What factors increase our risk of developing dementia in our later years? It’s a central question at the heart of a lot of the research done surrounding the causes of dementia and potential preventative interventions. As shown in many studies, maintaining good brain health is a vital part of mitigating risk. More specifically, recent findings show that head injuries, like concussions or skull fractures. These injuries can have the long-term effect of heightening the risk of dementia, due to its impact on the brain.

Different Types of Head Injuries

Often related to car accidents, sports injuries, or falls, head injuries are either experienced due to “blows to the head or…due to shaking.” They can range in severity from being just a minor bump on the head. A traumatic injury, such as a hemorrhage or hematoma, that can have serious and long-lasting effects. 

Head injuries can also be categorized as an open head injury that penetrates the brain or a closed head injury that doesn’t break the skull.  Either way, it is very important to get any head injury looked at by a medical professional. Since the severity of the injury may not always be glaringly obvious.

Head Injuries & Dementia

One of the many reasons we need to treat head injuries seriously is because the evidence seems to indicate a causal link between head injury and dementia.  

Scientific findings, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. Shows that the risk of developing dementia increases even in people with head injuries as far back as 25 years ago. 

However, other factors do come into play since not all head injuries are the same, and an individual’s other health issues also affect outcomes. 

For example, the more head injuries experienced and the more severe they are, the greater the risk of dementia. The main finding from the study highlights that: “compared to participants who never experienced a head injury, a history of a single prior head injury was associated with a 1.25 times increased risk of dementia, and a history of two or more prior head injuries was associated with over 2 times increased risk of dementia…” (Penn Medicine News, March 2021)

Protecting the Brain to Protect Against Dementia

If you can understand better the association between head injuries and dementia. This will tell you the importance of trying to prevent head injuries, especially ones that can cause brain trauma. 

A key intervention you can do is by modifying your behaviour to emphasize greater safety when driving or playing certain sports. Like using a seat belt or wearing a protective headgear such as helmets. Something as simple as getting regular eye check-ups to ensure your eye health is equally important to reduce your risk of getting into car accidents. 

One important key is if you practice awareness about the risks of concussions that are involved in sports, like football or boxing. Experts also state that getting medical treatment for head injuries can be pivotal in reducing the risk of long-term effects. 

Furthermore, for seniors, interventions such as exercises aid with balance. Is a great help to prevent falls which are a major cause of head injuries. 

Overall, the goal of promoting protective action is the hope that it will help us better secure ourselves from both the short-term effects of head injuries and the long-term effects that we may experience in later years.