Repeat concussion 'can trigger dementia'

The concussions sustained by football and rugby players have long been a topic of controversy. Many in the media and medical communities have debated the long-term impact these injuries truly have.

Recently, Hollywood actor Will Smith starred in a film, Concussion, about the discovery of a type of dementia stemming from these injuries - called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

But now, scientists have revealed even repeated minor head traumas can trigger early dementia.

A team of experts from Massey University, in New Zealand, found that nearly 75 per cent of people with dementia have suffered some sort of traumatic head injury in the past.

Furthermore, the long-term effects of repeated blows to the head are just as damaging as a single episode of a higher-grade head trauma. The findings suggest that the brain is affected by the way the body responds to such injuries - which cause micro-hemorrhages, inflammatory responses and nerve death.

Study author Virginia Westerberg said: ‘The conclusion was that the direct and indirect consequences of traumatic injury – not only to the head but also to other body areas, if significant – could constitute a plausible risk factor for the earlier development or faster progression of dementia.

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