According to organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association, new studies link a history of moderate-to-severe concussions (known as a traumatic brain injury or TBI) to an earlier onset of Alzheimer’s disease (the most common form of dementia) or other forms of cognitive decline.
In a study by UT Southwestern Medical Center published in Neuropsychology, to site one such report, researchers found that, in more than 2,000 cases, individuals who had experienced TBI and had a loss of consciousness of more than five minutes were diagnosed with dementia, on average, 2.5 years earlier than those who hadn’t had the TBI.
Further Alzheimer’s and Head Injury Stats:
- The Mayo Clinic offers that contributing factors also include age at the time of injury (they say around age 55), which may also increase risk. And that repeated (even mild) head injuries may affect problems with thinking and reasoning.
- In another study published in Brain in 2017, researchers studied 160 Iraqi and Afghan veterans between the ages of 19 and 58. The report showed evidence linking mild TBI with long-term consequences such as neurodegenerative disease.
- A similar report published in Neurology studied nearly 189,000 veterans (average age 68) and points to an increased risk of being given a dementia diagnosis as a result.
Obviously, more research is needed for conclusive results, because we really don’t know exactly in which cases such injuries increase the risk of neurodegenerative problems later in life or earlier onset. And there’s, unfortunately, no known strategies or treatments to help reduce what’s seen as a possible long-term risk of dementia once you’ve experienced a moderate-to-severe TBI. Luckily, there’s no evidence that a single “mild” traumatic brain injury increases your dementia risk. And genetics show that not everyone who experiences a head injury will develop memory-related decline.
Bottom line: Until science comes up with treatments that can delay the possible onset of neurodegenerative issues, let’s continue to try to protect our athletes as much as possible with headgear, padding, mouth guards and other equipment!
