Symptoms and Treatments

Home Causes of Concussions Concussions and Other Animals About Us

Molecular View:

Brain Trauma causes changes in the neurons, preventing the brain from working normally including...

The inability to regulate electrolytes- When the brain is damaged, potassium enters the cell membrane and sodium exists, causing the cell to expend. In result, the brain cell malfunctions in that particular region. For example, if the brain damage and electrolyte imbalance occurs in the area responsible for memory, then the result is short- and possibly long-term memory loss.
The releasing of toxic excitatory neurotransmitters- After the injury, there is an excess of these toxins, further damaging the brain tissue.
The increase of metabolic energy demands- The damaged brain cells can not perform glycolysis at a fast enough rate to repair the tissue at a regular rate. Lactic acid can also built up as a result, further damaging the brain.

CTE: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

After repeated concussions, CTE, a neurodegenerative disease, can form many years after repeated hits to the head, specifically in high impact sport athletes like football, ice hockey, wrestling, boxing, and cheerleading. Although these hits may not be diagnosed as a concussion, many of these hits can lead to CTE later in life, usually developing around age 30 or 40. CTE was discovered by Dr. Omalu after doing research on many professional football players. He discovered that high deposits of the tau protein are seen in patients presenting with possible CTE. The tau protein is degenerative and causes long term symptoms like memory loss, aggression, confusion and deep depression that generally appear years after initial brain trauma.

CTE causes the tau protein (brown stain) to from around the brain's blood vessel's, interrupting normal functions and eventually killing nerve cells.

Treatments

For years, doctors have told their patients to rest after sustaining a concussion....

Patients are often instructed the following:
- Darken the room
- Limit the amount of time on computers and watching TV
- Stop activities that require concentration

Rest is still extremely important for the first few days after the injury.
Most people see their symptoms go away within 2 to 3 weeks. However, according to a 2014 Institute of Medicine report, 10 to 20% of patients are affected for weeks, months, or longer. Furthermore, patients who have suffered repeat concussions generally take longer to recover with each additional concussion.
Concerned about the time it takes, especially for younger people to recover, doctors at concussion clinics have been trying to provide targeted, individualized therapies, almost like physical therapy for the brain.

Recovery Time Increases with Having Prior Concussions

Only 42% of concussion patients recovered within 10 days. No patients with 5+ concussions (green line) recovered within 10 days.

*Data from Department of Kinesiology, Humboldt State University

Researchers are increasingly looking at how concussions fully affect the vestibular system. The vestibular system includes sensory organs in the inner ear and its connections to various parts of the brain, the eyes, and muscles throughout the body.
Previously, doctors would focus on mainly the vestibulo-spinal system, which helps control posture and balance.

The Vestibular System:

Including the inner ear(yellow) and eyes

Other vestibular systems that may be affected by concussions include the vestibular-ocular system, which allows us to maintain stable vision while moving our heads, such as reading street signs while walking. Injury to the vestibular-ocular system causes primarily nausea and dizziness.

The vision system can also be affected.
With a healthy vision system, a person is able to track moving objects easily. He or she is able to move his or her eyes quickly between targets that are still as well as keep objects in focus as they move towards him or her. Injuries to this area of the brain can cause headaches, blurred vision, difficulty reading, and difficulty navigating crowded environments.

Treatments for these areas of the vestibular system can include:

“Gaze stabilization exercises” that are aimed at improving the patient’s vision while moving his or her head.

Gaze Stabilization Exercises

Balance exercises
Exercises requiring the patient to focus on moving objects

Balance Exercises

Exercises to Track Moving Objects

Carefully monitored physical exercise may also help speed up recovery, according to concussion doctors across the country, while complete rest may lead to depression, fatigue, deconditioning which lowers the body’s ability to tolerate physical activity.

Monitored physical exercise

Examples include walking or jogging

Report abuse