AAN Study Suggests Concussions May Be Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

A study published in the American Academy of Neurology medical journal Neurology® suggest that there is a link between concussion and Alzheimer's Disease.

The study involved 589 people who were 70 years old or older. 448 of the peole had no signs of memory problems and 141 experience mild cognitive impairment (MCI). They were all given brain scans and asked whether they had ever experienced a brain injury that involved any loss of consciousness or memory.

The study showed that for those who had MCI and experienced a brain injury, their levels of Alzheimer causing amyloid plaques were 18% higher than those with no head trauma history.

Similarities between concussions and Alzheimer's Disease have been observed by scientists before. But no conclusive proof have yet been found relating one to the other. This recent study proves that finding a definitive link between the two may be a bit complicated.

A concussion is a head injury where the brain is shaken inside the skull. These concussions can be caused by injuries to the head that affects the scalp, skull or brain. These injuries can lead to Traumatic Brain Injury (TMI) where patients can experience short term memory loss, disorientation, unconsciousness or even permanent damage to the brain.

In March 2013, the American Academy of Neurology released new guidelines in evaluating and managing athletes with concussions to address the rise of head injuries with concussions being on the top spot.

New AAN Guideline On Managing And Evaluating Athletes With Concussions Released

Each year, more than one million athletes suffer sports related head injuries in the United States. Of the one million, an estimated 300,000 of these injuries are considered traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

Because of the rise of head injuries, concussions being the most popular, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) released new guidelines in evaluating and managing athletes with concussions.

Concussions are head injuries where the brain is shaken. Head injuries that affect the scalp, skull or the brain may result in a concussion. Traumatic brain injuries may lead to short term memory loss, disorientation and brief unconsciousness. Sometimes, concussions also can cause permanent damage to the brain.

The newly released guideline replaces the 1997 AAN guideline covering the same topic. The AAN also released a new App called Concussion Quick Check, to quickly help coaches and athletic trainers recognize the signs of concussion (see Related Links).

Stem Cell Treatment For Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) Being Researched

A promising study on stem cell transplantation to treat Lou Gehrig's Disease will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease is a neurological disease that affects voluntary muscle movement.

When a person wants to move a part of the body, like the hand, the signal first starts in the brain (the motor cortex), travels through the central nervous system (the spine) and to the peripheral nervous system (the nerves connecting to the particular muscle).

In ALS, the two systems, The central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS) start to deteriorate. There is nothing wrong with the muscle but because the nerve connection is lost, the muscle starts to shrivel up and dies. In advance stages of the disease, the ability to speak is also affected.

ALS is not as common as other neurological diseases like Parkinson's Disease or Alzheimer's Disease. In the United States, 5,600 each year gets diagnosed with ALS and there are around 30,000 Americans living with the disease at any given time.

Although muscle twitches (involuntary small movement of muscles) is a symptom of ALS, these twitches are a common occurrence due to an overactive nerve cell. It doesn't necessarily mean that one has ALS because of it. Difficulty chewing or swallowing, speaking problems, and muscle weakness and stiffness are additional symptoms.

There is no definitive test to diagnose the disease. Instead, physical examinations, blood tests, MRI imaging, and electrical study of nerves and muscles are used to detect the disease.

There is no cure for ALS.

Repairing Spinal Cord Injuries Through Schwann Cell Transplantation and Inhibition of Scarring

A new treatment for spinal cord injuries using the transplantation of Schwann cells and inhibiting the formation of scar tissues is being developed at the University of Liverpool and University of Glasgow.

The most abundant cells in the central nervous system are astrocytes (see image). They are a type of glial cells, cells that provide support and insulation between brain neurons. Their function includes biochemical support of endothelial cells that form the blood–brain barrier, provision of nutrients to the nervous tissue, maintenance of extracellular ion balance, and a role in the repair and scarring process of the brain and spinal cord following traumatic injuries.

Drug Controls Brain Inflammation to Treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis, and Traumatic Brain Injury

The chemicals also attract white blood cells that "eat" microorganisms and dead or damaged cells. The process where these white blood cells surround, engulf, and destroy foreign substances is called phagocytosis, and the cells are collectively referred to as phagocytes. Phagocytes eventually die. Pus is formed from a collection of dead tissue, dead bacteria, and live and dead phagocytes.

When tissues in the body are injured by bacteria, trauma, toxins, heat or other causes, it triggers an inflammatory response or inflammation.

Chemicals are released by the damaged cells which causes blood vessels to leak fluid into the tissues. This causes swelling that helps isolate the pathogen from doing further damage to the body.

Inflammation also attract white blood cells called phagocytes that consume the microorganisms and affected cells. This process, called phagocytosis, forms pus from the dead tissue, dead bacteria, and live and dead phagocytes.

Proteins associated with inflammation are cytokines. Cytokines are regulators of host responses to infection, immune responses, inflammation, and trauma. Some cytokines act to make disease worse (proinflammatory), whereas others serve to reduce inflammation and promote healing (anti-inflammatory).

New drug could treat Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and brain injury

A new class of drug developed at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine shows early promise of being a one-size-fits-all therapy for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury by reducing inflammation in the brain.

Northwestern has recently been issued patents to cover this new drug class and has licensed the commercial development to a biotech company that has recently completed the first human Phase 1 clinical trial for the drug.

The drugs in this class target a particular type of brain inflammation, which is a common denominator in these neurological diseases and in traumatic brain injury and stroke. This brain inflammation, also called neuroinflammation, is increasingly believed to play a major role in the progressive damage characteristic of these chronic diseases and brain injuries.

By addressing brain inflammation, the new class of drugs -- represented by MW151 and MW189 -- offers an entirely different therapeutic approach to Alzheimer's than current ones being tested to prevent the development of beta amyloid plaques in the brain. The plaques are an indicator of the disease but not a proven cause.

Extent of Damage for Children With Brain Injury Difficult To Predict and Highly Variable

The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as "a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain". Not all blows or jolts to the head are considered a TBI.

TBI may range from mild to severe. A mild case of TBI would result in a brief change in mental status or consciousness and a severe case would result in an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury. The majority of TBIs that occur each year are concussions or other forms of mild TBI.

While the symptoms of a brain injury in children and adults are the same, the resulting condition may be different. The brain of a child is different, it still is developing. Although it is assumed that because the brain connections (neurons) change and grow (plasticity), children would recover better, this is not true. A brain injury actually has a more devastating impact on a child than an injury of the same severity has on a mature adult.

Results of a brain injury can manifest in months for an adult. But with a child, it may take years after the injury before the extent of the damage can be detected.

Outcomes for children after brain injury difficult to predict and highly variable

Outcomes for children with brain injury acquired during childhood are difficult to predict and vary significantly, states an analysis of evidence on the topic published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

"There is no single best approach to describing outcome after acquired brain injury during childhood, and the one chosen must be appropriate to the purpose at hand (e.g., identifying individual, population, global or domain-specific outcomes)," writes Dr. Rob Forsyth, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University and Great North Children's Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, with coauthors.