Brain Injury Awareness

The link between concussions and dementia

Those who have experienced a concussion in life may have increased risk for dementia, a study called Traumatic Brain Injury and The Risk of Dementia Diagnosis: A Nation Wide Cohort Study suggests. The study’s author, Peter Nordstrom, states, “The main finding is the strong association between a previous traumatic brain injury and the risk of dementia. The association is strong for more severe or multiple traumatic brain injuries and the association persists for more than 30 years after the trauma.”

In another study that was reported in JAMA Neurology, researchers say that dementia should be on the list of possible complications of concussion, regardless of if the patient lost consciousness or not. Their study tracked more than 1/3 of a million veterans. They found that concussion without loss of consciousness led to 2.36 times the risk for dementia. These risks were slightly raised for those who lost consciousness (2.51). The risk for dementia was nearly four times higher for those with serious moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (3.77). With this said, prevention is important to ensure future health of current athletes and those who do regular physical injury.

On April 5th, it was announced that there will be financial support for 28 organizations across Canada through the Social Development Partnerships Program-Disability Component for a total of $18 million over 3 years.

Please read the following link for more information regarding this grant:

https://www.braininjurycanada.ca/funding-announcement-april-2019/

Study sources:

https://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20180130/concussions-drive-dementia-risk-decades-later#1

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2733670?resultClick=1

https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/88/6/462

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-study-finds-possible-link-between-concussion-and-dementia-risk-in/

https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2018/05/410361/dementia-risk-doubles-following-concussion-ucsf-study-shows

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002496