Is Traumatic Brain Injury Causing Your Memory Problems?
New findings suggest that traumatic brain injury (TBI, defined as any traumatic event that alters the function of the brain even transiently) can trigger a neurodegenerative process in some people that may show up many years after the original trauma. In fact, some studies suggest that individuals who have experienced a TBI may face four times the normal risk of dementia, although the specific factors that may deter-mine whether a particular individual is at greater risk are not yet clear.
“There are still many unanswered questions about the association between TBI and neurodegeneration, but it is generally accepted that a single moderate or severe TBI likely increases a person’s risk for a neurodegenerative disease process resembling Alzheimer’s disease (AD),” says Brian Ed-low, MD, an MGH neurologist who specializes in the treatment of individuals with traumatic brain injury. “It is unknown at this time whether a single mild TBI without loss of consciousness, or ‘seeing stars,’ increases dementia risk.”
WHAT YOU CAN DO
You can reduce your risk for a head bang by taking the following steps:
- Eliminate fall hazards around your home.
- Maximize your visual acuity through proper eye care and adequate lighting.
- Wear a seatbelt when ridng in a vehicle.
- Use a helmet while biking or skating, or playing contact sports.
- Choose sturdy, non-slip footwear.
- Tread carefully on slippery or icy surfaces.
Range of injuries
Every year an estimated 1.7 million Americans suffer a TBI. The effects of TBI depend on the type and se-verity of the injury and on factors such as the patient’s age, health, and genetic profile. TBI can occur with few or transient symptoms, or lead to immediate and sometimes long-term impairments. Symptoms of TBI may include problems with attention, decision-making, memory, learning, movement and behavior, dizziness, headache, sleep abnormalities, and difficulty with emotional regulation.
In 75 percent of mild cases, symptoms disappear within three months. People whose symptoms endure beyond three months are diagnosed with persistent post-concussion syndrome, an as-yet poorly understood complication that may involve significant alterations in the individual’s personal relationships, quality of life, and ability to engage in work or school.
A blow to the head or the penetration of the skull by an object are the most obvious ways to sustain traumatic damage to the brain. Violent shaking or a powerful jolt, such as might be caused by proximity to an explosion or sustained in a motor vehicle accident while wearing a seatbelt, can also cause TBI through the impact of brain tissue against the inside of the skull.
Another type of TBI, characterized by repeated mild insults to the brain or multiple sub-concussive injuries such as those linked to contact sports, may trigger a separate neurodegenerative process with different symptoms called chronic traumatic encephalopathy,”
TBI most often shows up as bruising of brain tissue, bleeding between the brain and the skull that com-presses the brain, or tearing of the brain’s axons, delicate fibers that connect brain cells to one another. The damage caused by the tearing of axons resulting from rotational forces involved in an accident may happen at impact and then progress gradually over time.
Promising advance
Fortunately, scientists may be on track to reducing some of the brain damage that involves axonal injury. In an exciting new study published Sept. 11, 2014 in Cell Reports, researchers used a formulation made with an experimental compound called P7C3 to treat mice with blast-induced TBI. The formulation not only prevented memory and learning impairment, and problems in balance and coordination following TBI, but also helped protect axons from damage. Perhaps most important of all, the formulation was capable of producing its beneficial effects as long as 36 hours after the TBI.
“Traumatic axonal injury is the most common and most devastating subtype of TBI and plays a significant role in disabilities related to brain injury, yet to date there are no therapies that have proven effective in humans,” says Dr. Edlow. “This study is exciting because it addresses this type of injury.
“Although P7C3 has not yet been tried in humans, results in animals suggest that the drug com-pound may halt the immediate damage to axons following a TBI and block the long-term process of axon degeneration, increasing chances of recovery. Because it is effective many hours after the injury, it provides a treatment window that may make it possible to improve the prognosis of people who suffer brain injury far from medical help.”
Staying healthy
“Perhaps one day we will develop therapies to prevent or heal TBI damage and help stop or slow TBI-associated neurodegeneration” says Dr. Edlow. “Until then, TBI prevention (see What You Can Do) and lifestyle changes to maximize brain health are the best way to preserve mental acuity.”
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