In a new study of former athletes with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), researchers have found the disease tends to show up in one of two ways: early, with depression and behavioral changes, or later, with memory loss. Researchers talked to the relatives of 36 people who had the brain condition identified on an autopsy and found all but three had shown symptom patterns that followed one of those two trajectories. Experts not involved in the study called it a "marginal step" or "first stab" at determining the course of the disease, but said what is now needed are studies that track and test living athletes after a head injury. "The findings are certainly consistent with what other studies have been pointing to with this condition," Dr. Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, who studies traumatic brain injury at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Rockville, Maryland, said. But, he added, "We need to be able to have a way, during life, that we can make a diagnosis of this condition." CTE is a degenerative brain disease that has been found in deceased athletes who suffered repeat concussions and other blows to the head during their careers. The condition gained national attention … Continue reading →

Its like Match.com for soldiers returning home from war. But instead of pairing them with a mate, new technology called PEER Interactive is helping doctors match heroes suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression from traumatic brain injuries (TBI) with the proper treatment. It's one of the biggest emerging public health issues we've got, George Carpenter, CEO of CNS Response, the California neuroscience company behind PEER Interactive told FoxNews.com. They're now estimating that about a million soldiers of the 2.5 million that were in Afghanistan or Iraq will develop depression, PTSD, or blast injury. Every year, there are 38,000 suicides in the United States alone. And 2012 saw more casualties among American troops as a result of suicide than in combat, with 349 soldiers taking their own lives. None of these kids in basic training were ever told thatthe person most likely to kill you, is yourself, Carpenter said. There's no test in this area, unlike every other part of medicine. There's blood tests, X-rays, bone scans, (but) for psychiatry, diseases of the brain, there really isn't any test that says which medication you'll respond to. Research shows that 60 percent of the time, medications prescribed to for conditions … Continue reading →

By Randy Dotinga HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Aug. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Pilots of U.S. Air Force U-2 reconnaissance planes may be at risk of developing brain lesions, a new study suggests. America's involvement in two wars has increased the workload of U.S. airmen, and cases of decompression sickness -- a potential hazard of high-altitude flying -- have tripled over the past two decades, the researchers say. But this study suggests that U-2 pilots in general are more vulnerable to bruises in the brain, a sign that decompression damages the brain even in the absence of illness. The findings, published in the Aug. 20 issue of the journal Neurology, indicate that decompression sends tiny bubbles known as emboli into the brain where they don't necessarily make people ill but may still cause harm, said study lead author Dr. Stephen McGuire, a neurologist with the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine in San Antonio, Texas. "If the bruise is not too severe, the brain recovers," he said. However, "we don't really know what the long-term implications are." Decompression sickness, also known as "the bends," occurs when pressure around a person suddenly dips. High-altitude pilots, miners, mountain climbers and scuba divers can … Continue reading →