Brain injuries can last a lifetime
In a university study, blood biomarkers show even one-off brain injuries have effects lasting decades.
A study of blood tests and MRI scans has shown that the effects of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can last decades.
Published in the journal, Brain, research by Monash-Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre TBI Ageing Study integrated a range of techniques to understand the enduring consequences of moderate to severe brain injuries.
They included imaging to measure the integrity of the brain microstructure, blood biomarkers to determine ongoing brain pathology, and cognitive tests.
While TBI is known to be a potential risk factor for neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease, the researchers say there is a critical need for comprehensive knowledge about long-term impacts.
This involves delineating the biological and clinical characteristics of any lasting neurodegeneration and identifying who is at risk, and then using this information to develop long-term management strategies.
The study’s first author, Dr Gershon Spit, said the findings supported the hypothesis that the effects of a moderate-severe TBI could be felt decades following the initial injury.
“We found that elevated levels of blood biomarkers are related to poorer brain microstructure and poor cognition,” Dr Spitz said.
“Traditionally, TBI was viewed as an isolated event with a fixed recovery trajectory. Over the last decade, TBI has been redefined as a chronic, ongoing health condition.
“This redefinition is a crucial first step in overhauling our healthcare models, which presently allocate the bulk of resources to the immediate post-injury phase and leave long-term symptoms inadequately treated.”
Dr Spitz said further work was needed “to tell us about people who may be at higher risk of experiencing progressive decline in functions like memory”.
Dr Bruce Powell, 57, suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2018 as a result of a cycling accident. He remembers very little of the first year or so after the accident and said that perhaps he is lucky in that respect.
“I never thought for a moment about my life and how lucky I was. How often do we only notice the gifts we have, when we lose them? I spent a long time being angry and even longer feeling low and lost,” Dr Powell said.
Before his accident, Dr Powell was an anaesthetist, and former director of Western Australia’s organ-donation program, DonateLife. He said after his TBI, he tried to return to his old life but he couldn’t cope with the cognitive demands or the responsibility.
“I have lost my career and my identity due to the accident and that has been very tough. I miss medicine. I loved caring for people and I devoted my whole career to that aim,” he said.
“It’s hard to find a replacement for that privilege. It was who I was and I am not that now. Finding meaning in this new life of mine is the hardest thing of all.
“I suffer with flashbacks and an illogical fear of many things. PTSD I guess people call it. I’m no fan of labels but it is difficult to overcome sometimes. Fractures heal and wounds close up, but the brain injury has left me emotionally unstable, unpredictable and occasionally disinhibited.
“I have to concentrate hard to control my behaviour and that can be exhausting on its own. My working memory is poor and if I am not concentrating, or tired, the day can slip past without me recalling much about it. I have to accept those things and move on.”
Related reading: Monash, Brain
