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NEWS > HEALTH > 60 MINUTES STUDY LINKS BRAIN INJURY TO BRAIN DAMAGE
60 MINUTES STUDY LINKS BRAIN INJURY TO BRAIN DAMAGE
October 12 2009
New York, NY – The human brain is the most complex and mysterious machines that we have yet uncovered. The source of speech, comprehension, love, hate, and the myriad of characteristics that make up the human condition, the mystery of the brain continues to be one of the most elusive in medicine and science. Because the brain 
controls so much of what makes up a human being its erosion, so common as we age, can be one of the most frightening of medical conditions. Now a new in-depth study by the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes is linking such mental erosion to trauma incurred by the brain.
Airing tonight, the program studies the effects of concussions on football players on their long term health. Previous studies have tied such trauma to major health problems including dementia, depression, and early death. The 60 Minutes program is the first mainstream study into the effects of trauma and how it relates to damage to the brain, something that most people had assumed for a long time. The NFL has yet to comment on the program but it is believed that it may open a whole new field of study that could link various types of trauma to injuries.
“A normal brain, that is, an individual that has had, does not have this injury or does not have any other condition, you shouldn't see any of this dark brown pigment. It would be completely white. None of this brown pigment would show up,” said Dr. Ann McKee on the program. “It seems to be triggered by trauma that occurs in a person's youth; their teens, their 20s, even their 30s. But it doesn't show up for decades later. There is very clear evidence linking trauma to injury in the brain, something that can be applied to all medical fields.”
The study concluded that avoiding such trauma is a key to avoiding injury and the resulting long term effects, a technique that could be applied to injuries of various parts of the human anatomy.
“There has long been a debate as to what is the real cause of trauma in the human body. There was a time when external factors, like say a collision with a blunt object, were seen as facilitators to injury but not the cause themselves. This study proves otherwise and could open a whole new field of study for medical science,” said Scrape TV Medical analyst Dr. Phillip Waites. “It could lead to new ways to diagnose injuries of all kinds and news types of prevention techniques that could prevent such trauma from occurring in the first place. It’s not only football players who could benefit from this study but people across all spectrums of life who may in the future suffer from some kind of trauma.”
Previous studies have never reached conclusive connections between massive blows to the head and trauma, which then leads to injury. CBS claims no official medical expertise but points to the experts they interviewed.
“Dementia and other types of brain injuries are often the most devastating to friends and family. They see the erosion of the individual, the fundamental person, and it can be very traumatizing. By exposing this issue doctors and people can take this into their own hands and prevent injury by not getting hit in the head,” continued Waites. “That extends to everyone in sport and outside. Simply avoid getting smashed in the head, or anywhere else, and you avoid injury. It’s really the kind of watershed discovery that could change medical science forever, much like the invention of vaccines or the advent of epidemiology. Trauma does indeed create injury.”
The study also concluded that avoiding trauma does not actively make a person healthier or necessarily stave off eventualities such as death.
Lauren Hebert, Health Correspondent
NEWS > HEALTH > 60 MINUTES STUDY LINKS BRAIN INJURY TO BRAIN DAMAGE
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