American Medical Association Links Depression and Traumatic Brain Injury
TheAmerican Medical Association study links depression and traumatic brain injury. Survivors of concussions are almost eight times more likely to become clinically depressed, researchers report.
In the year following a traumatic brain injury, roughly half of survivors likely experience a bout of clinical depression -- a rate almost eight times higher than that found in the general population, says a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. And those whose head trauma was followed by depression reported significantly more pain, greater mobility problems and more difficulty carrying out their usual responsibilities than those who were not plagued by post-injury depression.
Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is sometimes called concussion. Often called the "silent epidemic," it affects some 1.5 million Americans yearly. Its symptoms are often subtle -- including personality changes, problems of memory and concentration, headaches and mood disturbances. While for most, the effects of a head trauma will clear within a year, many have more lasting effects. For at least 80,000 people a year, major disability will follow.
The 559 participants in this study had all come to a trauma center in the Seattle area with a head injury, signs of brain trauma that could be detected by a CT scan, and at least a few complications -- including loss of consciousness, disorientation or other factors that qualified them as scoring at most a 13 on the 15-point Glasgow Coma scale. Over the next six months, and then again at eight, 10 and 12 months after the participant's injury, researchers conducted a detailed telephone interview to gauge his or her mood state and ability to function. The result, said the researchers, was likely to yield a conservative picture of how many suffered from depression.
LA Times reporter Melissa Healy interviewed Dr. Hovda, a UCLA biologist who said, "the study made clear what clinicians had long suspected: "Major depressive disorder can have severe consequences for recovery from TBI."
But the study didn't explore some important distinctions, said Hovda, who was not involved in the research. Among those are whether repeated concussions — like those suffered by some U.S. troops and athletes — might make depression more likely than a single, severe brain trauma.
Other factors were also correlated with depression after Traumatic Brain injury including being African-Amreican, being involved in litigation, not completing high school, or when the injury was caused by violence (as opposed to a vehicular crash, fall or recreational injury).
It is still questionable whether depression is related to organicity of the injury or psyhological affects of the injury. The latter being more susceptible to treatment. But the myth that depression is "all in your head" (seriously - no pun intended) continues to dispelled. It a serious consequence of traumatic brain injury that can severly affect a persons ability to function.
To learn more about TBI and its sometimes-persistent effects, this comprehensive website can't be beat. To learn about local support groups and national and state efforts to improve life for those with TBI, check this website out.
nd smoking indicates that smoking cigarettes is a significant risk factor for the disease. After controlling for study design, quality of the journals, time of publication, and tobacco industry affiliation of the authors, the UCSF research team also found an association between tobacco industry affiliation and the conclusions of individual studies. Industry-affiliated studies indicated that smoking protects against the development of Alzheimer's Disease, while independent studies showed that smoking increased the risk of developing the disease. 
Studies of alcohol use and cognition among the elderly are rare and have mixed results. A study of drinking among the elderly in Brazil has found that heavy alcohol use is associated with more memory and cognitive problems than mild-to-moderate alcohol use, especially among women.
