating brain, neck and spinal injuries. Packer is a Diplomate of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and affiliate assistant professor at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University. He is an active member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the North American Spine Society.
To learn more about Dr. Packer or to discuss Brain Injury Awareness Month, call 561-501-7445.
