A study by UC San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Health Care System found that 13% of older adults suffer from traumatic brain injuries , mainly due to falls, with a higher incidence among healthier, wealthier, female, and white seniors. Despite TBIs being treatable, they significantly increase the risk of severe conditions like dementia and cardiovascular diseases, highlighting a need for improved care and prevention strategies in this demographic. Credit: SciTechDaily.
While TBI can be successfully treated, these injuries increase the likelihood of a number of serious conditions, including dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and seizures, as well as“The number of people 65 and older with TBI is shockingly high,” said senior author Raquel Gardner, MD, formerly of the UCSF Department of Neurology and the San Francisco VA Health Care System.
“It’s possible that our findings reflect that adults who are healthier, wealthier, and more active are more able or likely to engage in activities that carry risk for TBI,” said Kornblith, who is also affiliated with the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. “We know that older adults who experience falls, the largest segment of Americans with TBI, as well as lower-resourced adults – including those subjected to racial and ethnic micro-aggressions in a medical setting – are less likely to seek care,” Kornblith said. “It’s possible that our data did not capture the true burden of TBI in this population.”