BRAIN INJURIES VICTIMS’ BIGGER DEMENTIA RISK
HERE’S a boozy tale many will find hard to swallow…
An ex-royal Marine who lost three toes to frostbite running the 300-mile Yukon
Arctic Ultra marathon now wants to send them to a bar there where they serve them in a cocktail.
And Nick Griffiths is hoping to return one day and sample the drink with his own toe in it.
Nick heard about the Sourtoe cocktail at the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, while in hospital in Canada.
The drink can be made with any booze over 40%, and is served with one rule: “You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips people from 1977 to 2013. Over the 36 years, 132,093 had at least one TBI and most were classed as mild. Between 1999 and 2013, 4.5% of the group aged 50 and older were diagnosed with dementia. must touch the toe.” Nick, of Bolton, Greater Manchester, said: “They gave me my toes back in jars. I wrote to the Downtown Hotel and they said they’d love to have them. I’d love to visit so I can try the cocktail.”
Hotel “Toe Master” Terry Lee, 70, said: “It’s amazing Nick wants to donate his toes. I hope he’ll be able to visit.”
The first toe came from Louie Liken, who suffered frostbite in the 20s and kept his digit in alcohol.
It was found in 1973 by a policeman in a cabin. He took it to the bar and began challenging customers to drink the toe cocktail.
Since then, 10 other toes have been donated. Some 5.3% had a history of TBIS compared with 4.7% without dementia.
There was also a cumulative effect, with risk up nearly three-fold after suffering five or more TBIS.
A single severe TBI raised risk of dementia by more than a third. But the team stressed the chances of getting dementia after a brain injury are low.
Prof Fann, of University of Washington School of Medicine, US, added: “Our findings do not suggest everyone who suffers a TBI will develop dementia.”