Even a minor blow to head in childhood raises risk of early death
ONE blow to the head in childhood could have devastating consequences years later, medical researchers have warned.
Even a mild concussion could increase the odds of poor school grades, mental illness and death by the age of 40.
The Oxford University researchers said doctors needed to be aware that it was not just severe brain injuries that caused lasting problems.
And they said their findings could lead to changes to the design of playgrounds and tighter rules for sports in which collisions occur – including the heading of the ball in football.
The study focused on traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) – knocks to the head bad enough to cause dizziness or wooztal iness. It is thought one in ten Britons suffers such a blow when young.
The researchers analysed data on than a million Swedes from when they were born between 1973 and 1985 up to the age of 41. Some 9.1 per cent suffered a TBI before their 25th birthday. Some of the blows were so severe that the patients spent months in intensive care, but most were mild concussions.
Despite this, the long-term consequences were severe. Compared with people who had not experienced a head injury, those who suffered a TBI when young were 76 per cent more likely to have qualified for disability payments, meaning they could not work.
They were also 58 per cent more likely to have left school without any qualifications, almost twice as likely to have been admitted to hospital for a psychiatric problem and 72 per cent more likely to have died before the age of 41. Lead researcher Dr Amir Sariasian said all of those studied had gone to hospi- and many other cases of mild brain injury may have gone unreported.
Writing in the journal PLOS Medicine, he said: ‘This means we have essentially under-estimated our effects. To summarise, we found that even a single mild traumatic brain injury will predict poor adult functioning. The risk will increase with severity and recurrence and older age at first injury.’
Dr Sariasian that it was important to put the risks in context and to remember that most people who suffer a TBI won’t experience long-term problems.
For instance, while a head injury increases the odds of premature death, just 1.6 per cent of those with a TBI die by the age of 40.
Peter Jenkins, a neurologist at St George’s Hospital in south London, said: ‘This powerfully shows that in those who have a head injury before the age of 25, there are persistent problems even at the mild end of the spectrum of head injuries.
‘We don’t necessarily recognise these persistent problems and we don’t necessarily have the resources available to help deal with those problems.’
Professor Huw Williams, of Exeter University, said: ‘This does not mean we should be banning children from playing contact sports, but care is needed, especially in managing a child’s return to play, so they don’t get injured again when they are still suffering from an injury. We also need to make sure the rules are followed – more than 20 per cent of concussion injuries in rugby appear to happen during foul play.’
‘More likely to die by the age of 41’