References And Further Information
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare .Dementia in Australia. AIHW: Canberra.
Shrively, S. Scher, A.I. Perl, D.P. Diaz-Arrastia, R. .Dementia resulting from traumatic brain injury: What is thepathology? Archives of Neurology, 69, 1245-1251.
World Health Organisation . . Dementia: APublic Health Priority. WHO: Albany, NY, USA.
Sampson, E.L. Warren, J.D. Rossor, M.N. . Young-onset dementia. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 80, 125-139.
McKee, A.C. et al. . Chronic traumaticencephalopathy in athletes: progressive tauopathyfollowing repetitive head injury. Journal of Neuropathologyand Experimental Neurology, 68, 709-735.
A Knock To The Head Can Lead To Dementia
My views on the dangers of blows to the head have made it into print several times, especially as practised in boxing and heading the ball in football.
Ive even gone as far as calling for a ban on boxing.
This is because each blow to the head kills millions of brain cells leading, over time, to a degeneration of the brain called CTE chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
The latest research goes even further, showing brain injury raises dementia risk.
A recent report in the British Medical Journal claims people who have sustained a traumatic brain injury have a higher risk of developing dementia and Alzheimers disease.
The study is important. Its one of the first to have a sufficiently large sample size and follow-up time so that the effects of traumatic brain injury can be properly assessed.
It includes data on 2,794,852 Danish people from 1995 to 2013 who had their 50th birthday at some point during the study period.
Registries were used to identify people whod sustained a traumatic brain injury from 1977 to 2013 and those whod had dementia diagnosed.
Over the period of the study 132,093 people had at least one traumatic brain injury, and 126,734 had dementia diagnosed.
Data analysis showed that people whod had at least one traumatic brain injury were 24% more likely to have dementia diagnosed than those without such a history, and 16% more likely to have Alzheimers disease diagnosed.
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Reducing Your Risk Of Dementia
Researchers at the World Health Organisation have found that a person is more likely to develop Alzheimers disease if they have diabetes, high blood pressure or depression. A person is also at greater risk if they are obese, dont exercise regularly, if they smoke, or if they have low levels of education. Other types of dementia have other risk factors: for example, heavy drinkers are more likely to develop alcohol-related dementia.
Based on these risk factors, there are five important steps that we can take to reduce our risk of dementia:
Look after your heart Have your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar levels and weight checked regularly by your doctor. Avoid smoking.
Be physically active National Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on most, if not every day.
Mentally challenge your brain For example, learn a new skill, enrol in an educational course, read about interesting or novel topics, or have a regular, engaging hobby.
Follow a healthy diet Eat a variety of foods, including two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables per day. Limit your alcohol consumption to no more than two standard drinks on any given day.
Enjoy a social activity Help to keep your brain active by organising regular social outings with friends and family, joining a community or volunteer group or having a regular social leisure activity .
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Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyers
Im Ed Smith, a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer. When someone suffers a stroke, this might lead to dementia. If you have suffered a stroke or mental health problems following an injury due to the negligence of another person or entity, please reach out to me at and/or to receive free, friendly legal guidance and advice.
Im honored to be a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum as well as in the Top One Percent. This is a selective National Association of Distinguished Counsel. The legal professionals in our group have worked to achieve verdicts & have negotiated case settlements valued in excess of $1 million.
Feel free to look over a handful of our verdicts and/or settlements saved at this address.
All are invited to swing by Avvo and Yelp, as well as , to review some of my earlier comments written by my clients.
Citation of Photograph: The image used at the top of this article was uncovered first on Pixabay. It has been printed here using the guidance of the Creative Commons License.
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Increased Chances For Alzheimers Disease From Traumatic Brain Injury
Researchers concluded that those with a mild TBI have double the chances for dementia, and those with a serious traumatic brain injury have 4.5 times the chances for dementia. They also found that TBIs can dramatically hasten the onset of Alzheimers disease by as much as four years.
Dementia is a generic term for cognitive decline that causes memory loss and affects quality of life. Alzheimers disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for up to 80% of all dementia, according to the Alzheimers Association.
There is no cure for Alzheimers. The Alzheimers Association reports that sufferers live an average of four to eight years after being diagnosed with the disease.
The disease occurs in several stages, gradually worsening over time. Symptoms of early-stage Alzheimers include:
· Forgetting material that was just read
· Difficulty using the right word or name
· Losing valuable objects
Middle-stage Alzheimers symptoms include:
· Forgetting personal history
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What Will They Do
Working with 40 patients with traumatic brain injury , Dr Neil Graham at Imperial College London will investigate whether brain scans and the protein, neurofilament light measured with blood tests soon after an injury could help predict future memory problems.
Dr Graham will also carefully compare patterns of brain degeneration following TBI with those seen in the early stages of Alzheimers.
His team wants to see if the same brain areas are affected and whether TBI could increase someones risk of Alzheimers by making these regions more vulnerable to the damaging processes that cause the disease.
What Is A Concussion
Itâs when a jolt to your body or head shakes your brain back and forth inside your skull. Any hard hit — whether it’s from a football tackle or a car accident — can lead to a concussion. Although itâs considered a mild brain injury, it can cause lasting damage if you don’t rest long enough afterward to let your brain fully heal.
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Functional Deficits May Appear Long After The Initial Injury
CTE, previously termed dementia pugilistica, was first described in 1928 and is now recognized as a serious condition that has led to early-onset dementia in professional athletes in contact sports such as football, boxing, and hockey . CTE is characterized in part by neurofibrillary tangles with or without amyloid plaques .
In professional sports, CTE could be the result of cumulative concussions sustained not only in adulthood, but starting from an early age, since many athletes are selected because they show athletic promise as children. Further, children often engage heavily in their sports in pregame practice as well as during games, so injuries may be more frequent than officially reported. This means that they can receive multiple mild head injuries that, while they do not result in concussion, could exert clinically significant rotational forces potentially leading to the adult onset of CTE . Thus, CTE may be a pediatric disorder that merits much more attention than it has been receiving. The idea that repetitive minor head injuries could have long-term consequences has not been widely accepted in sports medicine as we noted above, because of the liability consequences that would ensue if it could be demonstrated that serious brain injury and functional impairments such as CTE are the result of minor injuries sustained during the prime of youth .
Robert A. Stern, Michael L. Alosco, in, 2018
Head Injuries And Early Warning Signs
Several studies have looked for early warning signs of dementia in the brains of people who have experienced traumatic brain injuries.Researchers have identified the build-up of tau tangles and amyloid plaques many years after the injury in the brains of a higher proportion of people who have experienced a severe brain injury than those who had not experienced brain injury. However, we dont know if these individuals went on to develop dementia.
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Concerned About Your Memory
If you are concerned about your memory or that of someone close to you, it is important to speak to a doctor. A doctor will be able to listen to your concerns and investigate a range of possible causes of memory difficulties. An early diagnosis of dementia ensures that a person has access to support, information and treatment options. It also gives people the opportunity to help plan their future care, including financial and lifestyle wishes. When visiting your doctor, it is helpful to write down your concerns before the appointment, and consider bringing along a close friend or family member for support.
More information on how to maintain brain, heart and body health can be found at Alzheimers Australias website.
Thanks to Jeanette Van Luyn from Alzheimers Australia for contributing this article. Visit Alzheimers Australias website for a range ofinformation and fact sheets for people with dementia,those who care for them, and the general community.
Can Head Injuries Increase The Risk Of Dementia
Although there does appear to be an association between traumatic brain injuries and increased dementia risk, its also clear that not everyone who has experienced a head injury or repeated head injuries will go on to develop dementia.
Traumatic brain injury is just one factor believed to play a potential role in increasing the risk of dementia. There are factors we can’t change, such as our age and genetics. There are also lifestyle factors that can be addressed such as smoking, high blood pressure, excessive alcohol consumption and obesity to reduce the risk of dementia.
We need more research to understand how the type of injury, frequency, and the age at which head injuries happen may influence our risk of dementia.
Unfortunately, there is no accurate way to know whether someone may go on to develop dementia if they have sustained a head injury.
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Support Groups And Counseling For Head Injury
If you are a caregiver, you know that caring for a head-injured person with dementia can be very difficult. It affects every aspect of your life, including family relationships, work, financial situation, social life, and physical and mental health. You may feel unable to cope with the demands of caring for a dependent, difficult relative. Besides the sadness of seeing your loved ones condition, you may feel frustrated, overwhelmed, resentful, and angry. These feelings may in turn leave you feeling guilty, ashamed, and anxious. Depression is not uncommon.
Different caregivers have different thresholds for tolerating these challenges. For many caregivers, just venting or talking about the frustrations of caregiving can be enormously helpful. Others need more help, but may feel uneasy about asking for it. One thing is certain, though: if the caregiver is given no relief, he or she can burn out, develop his or her own mental and physical problems, and become unable to care for the person with dementia.
This is why support groups were invented. Support groups are groups of people who have lived through the same difficult experiences and want to help themselves and others by sharing coping strategies. Mental health professionals strongly recommend that family caregivers take part in support groups. Support groups serve a number of different purposes for a person living with the extreme stress of being a caregiver for a head-injured person with dementia:
What Kind Of Treatment Is Available
Most traumatic brain injuries are mild and can be managed with a short hospital stay for observation or at-home monitoring followed by outpatient rehabilitation . However, the most serious brain injuries require specialized hospital care and months of inpatient rehabilitation.
Treatment of dementia in a person with a history of traumatic brain injuries depends on the type of dementia diagnosed.
The strategies for treating Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia remain the same, regardless of the presence or absence of a history of brain injury.
The person who has developed dementia will benefit from any of the following:
- Behaviour modification
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Causes Of Head Trauma In Dogs
Dog skulls are thicker than human skulls and they have more robust musculature on their heads so head trauma is not as common in dogs as in humans. Damage to the head can occur in several ways. The most common causes of head injuries to dogs are car accidents, rough play or fighting with other dogs, and falls from a high elevation.
Home Care After A Head Injury
The extent to which a person with a head injury can care for themselves at home depends on their disabilities. If self-care is possible, a plan should be developed with input from the professional care team and family members. The team should assess the personâs ability to function on their own and comply with medical treatment. In many cases, the person must be supervised by a caregiver to ensure compliance and safety.
The injured person’s surroundings must be neither too calm nor too hectic. They should have regular routines of light and dark, eating, sleeping, relaxing, using the bathroom, and taking part in rehabilitation and leisure activities. This helps the injured person remain emotionally balanced and minimizes the caregiverâs burden.
- The environment should be made safe by taking away area rugs to reduce falls, removing hazards, providing grab bars in bathtubs and showers and around toilets, and putting child locks on cabinets or stove knobs if necessary.
- If the patient is capable of going out alone, they should know the route well, carry identification, wear a medic alert bracelet, and be able to use phones and public transportation.
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Diagnosis Of Head Trauma In Dogs
If your dog experiences head trauma, there are several tests that are likely to be done to assess the level of damage that has occurred. Your veterinarian will get information about the onset of the signs and about the dogs overall medical history. Blood will be drawn to get a complete blood count and biochemistry profile which will help uncover any toxins or imbalances that might be present. These samples will be compared with previous tests to check for changes in the functioning of the liver and kidneys.
X-rays of the head and neck area may be helpful in determining if there is any fracturing of the skull where the trauma occurred, although a computerized tomography scan will get a clearer image of both the skull and brain. Although magnetic resonance imaging is not yet common as an imaging technique for canines as it is expensive and requires the dog to be fully sedated, it can be useful in certain situations to diagnose injuries to the brain and spinal cord.
Single Blow To The Head Can Cause Dementia
single blow to the head can cause the same brain damage as found in dementia patients, a new study has found.
Researchers discovered that one injury can produce abnormal proteins including those associated with Alzheimer’s disease, and that they spread through the brain.
The landmark study, from the Pharmacological Research of Milan and the University of Glasgow, has been hailed as the first evidence that just one traumatic brain injury can generate an abnormal form of the dementia associated protein tau, which can result in memory loss and brain damage.
It comes amid concern over the long-term health of professional sport players following high profile cases in which stars have developed degenerative brain conditions.
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When To Seek Medical Care For Dementia
Any of the symptoms and signs described in the symptoms section warrants a visit to the personâs health care provider. This is true regardless of whether the person has a known head injury. Be sure the health care provider knows about any falls or accidents that could have involved even a mild head injury.
Symptoms Of Head Trauma In Dogs
The signs for dogs with head trauma are very similar to human symptoms. Cuts, bruises, or lumps on the head may indicate trauma to the head along with:
- Bleeding from the nose or ears
- Coma
- Seizures
- Stumbling
If you notice these signs, especially after a recent blow to the head, bring your pet into the veterinarian immediately for treatment.
Types
Several types of injuries to the brain can occur due to trauma to the head itself.
Concussion – The most common form of head trauma a concussion is when the brain is violently traumatized from an impact, and can cause temporary or permanent damage
Contusion – A direct impact to the head causes this condition, characterized by bleeding on the brain.
Coup-Contrecoup – This occurs when there is a contusion at the site of impact and one on the opposite side from the brain hitting the inside of the skull
Diffuse Axonal – This is caused by strong shaking or rotation, and is characterized by tearing of the nerve tissues this condition can cause damage that is spread across several areas of the brain
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What Changes Can I Expect
Dementia-related symptoms from head injuries include those that affect thinking and concentration, memory, communication, personality, interactions with others, mood and behaviour.People experience different combinations of these symptoms depending on the part of the head-injured, the force of the blow, damage caused and the persons personality before the injury. Some symptoms appear rapidly while others develop more slowly. In most cases, symptoms have at least started to appear in the first month after the injury.