MORE than eight in 10 people who go into the emergency rooms with head trauma suffer significant brain damage; and many of these patients are in the prime of their lives.

These figures from Associate Professor Ivan Ng, head of the neurosurgery department at the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI), also show that every year, about 100 to 200 people suffer traumatic brain injuries - with motor vehicle accidents accounting for almost half of them.

This is backed by the latest statistics from the Traffic Police.

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times' Home section.