[News Article] Head injury causes immune system to attack brain, new study finds — ScienceDaily

http://buscoscience.wikispaces.com/Concussion%27s

Head injury causes immune system to attack brain, new study finds — ScienceDaily.

Date: October 20, 2014

 Source: BioMed Central

Summary:  Scientists have uncovered a surprising way to reduce the brain damage caused by head injuries — stopping the body’s immune system from killing brain cells. A new study showed that in experiments on mice, an immune-based treatment reduced the size of brain lesions. The authors suggest that if the findings apply to humans, this could help prevent brain damage from accidents, and protect players of contact sports like football, rugby and boxing.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by BioMed Central. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Richard P Tobin, Sanjib Mukherjee, Jessica M Kain, Susannah K Rogers, Stephanie K Henderson, Heather L Motal, M Rogers, Lee A Shapiro. Traumatic brain injury causes selective, CD74-dependent peripheral lymphocyte activation that exacerbates neurodegeneration. Acta Neuropathologica Communications, 2014; 2 (1): 143 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-014-0143-5

Complementary Health Practices for U.S. Military, Veterans, and Families

 

From the NCCAM Web page

 

Many military personnel and veterans experience chronic pain, a condition that can be debilitating and is often difficult to treat. Post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, depression, and substance use are other conditions that tend to co-occur in these same service members and are also challenging to treat. Opioid medications are often prescribed for chronic pain conditions, but use and misuse of opioids resulting in hospitalizations and death has been on the rise. A study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine examined the prevalence of chronic pain and opioid use among U.S. soldiers following deployment. The researchers found that of the more than 2,500 participants surveyed, 44 percent had chronic pain and 15 percent regularly used opioids—rates much higher than the general population.

Many military, veterans, and their families turn to complementary and integrative health approaches such as mindfulness meditation and other practices in an effort to enhance the options for the management of pain and associated problems. This page provides resources and information on health conditions of special concern to military, veterans, and their families and the complementary and integrative health practices being studied for this population.

PAIN IN THE MILITARY IS OUR FEATURED TOPIC

• Press Release: NIH and VA address pain and related conditions in U.S. military personnel, veterans, and their families: Research will focus on nondrug approaches
• Infographic: Fighting Pain in the U.S. Military, Veterans, and Their Families

For Consumers

General Information

• Message From the Director: Exploring Nondrug Approaches to Managing Pain and Related Conditions in the Military

   (09/25/14)

• NIH and VA address pain and related conditions in U.S. military personnel, veterans, and their families: Research will focus on nondrug approaches

  (09/25/14)
• Chronic Pain and Complementary Health Approaches: What You Need To Know
• Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research  (Institute of Medicine)  [444KB PDF]
• The Imperative for Integrative Medicine in the Military: A Personal and System Perspective – Eric Schoomaker, M.D., Ph.D.  (IRCIMH)

Research Spotlights

• Acupuncture May Help Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

  (06/01/07)

Ongoing Medical Studies

• Find Active Medical Research Studies on Military (ClinicalTrials.gov)

Multimedia

• Fighting Pain in the U.S. Military, Veterans, and Their Families

For Health Professionals

General Information

• Lecture: Building Resilience in High Stress Cohorts With Mindfulness Training

  (05/05/14)

Clinical Practice Guideline

• Pain Management Task Force Final Report  (Office of The Army Surgeon General)  [5MB PDF]

Scientific Literature

Military Personnel

• Systematic Reviews/Reviews/Meta-analysis (PubMed®)
• Randomized Controlled Trials (PubMed®)

Information Connections – website for parents of children with developmental disabilities and chronic diseases

 

From the web page at the National Network of Medical Libraries

Connect with Information Connections

By Nalini Mahajan
Director, Medical Library
Marionjoy Rehabilitation Hospital

Information Connections is a website for parents of children with developmental disabilities and chronic diseases with a special focus on Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Down Syndrome, and Traumatic Brain Injury. The informative website was developed and launched by the Marianjoy Medical Library with funding from the National Network of Library of Medicine, Greater Midwest Region (NN/LM GMR) and is sponsored by Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital. It is accessible to anyone from anywhere and it is free.

Since its initial launch in April 2011, InformationConnections.org has helped thousands of families seeking help on these topics. Website usage and feedback in our first year has been exceptional.

We would love to promote our Web site to everyone who could benefit from this wonderful resource and would appreciate any help from you. Please spread the word around; like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, feel free to blog about us, and place a link to us on your website. Our goal is to have 500 friends by the end of 2012. Once we reach the magic number of 500 friends, 3 winners be selected randomly and each will receive a $25.00 gift certificate.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2012 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Consumer Health, Funding, News from the Region, Outreach. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

 

 

Religion benefits traumatic brain injury victims, Wayne State University research finds

Image via Wikipedia

From a 28 June 2011 Eureka news alert

DETROIT – Brigid Waldron-Perrine, Ph.D., a recent graduate from Wayne State University, and her mentor, Lisa J. Rapport, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Wayne State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, found that if traumatic brain injury (TBI) victims feel close to a higher power, it can help them rehabilitate. The study was recently published in Rehabilitation Psychology.

 

[Abstract only, Paid subscription needed to access full text of the article.

For suggestions on how to get this article for free or at low cost, click here]

Traumatic brain injury is a disruption of normal brain function after a head injury and affects 1.7 million Americans annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those struggling with the long-term effects of TBI are at a heightened risk for mental and physical problems. Such problems can significantly inhibit rehabilitation outcomes and are therefore important to address in the context of rehabilitation efforts. And when TBI leaves people feeling stressed, less satisfied with life and functionally dependent on others, rehabilitation is the only option.

“Among healthy adults, religion and spirituality have shown strong association with improved life satisfaction and physical and mental health outcomes,” said Waldron-Perrine. But research about religion’s effect on TBI rehabilitation in particular is lacking….

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• Acupuncture Makes Strides in Treatment of Brain Injuries, PTSD (VIDEO) (waronterrornews.typepad.com)