Even mild concussions cause severe and long-lasting impairments in the brain’s ability to clean itself of toxins, and this may seed it for Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other neurodegenerative problems, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine reveals.
The discovery offers important insights into traumatic brain injury (TBI), a poorly understood condition that has become a major public concern, particularly in sports and for the military. The findings help explain why TBI is so harmful and why it can have such long-term effects. The research also suggests that certain patients are at greater risk of a decline in brain function later in life, and it paves the way for new and better treatments.
“This provides some of the best evidence yet that if you haven’t recovered from a brain injury and you get hit in the head again, you’re going to have even more severe consequences,” said John Lukens, PhD, of UVA’s Department of Neuroscience and the Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG). “This reinforces the idea that you have to give people an opportunity to heal. And if you don’t, you’re putting yourself at a much higher risk for long-term consequences that you might not see in a year but could see in a couple of decades.”
