Head injury patients develop brain clumps associated with Alzheimer's disease

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/icl-hip020216.php

Public Release: 3-Feb-2016
Head injury patients develop brain clumps associated with Alzheimer's disease
Scientists have revealed that protein clumps associated with Alzheimer's disease are also found in the brains of people who have had a head injury
Imperial College London

Scientists have revealed that protein clumps associated with Alzheimer's disease are also found in the brains of people who have had a head injury.

Although previous research has shown that these clumps, called amyloid plaques, are present shortly after a brain injury - this study shows the plaques are still present over a decade after the injury.

The findings, by researchers from Imperial College London, may help explain why people who have suffered a serious brain injury appear to be at increased risk of dementia. Although extensive research now suggests major head injury increases dementia risk in later life, scientists do not know the biological changes that cause this effect.

"The consequences of a head injury have been called a hidden disability - although patients may seem to have outwardly made a good recovery, when we see them in clinic years later they can have persistent problems which affect their daily life, for example impairments in concentration and memory," said Dr Gregory Scott, the lead author of the paper, from the Department of Medicine at Imperial.

"Research is increasingly showing that a blow to the head, such as that sustained in a road accident, triggers biological processes in the brain that burn away in the background for years," added Dr Scott.

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"This is a preliminary study, and it's important to stress that these head injury patients didn't have Alzheimer's disease. However it supports the idea that the window of treatment for brain injury is potentially months or even years after the initial event. If we can find out exactly what processes are going on in the brain, it may be that we can intervene and improve long-term outcomes for patients.

"The works also highlights how damaging brain injury can be - and fuels the public health debate about what we can do to protect ourselves against head injuries."