TBI risk is high in seniors and continues to rise, prompting researchers to believe that it may initiate Alzheimer-like neurodegeneration. Traumatic brain injury is a major cause of death and disability in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Daily, 138 Americans die from TBIs, while many of the survivors are often plagued with lifelong disability and face numerous challenges. A Canadian study looked at the growing rate of seniors experiencing TBI and found an increase among those over the age of 65. Study author Terence Fu said, “During this study period, hospitalization rates remained steady for children and young adults, but increased significantly among adults ages 65 and older. Elderly adults were most vulnerable to falls and experienced the greatest increase, 29 percent, in fall-related hospitalization rates.”
A single traumatic brain injury can initiate Alzheimer’s disease-like neurodegeneration, according to a Penn State study. The researchers found that years after a TBI, the brain still reveals changes evidencing that Alzheimer-like neurodegeneration may have been initiated or accelerated after a single TBI occurrence. It is well known that experiencing a TBI can have lasting effects, as study coauthor Douglas Smith explained, “A single traumatic brain injury is very serious, both initially, and as we’re now learning, even later in life. Plaques and tangles are appearing abnormally early in life, apparently initiated or accelerated by a single TBI.”