CDC report
 

CDC's Report to Congress on Traumatic Brain Injury Epidemiology and Rehabilitation:

http://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininj...epi_rehab.html

Recent PCS-relevant publications
 

Another 2 publications (you can view chunks of these online) -- both look good, but it would be great to have what they say about PCS subjected to some informed scrutiny :-)

Post-Concussion Syndrome: An Evidence-Based Approach by William D Boyd, 2014
(http://www.amazon.com/Post-Concussio.../dp/1499060866)

Brain Injury Medicine: Principles and Practice, 2nd edn, 2012, WD Zasler et al (http://www.demosmedical.com/brain-in...d-edition.html)

Chronic Post Traumatic Headaches
 

In my travels just now I found an interesting article about headaches associated with Post Concussion Syndrome.

Just thought I'd add on there in case it's of help to someone...

http://www.hacoop.org/professionals_5_1.html
Chronic Post-Traumatic Headache (2003)

Thomas N. Ward, MD and Morris Levin, MD
Co-Directors, Dartmouth Headache Center
Lebanon, New Hampshire

Excellent article on nutrition for tbi..must read

http://www.indiadivine.org/content/t...-brain-injury/

Antibody Therapy
 

Research re NSAIDs + anti-depressants
 

There has been some media about a large South Korean study (published in the British Medical Journal) suggesting that the combination of NSAIDs (pain-killers) + anti-depressants (any type) can increase the risk of intracranial bleeding, esp. in men. Will not include links here, as the headlines are all pretty sensationalized, but easy to Google.

Independent from this, the US FDA has also recently strengthened warnings about NSAIDs, which many people take for things like neck and back pain.

While this has raised further questions and prompted calls for further research, doctors are being advised to closely monitor drug interactions, & pharmacists are being urged to educate patients.

Probably worth letting doc/pharmacist know if you are taking or thinking of taking this combination so that alternatives may be considered.

"People With Brain Injuries Heal Faster If They Get Up And Get Moving"
 

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-s...and-get-moving

7/6/2015

from Brainline Military

Recovering from Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Chapter 3 - The Important Role of Brain Filters

• Hearing problems and hypersensitivity to sound
  
• Vision problems and sensitivity to light
  
• Dizziness and vertigo
  
• Changes in energy reserve after injury

Lara, thanks for that link. It actually goes well with a Mental Flooding video that was recently posted by one of our community members: http://nbia.ca/flooding-video/

Dietary branched chain amino acids ameliorate injury-induced cognitive impairment

http://m.pnas.org/content/107/1/366....&pmid=19995960

Dietary Therapy Mitigates Persistent Wake Deficits Caused by Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3951738/

I noticed that both studies administered the BCAA to the lab mice in a 1:1:1 ratio. I know that some folks here use BCAAs -- do you use a different ratio? From what I saw at the store today, they were mostly available in a 2:1:1 ratio, but that's being marketed to bodybuilders. I don't know if that makes a difference.
Interesting studies, though.

Sent from my LGL34C using Tapatalk

Everyone probably already uses this, but I recently discovered a free app that lets me search PubMed/ Medline on my phone. It's called Unbound Medline. It's pretty nifty in that you can search, bookmark, and view abstracts easily, plus if articles are free, you can download them, too, or share them through various means. I'm using it on my cheapo Android phone. :)

Sent from my LGL34C using Tapatalk

Visual processing and intelligence
 

This is an interesting article about Univ of Rochester research that shows how visual processing effects intelligence. I think a disruption in visual processing may be a big component of the struggles people with PCS have.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2...brain/2354273/

Floaters in the eye
 

This is an interesting part of a TED Talk about floaters. Notice the comment about how the brain usually is able to ignore them. For people with PCS, this ability to ignore them may be limited making the floaters more obvious and annoying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6e_m9iq-4Q

Cannabis effect on white matter
 

Here is an interesting article.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2...e-nerves-brain

New treatment study for cognitive difficulties following mild to moderate TBI
 

New clinical trial being run in Melbourne, Australia to develop a targeted treatment for memory or attention difficulties to allow for a more complete recovery following a mild to moderate head injury.

The research is investigating combining a gentle form of electrical brain stimulation, called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), with cognitive training.

**

I tried to google this study but could not find it. But, I did find this interesting article about tDCS.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/...-has-no-effect

The vast amount of studies are anecdotal, not large enough for valid results. It appears to be a hit or miss treatment.

1/2 a joint of marijuana cause psychosis like schitzophrenia
 

Interesting article and study.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...y-experts.html

New Protein Biomarker Highlights Damaged Brain Wiring After Concussion
 

Very surprised this wasn't already in here!

Very exciting new research discovered a biomarker for conccussions, it may soon be possible to have a blood test for this SNTF protein, I for one cannot wait!

http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/m...in-wiring-afte

Cambridge Brain Sciences cognitive testing system
 

Excellent NCBI Article on Current State of Brain Injury Diagnosis and Treatment
 

A really good, though lengthy, literature review of the current state of knowledge about pathophysiology of brain injury, imaging possibilities and their limitations, and guidelines for diagnosis, education, and symptomatic treatment. Highly recommended for doctors who are willing to be educated about mTBI and PCS. http://https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2424119/#!po=14.4295

A recent survey about the undiagnosed neck injuries associated with PCS. This article seems to strongly suggest that, in many cases of PCS, symptoms are entirely due to the neck injury rather than to the brain injury itself. For instance, the following sentence is quoted from the survey:

In addition, a prospective Norwegian study of 348 participants identified through a questionnaire that headaches persisting for more than 3 months after trauma and diagnosed as PCS are often related to a musculoskeletal pathology. In other words, the head or brain injury does not cause the persistent symptoms [23]. These results show the importance of potential cervical impairment in patients with mTBI [4, 14, 16, 17].


https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jsm/2016/1590161/

TBI articles, research & more useful links
 

Blood test to detect concussions approved

Included multiple links to articles on this.. 2018
blood test to detect concussions approved - Google Search

Ben Greenfield podcast + article links
 

Hello everyone,
I haven't been on here for a while as I very fortunately got my life back after a 2 year recovery period.
Anyhow, thought I'd share this with the community:

Ben Greenfield has a great health and fitness oriented podcast which I recommend per se.
Here are two very relevant episodes.
Also various useful links are contained in the show notes for each.

The Best Concussion and Head Injury Remedies

The Concussion Repair Manual: A Practical Guide to Recovering from Traumatic Brain Injuries

Plus you might want to check out this book on Amazon:
"Concussion Repair Manual"
The Concussion Repair Manual: A Practical Guide to Recovering from Traumatic Brain Injuries: Dr. Dan Engle: 9781946697349: Amazon.com: Books

All the best to you

Exercise helps recovery
 

Many of us have been wondering whether exercise can help with the recovery. Here is a recent randomized controlled trial that shows a positive effect of a light exercise program started as early as a few days after the concussion:

http://https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30715132

Brain treatments, includingCognitive FX : opinions ? I am looking into it for myself
 

I have had multiple concussions starting at the age of 5, through the age of 25. No, the parents were not abusers : I was very active in sports that were injury prone, and also was in a couple of car wrecks.

I am a looking into different therapies that claim to heal, retrain, or otherwise help the brain. The injuries were decades ago, and I'm not a kid anymore, so I am looking for people who have experience in being treated for old injuries.

Cognitive FX was mentioned my my physical therapist. A PT she knows sent her 17 year old football player son to FX, with great results . From what I've read- the results in younger people with newer injuries is far more noticeable ( no surprise there).

Any older folks with old head injuries and PERSONAL experience ( not hearsay, please) of treatments or cures, I would love to hear about your results and recommendations.

Has anyone been to Cognitive FX ?

Thanks for your help. I am considering investing almost $12000 in FX, but the reviews seem to all be on their website= suspicious ?

Please post this question in the main forum. You can start your own thread.

Yes, Cog FX is all about self-promotion.

I went to CFX, saw modest benefits.

HBOT is something i really wish I'd found early on. That's definitely something to do. Getting a home chamber and O2 concentrator would be good.

In terms of a cure, google SB623. It's going into Phase III trials for TBI with motor deficits. Once it's approved it's likely it will be used for other injury deficits.

Please take discussion to the main forum. Otherwise, links and such get lost.
btw, SB623 is failing in its clinical trials. It is designed for severe dysfunctions, not simple PCS.

It failed for stroke, not TBI. It has also helped stroke patients in miraculous ways, but didn't pan out overall in the larger trial.

The TBI improvement was like improving from a 12 GCS to a 13 GCS.
It helps with motor control. Motor control is a very primitive system compared to cognition.

Neurorehab has long been able to take a TBI victim from unable to walk to walking again and even from unable to communicate to talking again with enough therapy.

Cognitive rehabilitation is entirely different.The neural networks are far more complex.

BUT, brain surgery just to administer the treatment? Never going to happen for PCS and even more severe post concussion dysfunctions.

Stay away from Ritalin and Aderral
 

This recent study shows how stimulants reduce the benefits of sleep to store long term memories. They are counter-productive for study and as a general aid to people struggling with memory. They only help during the same day of study.

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2019-09-10/non-prescribed-stimulants-may-improve-short-term-focus-but-fail-users-in-the-long-run-uci-researchers-say[/URL]

Here is an interesting article on upper cervical problems/atlas joint instability:

Atlas joint instability: Causes, consequences and solutions - MSK Neurology