-Dr.Dianne McCallister, Chief Medical Officer at Porter Adventist Hospital

It's the time for skiing, ice skating, hanging Holiday lights, pulling boxes of decorations out of the attic, and soon well be shoveling snow and ice off our driveways.

These are all activities, which like many others, have an associated risk of concussion, now known as a Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI - a problem that has some serious consequences in both the short term and the long term.

The CDC defines a Traumatic Brain Injury as an injury to the head caused by a bump, blow or jolt that disrupts the normal function of the brain. These can range from mild - where there is a change in level of consciousness to severe where there is prolonged amnesia or loss of consciousness.

There are over 1,300,000 ER visits each year due to this injury.. 275,000 people will be hospitalized from TBI, and 52,000 people will die from their brain injury. This does not include people who get knocked out, but never seek medical attention.

500,000 of the visits are children between infant and 14-years-old. In Colorado, injuries are the number one cause of death in those 44 and under - and 33% of these are TBI.

People over 75 are most likely to have TBI from falls - and to die from this.

Since the cause of TBIs is a blow or injury to the head, any activity that can be associated with a fall, an object hitting the head, or the head hitting an object, can cause the injury.

The statistics in order of frequency:

Falls (35.2%);
Motor vehicle - traffic (17.3%);
Struck by/against events - such as colliding with moving or stationary objects (16.5%);
Assaults (10%).1

TBIs has some serious long-term effects, including changes to:

Senses - taste, smell, hearing
Emotions - depression, angry outbursts, personality changes
Thinking - memory and ability to reason
Language - ability to understand and to speak

It also increases the chances of developing Parkinsons disease and Alzheimers disease.

There are many simple ways to prevent TBIs.

Wear a helmet during sports that can cause head impact. This time of year that would include skiing, snowboarding, skating/ice hockey, bike riding, motorcycling,
Wear a seatbelt and make sure airbags are working properly
Older adults should fall-proof their homes. (i.e. remove area rugs, don't walk in stocking feet, have good lighting throughout your home, have grab bars in the tub and rails on both sides of the stairs)
Use ladders appropriately - and stay off them if you are unsteady
Use care - or better yet, avoid - walking on ice
Never drink and drive

Dr. McCallister is on 7NEWS at 11 a.m. every Wednesday. If you have a topic or question you would like her to discuss, email 11am@thedenverchannel.com.