Head Impact and Hyperphosphoralated Tau in Teens

We all agree that repeated blows to the head are bad for the brain. What we don ' t yet know is:who will show lasting cognitive and behavioral impairmentswho will show only transient sequelae (and for how long)who will manifest long-term neurodegeneration...and by which specific cellular mechanism(s)Adding to the confusion is the unclear terminology used to describe impact-related head injuries. Is aconcussion the same as a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI)? Sharp and Jenkins say absolutely not, and contend thatConcussion is confusing us all:It is time to stop using the term concussion as it has no clear definition and no pathological meaning. This confusion is increasingly problematic as the management of ‘concussed’ individuals is a pressing concern. Historically, it has been used to describe patients briefly disabled following a head injury, with the assumption that this was due to a transient disorder of brain function without long-term sequelae. However, the symptoms of concussion are highly variable in duration, and can persist for many years with no reliable early predictors of outcome. Using vague terminology for post-traumatic problems leads to misconceptions and biases in the diagnostic process, producing uninterpretable science, poor clinical guidelines and confused policy. We pro pose that the term concussion should be avoided. Instead neurologists and other healthcare professionals should classify the severity of traumatic brain injury and then attempt to pre...
Source: The Neurocritic - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Source Type: blogs