April 25, 2024

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Study: Severe head injury increases dementia risk by 50%

Study: Severe head injury increases dementia risk by 50%



 

Study: Severe head injury increases dementia risk by 50%.

Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) increases the risk of dementia, a study found.

In the United States alone, approximately 1.7 million people suffer from TBI each year.

Older adolescents (ages 15-19) and older adults (ages 65 and older) are most at risk of suffering from TBI.

 

Traumatic brain injury occurs when there is sudden trauma to the brain.

Traumatic fractures can also occur when the head collides with an object quickly and forcefully, or when an object pierces the skull and penetrates brain tissue.

Immediate and delayed symptoms include confusion, blurred vision, and difficulty concentrating.

A recent study even showed that traumatic fractures can have consequences even decades later.

 

According to a new study published online May 11, 2022 in Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology: People hospitalized with severe brain trauma may have greater chance than those without trauma Get dementia.

Severe brain trauma was defined as intracerebral hemorrhage and hospitalization of three days or more.

The researchers found no increased risk for people with minor trauma, defined as a concussion with a hospital stay of no more than a day.

 

 

Study: Severe head injury increases dementia risk by 50%

 

 

Study author Dr Rahul Raj, University of Helsinki, Finland, said: “Traumatic brain injury has been identified as a possible risk factor for dementia, and due to the increasing number of people with dementia, it is imperative to identify risk factors that may be modifiable , to reduce the number of people with dementia in the future.The aim of our study was to assess the relationship between TBI and dementia, while adjusting for other relevant dementia risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity.

 

The researchers used a Finnish national database that includes health surveys collected every five years for the study.

They found that 31,909 adults completed one or more questionnaires that included data on lifestyle characteristics such as physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption over the entire 20-year period.

 

The researchers next checked the National Health Register.

They selected 288 people hospitalized with severe TBI and 406 people with mild TBI in the study group who did not develop dementia within a year of injury.

During an average follow-up period of 16 years, 976 participants developed dementia.

 

Of those with severe trauma, 27 (or 9 percent) developed dementia. Of those with minor trauma, nine (or 2%) developed dementia.

And of those without TBI, 940, or 3 percent, developed dementia.

 

After adjusting for age and sex, the researchers found that people hospitalized with severe TBI had a 1.5 times higher risk of developing dementia than people without traumatic illness.

But this association weakened after further adjustment for other associated dementia risk factors, such as education , smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and high blood pressure.

Raj explained that alcohol consumption and physical activity appeared to play the biggest role in weakening this association.

 

The researchers found no increased risk of dementia among people hospitalized with minor traumatic illnesses.

 

Raj said: “In our study, about 1 in 10 people with severe TBI did develop dementia. Considering that there is no cure for dementia or traumatic brain injury, our findings suggest that preventing other dementias Diabetes risk factors, such as excessive alcohol intake and inactivity, may reduce dementia risk in people with severe TBI. More research is needed in larger populations.”

 

A limitation of the study is that it only included people hospitalized for severe TBI, so people who did not seek treatment for mild TBI were not included.

 

The American Academy of Neurology is the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with more than 38,000 members.

AAN is committed to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurological care.

A neurologist is a doctor specially trained in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of disorders of the brain and nervous system, such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson’s disease, and epilepsy.

 

 

 

 

 

Study: Severe head injury increases dementia risk by 50%

(source:internet, reference only)


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