Immediate treatment for a head injury dramatically reduces the long-term risk of developing Alzheimer’s, research reveals.
Studies have long warned that concussions raise the risk of suffering neurodegenerative conditions – but now experts say this danger can be mitigated.
Analysing data from more than 30,000 patients, researchers found that if treated within a week they had a 41 per cent lower risk of getting Alzheimer’s, when assessed three years on.
The study, in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, also found a 30 per cent lower risk five years on, compared with those whose treatment was delayed.
The researchers from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, said the key for patients was receiving physical and speech therapy plus cognitive rehabilitation while in hospital.
The study looked at patients aged 50 to 90 who had moderate or severe brain injuries, losing consciousness for several minutes or for hours, then suffering headaches, confusion, agitation and slurred speech.
Studies have long warned that concussions raise the risk of suffering neurodegenerative conditions – but now experts say this danger can be mitigated. Picture: stock image
It is estimated 1.4 million visit hospital every year in the UK with a brain injury and 200,000 are admitted.
In older people, it is believed that 80 per cent of head injuries are caused by falls.
It has been shown that people with brain injuries are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s later in life because of prolonged brain inflammation that damages the brain cells over time.
Last month Canadian researchers revealed that those who sustained the injury from any cause had a 69 per cent higher risk of dementia.
About 944,000 people in Britain are thought to have dementia and Alzheimer’s affects around six in ten of those.
Memory, thinking and reasoning difficulties and language problems are common early symptoms of the condition, which worsens over time.
‘For the millions who suffer head injuries each year, the message is clear: getting treatment immediately could protect their minds for decades to come,’ says Professor Rong Xu, author of the study at Case Western Reserve University.
