Moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury is a known risk factor for diseases that gradually destroy the brain – such as late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Now, a new study links mild traumatic brain injury, or concussion, in people at genetic risk for Alzheimer’s to accelerated brain deterioration and mental decline associated with the disease.
…
Researchers, from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) in Massachusetts,…suggest that their study shows that there is a need to record even mild head injuries because, when combined with genetic risk, they may lead to long-term health problems, such as brain diseases.
…
Researchers also calculated a genetic risk score for Alzheimer’s disease for each participant…The results show that concussion appears to influence the link between genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease and cortical thickness.
Share this article
…
The results also highlight the importance of documenting concussion events and their symptoms, “even if the person reports only having their ‘bell rung’ and is able to shake it off fairly quickly,” notes Prof. Hayes, a research psychologist at the National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Concussion linked to brain changes in people at genetic risk for Alzheimer’s
