Older people, who suffered concussions during their younger age, have higher risk of Alzheimer's disease, a latest study states.
"Interestingly, in people with a history of concussion, a difference in the amount of brain plaques was found only in those with memory and thinking problems, not in those who were cognitively normal," said study author Michelle Mielke, with Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Michelle and her research team studied brain scans of Olmsted County people in Minnesota. These participants, all aged 70, were divided into two groups; 448 people with no memory problems and 141 people with memory and thinking problems known as mild cognitive impairment.
The researchers asked the participants whether they had a history of brain surgery that led to loss of consciousness or memory.
Almost 17 percent of the participants from the first group without any memory loss reported of a brain injury and 18 per cent from the group with memory loss and thinking problems reported a concussion or head trauma.
The researchers said that they did not find any difference in any brain scan measures among the people without memory and thinking difficulties, even if they reported no or some head injuries.
But, the study authors found that people with memory and thinking problems and a history of head pain had levels of amyloid plaques, which were an average of 18 per cent higher than those with no head trauma history, reported Business Standard.
"Our results add merit to the idea that concussion and Alzheimer's disease brain pathology may be related," said Mielke.
"However, the fact that we did not find a relationship in those without memory and thinking problems suggests that any association between head trauma and amyloid is complex," Mielke said.
The study was published in the journal Neurology.
