Brain disease from concussions

Can A Concussion Lead To Brain Disease?

The fear of long term effects from a concussion is with good cause. The rise in awareness of the dangers of contact sports is a great thing. Understanding the risk factors of traumatic brain injury, especially repetitive brain trauma that is associated with contact sports, and even sports that are not considered contact sports, such as soccer, is important to reducing the chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

CTE

Prevention is the best protection against brain trauma and the potential chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Thanks to imaging techniques that are fairly new we can now close research gaps from the past and work on disease control. People who with repeated head trauma develop CTE and CTE symptoms significantly more than people who experienced brain injuries from something other than multiple concussions.

Repeated head trauma often only get associated a professional football player, but head impacts leading to brain damage and brain degeneration from repetitive concussive events happens more than just when people play contact sports.

Mild traumatic brain injury in military personnel

Mild traumatic brain injury in military personnel that is discovered due to brain imaging has several instances of individuals who committed suicide. Not everyone will have impulse control problems and memory problems like a professional athlete experiencing symptoms of CTE. Too often the symptoms of CTE are present, but the memory problems and impaired judgment are either not noticed or attributed to something else.

Repetitive brain trauma and subconcussive brain trauma have common symptoms.

Symptoms of CTE diagnosed properly still does not mean that the person will be able to recover. Neurodegenerative disorders other than CTE have been under research by several medical organization including the American Medical Association.

Brain injury medicine that is used for Alzheimer’s disease is an option for repetitive head injuries that are diagnose CTE patients, but there is still no conclusive information as to it helping.

repetitive head injury scan

Age is not always the main factor in neurodegenerative disease.

 

To diagnose CTE or really any neurodegenerative disorders it is helpful for the family of the person to know the symptoms of CTE. 

In the USA experimental neurology funding is often most done at national institutes focused on issues like Dementia Pugilistica because if you have elderly family members with memory problems we all too often assign those symptoms as dementia pugilistica and not symptoms of CTE.

But if your family member sustained a repetitive head injury in sports or even not in sports then the symptoms of CTE could be confused as being the symptoms of dementia pugilistica.

“Dementia pugilistica is actually a variant of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is itself a serious type of brain damage resulting from repeated concussions and is found in many professional athletes and military personnel who have been subjected to multiple impacts to the head.” Definition from http://www.protectthebrain.org

head trauma cte

To learn more about Alzheimer’s disease control you can look up any national institute that does brain injury studies or even just going to the Alzheimer’s Association website.

What’s a Concussion?

A concussion occurs when a blow to the head or a sudden jerk shakes your head, causing brain movement and when the brain impacts the skull is when you can get a concussion. Just because you have a concussion does not mean that you will end up with chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is associated with repeated head trauma, but even if you’ve had repeated head traumatic brain injury events, it does not mean that you’ll definitely end up with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. There is still so much to learn about CTE and all the factors that leads to develop CTE.

CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

 In brains with CTE, researchers have found that a protein called tau builds up around blood vessels. CTE has a complex relationship with head trauma such as persistent post-concussion symptoms and second-impact syndrome that occur earlier in life.

Nerve cells and the spinal cord damage that may be associated with brain trauma still are not known as to their role in the brain degeneration.

Primary physical manifestations of CTE

Primary physical manifestations of CTE include a reduction in brain weight associated with atrophy of the frontal and temporal cortex and medial temporal lobe. The repetitive brain traumatic brain injury is often associated more with football players.

But the game of soccer is a leading cause of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The risk factors of soccer are high due to head injuries from collisions as well as head injuries from using their heads to score other aspects of the game of soccer.

Plus, world wide the game of soccer is far more popular than football so the repetitive head injuries exposures are much, much higher.

Repetitive brain trauma in military veterans and how sports medicine may help.

It is a sad truth that we often praise sports heroes more than our military veterans. The good news is that there is a lot of money going into the science of protecting sports players, especially the contact sports players and the sports medicine that comes from that money being invested will be used to help military personnel.

Mild traumatic brain injury may lead to progressive degenerative disease. The neurological disorders are often assumed to be Alzheimer’s disease, but repetitive brain trauma brain imaging shows that brain tissue

Disease rates were found to be around 30% in individuals with a history of multiple head injuries. The clumps of dew strangle brain cells, which impairs their ability to function before they are completely killed.

It is particularly associated with contact sports such as boxing or American football. Intensive protocols for football players who have a head injury or show signs of head injury are in place, but it may not be enough.

CTE is a rare disease that is not yet well understood. It is a brain disease caused by repeated head injuries that can include concussions. It is a brain disease caused by repeated head injuries that can include concussions. Too often CTE symptoms are mistaken as someone developing dementia.

CTE could theoretically start after a single brain injury, when it does, it is rare. In the brains of people with CTE

It is unclear whether the risk of suicide is being changed. CTE is a brain disease that can only be diagnosed after death. CTE symptoms may be severe or mild, but examining the brain after death may result in the discovery of lesions in the medial temporal lobe and affect the hippocampus and amygdala, and causes impulsive, violent reactions, paranoia and the erosion of memory.

The best evidence available today suggests that although CTE could theoretically start after a single brain injury, when it does, it is rare. In the brains of people with CTE.

The NFL has also tightened the rules

The league has also tightened the rules against quarterbacks and players lowering their helmets to make contact. It has been linked to specific changes in the brain that affect how the brain works.

contact sports cte

The severity of CTE

The disease often worsens over time and can lead to dementia.. It is a progressive condition, and symptoms.

The concern about the long-term effects of people who hit their heads multiple or repeatedly, on the brain is growing..

The degenerative brain disease, which accompanies repeated blows to the head, has been diagnosed in the brain of more than 315 former NFL players. It has also been found in boxers, hockey players, soccer players, bobsledders, and other athletes. Increased awareness of head injuries has prompted some players to willingly remove themselves from the sports.

chronic traumatic encephalopathy

For men, soccer is the leading cause of concussions in high school sports. For women, soccer is the leading cause of concussions in high school sports.

Ann McKee, neuropathologist and director of chronic traumatic encephalopathy CTE, the lesions are mainly found in the frontal lobe and symptoms often include mild memory loss..

The location of the lesions and the way your brain is wired is likely to have a greater impact than staging.. Had never been diagnosed with a concussion before, according to the doctors at C.. McKee developed a staging system that ranges from the mild (stage) to the most severe (stage) stage to codify the pathology of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

CTE is not related to the immediate consequences of an episode of head trauma in late life.

Frontal lobe damage is known to be associated with problems of concentration, cognition, and impulse control. Level 1 is the earliest sign of CTE. Although the condition has most often been linked to soccer players, Studies have shown that the smaller, repeated blows to the head that don’t cause symptoms called sub-concussive hits are more forward-looking.

Although general trends exist, there is no clear delimitation of symptoms at these stages, said Chris Nowinski, co-founder and managing director of the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

Symptoms of encephalopathy may include behavior problems, mood disorders, and thinking problems. There is no known cure for Chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

The league installed an observer for head injuries, doctors and neurotrauma specialists on the sidelines and experts for neurocognitive testing in the dressing room in the press boxes of all games.

Diagnosed concussions are not reliable indicators of CTE.

repetitive head trauma

Post concussion syndrome vs. traumatic brain injury

You don’t have to lose consciousness to get a concussion or experience persistent symptoms after the concussion. In the latter group, post-concussion symptom severity was assessed six months after trauma using the Rivermead Postconcussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPSQ).

A significant difference in MD scores between the moderate TBI and control groups was found in the left fasciculus uncinate, left posterior thalamic radiation, and left lower longitudinal fasciculus, with a statistical trend observed in the left upper longitudinal fasciculus.

Regardless of the terminology used, the occurrence of a head injury in these cases will cause the brain to shake back and forth in the skull, resulting in mild damage..

Over time, such associations become less coherent, and psychological issues become particularly relevant. An accurate understanding of the neurological and psychosocial factors involved in PCS is critical to properly managing symptoms at different points after the injury.

Of the 270 concussion patients, 62 percent of patients reported an improvement in their symptoms after concussion after these four days of treatment. A week or two after your injury, you may find that you’re feeling more emotional than usual or have trouble sleeping.

traumatic brain injuries

Post concussion syndrome vs. traumatic brain injury

You don’t have to lose consciousness to get a concussion or experience persistent symptoms after the concussion. In the latter group, post-concussion symptom severity was assessed six months after trauma using the Rivermead Postconcussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPSQ).

A significant difference in MD scores between the moderate TBI and control groups was found in the left fasciculus uncinate, left posterior thalamic radiation, and left lower longitudinal fasciculus, with a statistical trend observed in the left upper longitudinal fasciculus.

Regardless of the terminology used, the occurrence of a head injury in these cases will cause the brain to shake back and forth in the skull, resulting in mild damage..

Over time, such associations become less coherent, and psychological issues become particularly relevant. An accurate understanding of the neurological and psychosocial factors involved in PCS is critical to properly managing symptoms at different points after the injury.

Of the 270 concussion patients, 62 percent of patients reported an improvement in their symptoms after concussion after these four days of treatment. A week or two after your injury, you may find that you’re feeling more emotional than usual or have trouble sleeping.

Rivermead Postconcussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPSQ)

Symptoms after a concussion depend on complex interactions between somatic, psychological, and social factors. In the group of patients with TBI, the severity of symptoms after concussion was assessed using the Rivermead Postconcussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPSQ).

More research is still needed to better understand how and why persistent symptoms after a concussion occur after some injuries and not others.

However, this term has been debated because the mechanisms underlying symptoms after a concussion and the role of factors before and after the injury are still poorly understood.

Because symptoms can be vague and can be due to other reasons, it can be difficult to diagnose post-concussion syndrome. Concussions are also often referred to as mild head injury, minor head injury, or mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI).

CTE brain

However, a significant group of patients may report post-concussion syndrome (PCS) symptoms weeks, months, and years after the injury. In general, post-concussion syndrome (PCS) is a medical problem that persists for a period of time after a head injury occurs.

In fact, the risk of developing persistent symptoms after a concussion does not seem to be related to the severity of the initial injury. In early stages, there are links between neurological signs and symptoms, neurocognitive functions and self-reports.

However, checklists alone are not sufficient to diagnose persistent post-concussion symptoms as a disorder if a comprehensive multi-dimensional medical, neurological, psychiatric and (neurological) psychological evaluation is not available.

You don’t have to lose consciousness to get a concussion. or persistent symptoms after concussion. However, checklists alone are not sufficient to diagnose persistent post-concussion symptoms as a disorder if a comprehensive multi-dimensional medical, neurological, psychiatric and (neurological) psychological evaluation is not available.

example of brain with CTE

The treatment of symptoms, even punch drunk syndrome symptoms, following a concussion vary. Mild traumatic brain injuries and repetitive brain injury, or brain trauma all can lead to different levels of cognitive impairment. Punch drunk syndrome comes from the way people would act when they were punch drunk.

Some mild TBI and concussion symptoms may occur immediately, while others may not occur hours or days after the injury.

Advances in study and modeling methodology and potentially the use of advanced imaging and biochemical biomarkers could improve the ability to identify high-risk patients in the first week after injury in the future.

Post-concussion syndrome is the name given to the range of symptoms that continue to occur after a mild head injury or concussion.

About The Author

Tiffany Dyar

Tiffany Dyar is the former Executive Director for The Center for Health Innovation & Implementation Science, and the former Program Manager at Regenstrief Institute.Tiffany has co-authored several medical publications including The American Journal of Critical Care  Journal of General Internal Medicine Trials Journal  Best Practices in Mental Health  & The New England Journal of Medicine

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