Health and Psychology

Minor brain injury can result in long term complications.  The average healthy adult can anticipate recovery from a minor brain injury in 3 to 6 months.  Some people with minor brain injuries are not healthy premorbidly and some people have had more than one brain injury.  This leads to more complications that can occur over a longer period of time.

Head trauma sets in motion a complex neurochemical and physiological reaction.  The range of physiological processes can be more damaging than the initial injury itself.  There's a window of time in which the brain can have bleeding and swelling following a head injury.  There can be a massive release of neurotransmitters designed to help the brain manage to start to repair itself.  Glucose and blood pressure can elevate, resulting in problems with increased potential for heart attack, stroke, or the development of hormone difficulties with diabetes, thyroid and other endocrine problems noted.  Personality, mood, sleep and appetite can all be disregulated.  Patients can note problems with anxiety, depression, and transient paranoia, and manic states all have been reported.  Post traumatic stress disorder can occur even in individuals with post-traumatic amnesia.

Of more recent concern are longer term sequelae of injury.  There appears to be increased risk of death from all causes in the first several years post injury.  As people age, people with prior minor head injuries may have increased risk of developing alzeheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, autoimmune disorders also appear to increase in this population.

It's important that all treating physicians know that a patient has had a head injury because adjustments to medications may be required.

The best thing to do following even a minor head injury is to have an assessment by a neuropsychologist to evaluate the person's functioning and to establish a baseline so progress and course of recovery can be assessed.