Head Injury - Risk Factors For Alzheimers Disease: Alzheimers
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Head injury
Many former boxers develop a condition called dementia pugilistica (boxer's dementia) after suffering repeated blows to the head. The microscopic changes in their brains resemble those in Alzheimer's disease, which led researchers to wonder if brain injury might be a factor in the disease. Researchers discovered amyloid deposits in people who died shortly after severe head injury, especially in those with the ApoE4 gene. The authors concluded that less severe head injuries might trigger amyloid deposits in susceptible people, resulting years later in full-blown Alzheimer's.
| Last updated: | January 23, 2007 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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