Author Interviews, Brain Injury / 16.11.2023

pexels-photo-7578808-medical-practitioner.webpIf you've been in a scrape and your noggin took a knock, playing it tough and shaking it off isn't the way to go. A traumatic brain injury (TBI), even one that seems no biggie, can be sneaky. At first, you might feel fine, but your brain's had a jolt, and it needs a look-over. Ignoring it? Bad move. That little headache or dizziness might be your brain's way of saying, "Hey, I'm not okay." Small signs like mood swings, sleep changes, or even just feeling "off" can be the early whispers of something bigger brewing. It's like ignoring a weird noise in your car's engine—let it go and you might just find yourself broken down on the highway of health.

The Domino Effect of Ignoring Symptoms

Let's talk about what happens if you shrug off those symptoms. A tiny injury can start a chain reaction. Before you know it, you could be dealing with big-time problems like memory issues, serious concentration hiccups, or even long-term disabilities. And here's the kicker: these troubles don't always show up on day one. They can sneak up on you, turning from "I'm fine" to "Why can't I remember my passwords?" in no time. Think about it—your brain runs the show, so even a small glitch can throw off the whole performance.
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Author Interviews, Brain Injury, NEJM / 09.06.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel Perl MD Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Professor of Pathology at USUHS and Director of the CNRM's Brain Tissue Repository Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Bethesda, Maryland MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a brain disorder that is predominantly seen in individuals who have suffered from repeated impact head trauma, such as occurs in former boxers or American football players.  CTE has very specific alterations in the brain and can only be diagnosed at autopsy.  Some have claimed that, in addition to former contact sport participants, individuals who served in the military and were repeatedly exposed to blast (explosions) are also at increased risk for developing CTE.  However, this claim has been based on a rather small number of anecdotal cases.  The DoD/USU Brain Tissue Repository is the only facility in the world that is exclusively dedicated to the collection and study of donated brain specimens derived from deceased active duty and retired service members.  We used the resources of this facility to examine 225 consecutively collected brain specimens for the presence of CTE.  This would to provide a view of how common CTE was in this setting and, when diagnosed, was the disease correlated with prior blast exposure, participation in contact sports and other forms of head trauma, and with certain forms of symptomatology such as development of PTSD, alcohol/substance abuse, death by suicide, etc. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury / 12.08.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Henry Mahncke, PhD Chief Executive Officer Posit Science Dr. Mahncke earned his PhD at UCSF in the lab where lifelong brain plasticity as discovered. At the request of his academic mentor, he currently leads a global team of more than 400 brain scientists engaged in designing, testing, refining, and validating the computerized brain exercises found in the BrainHQ app from Posit Science, where he serves as CEO. This week, MedicalResearch.com interviews Dr. Mahncke about a new study, with breakthrough results for service members and Veterans grappling with the signature injury of recent wars. MedicalResearch.com: What makes this study newsworthy? Response: As the last troops come home from Afghanistan, the battle is not over for many who served and continue to grapple with the signature injury of recent conflicts — mild Traumatic Brain Injury (or mTBI). Typically, such injures were caused by blasts or concussions, and they’ve been diagnosed in more than 300,000 service members. Most recover within a couple days or weeks, but for many — some estimate fifteen percent — physical, psychological, emotional, and cognitive problems persist for years. Such injuries often go untreated, because treatments focus on in-person, customized, cognitive rehabilitation, which can be helpful, but is costly, time-consuming, requires travel for treatment, and relies on the craft and expertise of the healthcare provider. Up until now, there’s been no effective intervention that’s highly-scalable and that can be delivered remotely. This study showed that remotely-administered BrainHQ computerized exercises improved overall cognitive performance in a population with very persistent cognitive issues. On average, patients in this study had cognitive issues for more than seven years. That means we finally have a tool shown effective in a gold-standard study that practitioners can employ in treating this large and underserved population, who sacrificed so much to serve our nation. (more…)