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TBI Not Linked To Heightened Chance Of Dementia
There is a wide-spread belief that repeated traumatic brain injury and dementia are connected, but now a study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai suggests that belief may be wrong.
The paper, entitled “Risk for Late-life Re-injury, Dementia, and Death Among Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury” found no link between TBI with loss of consciousness (LOC) and chances of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease. The paper was published in the November 21 issue of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psyciatry.
Leader of the study, and Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine Kristen Dams-O’Connor, says, “There is a lot of conflicting information in the literature about the link between TBI and dementia. The findings from this study do not support the commonly held belief that TBI leads to dementia.”
However, according to the Jewish Voice NY, there is a connection between repeated TBI with LOC sustained in older adulthood and an increased risk for mortality and re-injury. “The increased risk of re-injury in older adults as well as a link between recent TBI and mortality underscores the need for effective strategies to prevent injuries and re-injuries in this population,” Dams-O’Connor explained. It was the first study to explore the risk of re-injury in older adults.
