The Alaska Brain Center: caring for all kinds of brains

WASILLA — As March wraps up, so does National Brain Injury Awareness Month. The Alaska Brain Center along Bogard Road treats the Mat-Su Valley’s neurological needs on daily basis.

The Brain Center will soon unveil its new building next door — an expansion to meet the growing needs of neurological care in the Valley.

Working alongside Mat-Su Regional Medical Center has kept a steady flow of patients on top of their influx on-site.

Dr. Jeffrey Sponsler, his wife, Dr. Charlotte Nelson and the rest of the Brain Center team see all kinds of patients with a range of needs. Dr. Sponsler specializes in epilepsy treatment and Nelson has more experience with traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

Nelson has over 40 years of experience as a nurse and became a certified nurse practitioner 10 years ago. She said that TBI treatment will vary case by case. She said that the Valley reflects Alaska’s high averages of head injuries due to mobile accidents from snowmachines to bikes and cars. Falling on the ice is another common head injury that may need neurological treatment.

Anger is a common trait for most TBI patients, Nelson said. She’s seen patients flip their lid at the drop of a hat. She said that it’s unfortunate because they can have a total personality change after an incident, exacerbated by their frustration they aren’t the same as they were before the injury.

“There’s so much brain attack the public doesn’t know about,” Nelson said.

The brain can be a tricky thing to manage. Witnessing a seizure can be scary but it doesn’t need to cause panic, according to Nelson. She said a lot of people are still afraid to see someone roll their eyes or shake. Their first reaction may be to call 911 but, Nelson said, from her own experience and working knowledge, in most cases people need only to monitor them because cases some people just have seizures every day.

“Timing it and keeping them in a safe position are the best things to do,” Nelson said.

Epilepsy is a common instance of seizures but there’s a number of similar symptoms from other disorders. The general public still needs to be more aware of “brain attacks,” according to Nelson. Parents educators and other adults should be especially vigilant, she said. They should look for vacant stares and try to get the child to respond. If they take too long to reply or show any other unusual sings, they should be taken in to be examined.

General tips for anyone new to seizures:

If you're with someone experiencing a seizure, only move them if they're in danger — such as in the middle of the road or near a hot surface. Cushion their head if they're on the ground, loosen any tight clothing around their neck – such as a collar or tie to help them breathe. When the convulsions stop, turn them so they're lying on their side. Stay with them and talk to them calmly until they recover. Note the time the seizure starts and finishes.

Sponsler has seen 291 epilepsy patients in the last year and approximately 9,000 since they started the program, according to Nelson. Sponsler works around clock, with frequent calls in the middle of the night.

“I had no idea the numbers were that high,” Nelson said. “I respect him now more than ever. He never says no to a patient. The hospital calls 24/7, seven days a week. He’s at the hospital every day.”

Dr. Sponsler manages a two-bed epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) at Mat-Su Regional with a full time Electroencephalography (EEG) technician monitoring since 2007. The Brain Center also has an EEG machine on-site. The EEG scans a patient’s brain waves. They do this to diagnose epilepsy patients as well as a treatment tool to focus on specific parts of the brain. Treatment often calls for medication, constant monitoring, and in-depth analysis to insure accuracy. At the center, they run 40 minute studies. If they cannot diagnose them on-site, they will take patients to the hospital for further examination.

In some cases, they may need to find out why a patient is convulsing or experiencing unexplained unconsciousness. Either way, they need to be hospitalized, under a continuous EEG scan for up to 72 hours, according to Nelson. She said that the Brain Center follows the “gold standard” when monitoring patients for epilepsy at the hospital. They can go up to 72 hours to verify if a patient has epilepsy.

To find out more about the Alaskan Brain Center, visit their website at: www.akbraincenter.com/portfolio-item/our-building or call 907-373-6500.