Traumatic Brain Injury | Symptoms & Treatments

Traumatic brain injury results from an impact to the head that disrupts normal brain function. Traumatic brain injury may affect a persons cognitive abilities, including learning and thinking skills.

Falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injury for all ages. Those age 75 and older have the highest rate (79 percent) of traumatic brain injury-related hospitalization and death due to falls.

Other common causes of traumatic brain injury include vehicular accidents and sports injuries. Indirect forces that jolt the brain violently within the skull, such as shock waves from battlefield explosions, can also cause traumatic brain injury. In addition, traumatic brain injury can result from bullet wounds or other injuries that penetrate the skull and brain.

Doctors classify traumatic brain injury as mild, moderate or severe, depending on whether the injury causes unconsciousness, how long unconsciousness lasts and the severity of symptoms. Although most traumatic brain injuries are classified as mild because they're not life-threatening, even a mild traumatic brain injury can have serious and long-lasting effects.

Resulting from an impact to the head that disrupts normal brain function, traumatic brain injury is a threat to cognitive health in two ways:

Traumatic brain injury injures your brain even if you dont lose consciousness and your symptoms clear up quickly. Anyone who experiences an impact to the head and develops any symptoms of traumatic brain injury should seek medical attention, even if symptoms seem mild. Call emergency services for anyone whos unconscious for more than a minute or two, or who experiences seizures, repeated vomiting or symptoms that seem to worsen as time passes. Seek emergency care for anyone whose head was injured during ejection from a vehicle, who was struck by a vehicle while on foot or who fell from a height of more than three feet.

Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury, and falling poses an especially serious risk for older adults. According to a CDC special report analyzing data from several federal agencies, each year 56,000 seniors are hospitalized as a result of head injuries sustained in falls and 8,000 die as a result. When a senior sustains a serious traumatic brain injury in a fall, direct effects of the injury may result in long-term cognitive changes, reduced ability to function and changes in emotional health.

An estimated 775,000 older adults are living with traumatic brain injury-related disability. Measures to reduce the risk of falls include:

Home safety and dementia

Use our online tool, Alzheimer's Navigator, and get a personalized action list on how to prevent falls and make your home safe for someone with dementia.

Over the past 30 years, research has linked moderate and severe traumatic brain injury to a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or another dementia years after the original head injury.

Not everyone who experiences a head injury develops dementia. Theres no evidence that a single mild traumatic brain injury increases dementia risk. Although theres no known strategy to reduce the possible long-term risk of dementia once youve experienced a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury, or repeated mild traumatic brain injuries, its important to understand that not everyone who experiences a head injury in one of these categories develops dementia. More research is needed to confirm the possible link between brain injury and dementia and to understand why moderate, severe and repeated mild traumatic brain injuries may increase risk.

The severity of symptoms depends on whether the injury is mild, moderate or severe.

Moderate traumatic brain injury causes unconsciousness lasting more than 30 minutes but less than 24 hours, and severe traumatic brain injury causes unconsciousness for more than 24 hours. Symptoms of moderate and severe traumatic brain injury are similar to those of mild traumatic brain injury, but more serious and longer-lasting.

In all forms of traumatic brain injury, cognitive changes are among the most common, disabling and long-lasting symptoms that can result directly from the injury. The ability to learn and remember new information is often affected. Other commonly affected cognitive skills include the capacity to pay attention, organize thoughts, plan effective strategies for completing tasks and activities, and make sound judgments. More severe changes in thinking skills a hallmark characteristic of dementia may develop years after the injury took place and the person appears to have recovered from its immediate effects.

Evaluations by health care professionals typically include:

Let your physician know if you are taking medications (prescription, over-the-counter or natural remedies), especially blood thinners such as Coumadin and aspirin, because they can increase the chance of complications. Also inform your health care professional if you drink alcohol or take illicit drugs.

Depending on the cause of the traumatic brain injury and the severity of symptoms, brain imaging with computed tomography (CT) may be needed to determine if theres bleeding or swelling in the brain. If you experience a traumatic brain injury, it should be noted in your permanent medical record and mentioned whenever familiarizing a new doctor with your medical history.

The most serious traumatic brain injuries require specialized hospital care and can require months of inpatient rehabilitation. Most traumatic brain injuries are mild and can be managed with either a short hospital stay for observation or at-home monitoring followed by outpatient rehab, if needed.

Treatment of dementia in a person with a history of traumatic brain injuries varies depending on the type of dementia diagnosed. Strategies for treating Alzheimer's or another specific type of dementia are the same for individuals with and without a history of traumatic brain injury.

Alzheimer's disease and other dementias that may occur as a long-term result of traumatic brain injury are progressive disorders that worsen over time. As with all dementias, they affect quality of life, shorten lifespan and complicate the effort to manage other health conditions effectively. However, because CTE is a relatively new area of exploration for researchers and physicians, formal clinical guidelines for diagnosing and managing this condition do not yet exist. Several major research initiatives are under way to gain further insight into the patterns of injury and brain changes that may be implicated in CTE, and to develop new strategies for prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Learn more: Treatment for Dementia, Treatment for Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's Association Research

Traumatic Brain Injury and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Awardees

Year Researcher Study Name

2013 Andrew Watt Characterisation of Tau Imaging Ligands for Alzheimer's Disease and other Dementias

2002 William Van Nostrand A Novel Transgenic Mouse Model to Study Platelet APP and A-beta Deposition in Stroke

2001 David O. Okonkwo Alzheimer's-Associated Beta-Amyloid Peptide and Traumatic Brain Injury: Mechanisms of Formation and Therapeutic Intervention

1996 Walter Stewart Apololipoprotein-E4 & Cognitive Function in Retired Boxers

1993 David A. Harris Processing and Trafficking of Normal and Mutant Mammalian Prion Proteins

1993 Karen Ashe Aging and Neurodegeneration in Familial Prion Diseases and Alzheimer's Disease

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Traumatic Brain Injury | Symptoms & Treatments