Summary of Article:
According to the article, there is new research suggesting that "sustaining just one injury may up your chances of developing dementia decades later by 25% and this risk increases with each subsequent head injury." Dementia refers to a group of diseases (ie. Alzheimer's) that "affect thinking ability, memory and/or other cognitive functions." It is linked with abnormalities in the blood vessels to the brain, which can be affected by vascular risk factors like smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes, but also, as the recent study suggests, by head injuries that result in injuries to the blood vessels in the brain. The researchers in the study had analyzed 25 years of data involving more than 14,000 people in the Atherosclerosis category who were interviewed both in person and over the phone regarding their history of head injuries. Compared to those who never had a head injury, participants who had one injury were 25% more likely to have developed dementia later. For participants who had two or more head injuries, the likelihood of developing dementia 25 years later was more than twice that of participants who never had head injuries. Interestingly, white participants had a greater likelihood of developing dementia than black participants, and women were more likely than men to develop dementia. While there is an association between head injury and dementia, the article stresses that the research does not prove cause and effect. Taking action such as not smoking, staying socially connected, and taking precautions such as wearing a helmet or wearing a seatbelt can help reduce the likelihood of later developing dementia.
Science in the Article:
This article did not, for some reason, provide a link to the study that is focused on in this article (or any article for that matter, although it did quote several experts about dementia). However, given that the study is fairly recent, a quick Google search allowed me to find the study of interest. This study is titled, "Head injury and 25-year risk of dementia" and is from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine by Dr. Andrea Schneider et al. It was published on March 9th, 2021 by the Alzheimer's Association. The study describes using 14,376 participants and carefully analyzing head injuries reported to assess the correlation between concussion and dementia. The study concluded that, when following up after 25 years, there was an increased link between head injury and dementia, "with stronger associations among female participants and white participants." The results of this study have been reported accurately by the news article.
Another relevant study conducted to determine a link between head injury and dementia is titled, "Documented head injury in early adulthood and risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias" by B.L. Plassman et al. This study examined the link between "early adult head injury, as documented by military hospital records, and dementia in late life." The study involved 548 veterans with a head injury and 1228 without head injury. The authors discovered that moderate and severe injuries in young men were more associated with an increase in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in late life. Additionally, mild injury associations with dementia were inconclusive. Much of the information in the news article corresponds to this study, although the news article focused more on the link between vascular dementia (caused by injury to blood vessels) and head injury, rather than Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, the news article did not really consider differences in severity of the head injury, only the number of times that the participants had had a concussion. Overall, the news article is still consistent in demonstrating the higher risk of dementia in patients who have had head injuries.
Finally, a study titled, "Sex, race, and risk of dementia diagnosis after traumatic brain injury among older veterans" by Erica Kornblith et al. investigated whether there were differences in the dementia diagnosis risks associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) between different races and sexes. Here, they found that while the risk of dementia after TBI was higher in all groups compared to the risk of dementia without TBI, "White veterans were at greatest risk for dementia after TBI." Interestingly, here the researchers did not find any significant difference between women and men with regard to the risk of dementia after TBI. This is different from the science reported in the news article from the study, which says that women are actually at greater risk for dementia following head injury than men. However, the news article is in line with the study in saying that white participants were at higher risk of dementia following head injury than other races. The study acknowledged that "further research was needed to understand the mechanisms for this discrepancy," which is similar to what the news article emphasized about the need for more research to establish the causes of dementia and better understand the link between head injury and dementia.
Assessment: Was Science Misused?
Based on the science discussed in other relevant studies, I think that this news article by the U.S. News & World Report represented the science accurately with respect to the study they covered. There were indeed some differences between previous science and the new study. For instance, the new study (at least as represented by this article) seemed to focus more on drawing connection between vascular dementia and head injury, as it is thought that injury to blood vessels can cause dementia, similar to the way blood vessels can be injured with high blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes, risk factors that have already been established as being associated with dementia. However, the news article did not really discuss any connection between head injury and Alzheimer's disease, another major subcategory of dementia, despite there being some research that supports the correlation. Additionally, previous research has suggested that there is no significant difference between women and men regarding the risk of dementia following brain injury, however, this article cites from the new study that women are more prone to diabetes following head injury compared to men. Nonetheless, the article acknowledged that the correlation between dementia and head injury does not mean causation, and there are several other factors that are also at play, similar to what was acknowledged in other studies as well. Similar trends as those in previous studies, such as white participants having a greater risk for dementia were also pointed out in the news article, and overall, the news article described the methodology of the new study very accurately. In conclusion, I believe that this news article did not misuse science regarding the link between concussions and later risk of dementia.
Thanks for reading!
This was a really interesting read! I know head injuries are most commonly studied with the risk of CTE especially in pro football players but did not know that there was a link to dementia with it. This could be very helpful in educating youths on the risks and possible complications of concussions, especially those involved in sports. Being a gymnast myself it is very common to get concussions and this is not something I have ever heard of as a possible complication later in life. I think you did a great job explaining how the news article related to the science found in other studied but that it focused on one specific thing, the vasculature, rather than the common complications like Alzheimers.
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteI never thought about how head injuries could end up playing a factor in dementia. Although this research correlates the head injury with dementia and Alzheimer’s it does not include genetic history or other factors that could increase this potential. I do think that this is a tough area to research as there are many factors that do influence dementia/alzheimer’s later in life and nothing to really pinpoint on. I did find it interesting that white participants, especially women, had a greater risk of developing this. Regardless, head injuries correlate to dementia as many of these research articles have stated. It really puts wearing a helmet for safety into perspective as riding a bike, playing sports, or other things that put you at risk for head injury.
Hi, Anusha!
ReplyDeleteWow, this is so interesting, and kind of scary! As somebody who has had multiple concussions, this read definitely made me think a lot. While they have not been severe, it is scary to know I may be at a greater risk of dementia. I personally believe that a lot of these things have to do with environmental factors, if not genetics. My grandmother had dementia, and I am interested to see more research on what causes it and how to prevent it.