A new study has shown that minor head injuries resulting in concussion can lead to subtle signs of mental and physical problems even 30 years later. The study, conducted by Dr Louis De Beaumont and colleagues at the University of Montreal, Canada, has been published in the journal Brain and reported by BBC online.
Recent research has shown that the effects of sports concussions can last for a few years after injury but the current study is the first to investigate the effects so long after injury. The researchers compared 19 healthy former athletes who had sustained concussion 20 - 30 years ago, with 21 healthy former athletes with no history of concussion. The participants were all former ice hockey or American football players in their 50s and 60s who had sustained no concussion since their playing days and who still engaged regularly in physical activity.
Both groups were compared on their performances in a variety of tests designed to measure aspects of attention, memory, reaction time and motor control. Participants with a history of concussion were found to have significantly lower performance in many areas. These results resemble those found in previous studies of athletes three years after concussion.
This study was of a small group of participants and more research will be necessary to further investigate the long-term effects of concussion. It is also important to note that the participants all led healthy active lives despite any small deficits in mental or physical processes. However, the results do add to the body of evidence that even minor head injuries can have lasting effects.
Reference
De Beaumont L, Theoret H, Mongeon D at al. Brain function decline in healthy retired athletes who sustained their last sports concussion in early adulthood. Brain 2009, Advanced online publication January 27.
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