Hi everyone,
I have a question. I was assaulted in 2005 and landed on the back of my head in a parking lot, and sustained a concussion from the incident. I’ve never had any other kind of head trauma. About 8 years ago, there was a ‘cyst’ located around the brain that I was following up on with an MRI in April of this year, and it was found to be normal. What was also found on the MRI, however, was “brain scarring” according to my neurologist. He stated it had to be a major blow if it showed on an MRI and said there might have even been bleeding on the brain. Since hearing this, I’ve been driving myself nuts.
My dad is going through Alzheimer’s disease right now at a younger than normal age, and my grandpa had it in his 70’s. I’m fearful this brain injury could make me more prone to such a thing, and I’m also curious about what exactly this means. I have no symptoms from the incident that I know of, and from what I have heard am very lucky for that. My questions would be first if this might make me more prone to something later down the road, such as Alzheimer’s (I believe a stroke can do this, but I’m not sure about the scarring). I know this might be hard to predict – impossible actually; I’ve just read a lot about a brain injury/Alzheimer’s link.
My second question would be what type of doctor would be best to sit down with and discuss this further? My neurologist doesn’t seem too concerned about it – he stated it’s like a dent in a car. It gets you to where you need to be, and you can see it, but it doesn’t affect you. He seems to have no interest in elaborating any more than that, and I don’t’ see a reason why I should be worrying when I have doctors out there who could be giving me the answers. Am I worrying over nothing?
Your concerns are reasonable, but the most commonly accepted current wisdom is that Alzheimer's is not appreciably accelerated, induced, or otherwise precipitated by physical trauma unless the formation of plaques has already begun to the extent that they are evident in an MRI. Of course, medical science changes rapidly, but for the moment it seems reasonable to be vigilant in watching for signs of early-onset dementia, but not overly concerned. Your neurologist seems to be taking the same approach, so you can probably relax a bit and not worry yourself sick. Eat well, exercise, and try to fill your life with positive influences. In other words, don't sweat the small stuff (and so much of what we worry about these days really IS just "small stuff." I wish you well!
The Following User Says Thank You to jverive For This Useful Post: notafan (04-03-2011)
Hi everyone,
I have a question. I was assaulted in 2005 and landed on the back of my head in a parking lot, and sustained a concussion from the incident. I’ve never had any other kind of head trauma. About 8 years ago, there was a ‘cyst’ located around the brain that I was following up on with an MRI in April of this year, and it was found to be normal. What was also found on the MRI, however, was “brain scarring” according to my neurologist. He stated it had to be a major blow if it showed on an MRI and said there might have even been bleeding on the brain. Since hearing this, I’ve been driving myself nuts.
My dad is going through Alzheimer’s disease right now at a younger than normal age, and my grandpa had it in his 70’s. I’m fearful this brain injury could make me more prone to such a thing, and I’m also curious about what exactly this means. I have no symptoms from the incident that I know of, and from what I have heard am very lucky for that. My questions would be first if this might make me more prone to something later down the road, such as Alzheimer’s (I believe a stroke can do this, but I’m not sure about the scarring). I know this might be hard to predict – impossible actually; I’ve just read a lot about a brain injury/Alzheimer’s link.
My second question would be what type of doctor would be best to sit down with and discuss this further? My neurologist doesn’t seem too concerned about it – he stated it’s like a dent in a car. It gets you to where you need to be, and you can see it, but it doesn’t affect you. He seems to have no interest in elaborating any more than that, and I don’t’ see a reason why I should be worrying when I have doctors out there who could be giving me the answers. Am I worrying over nothing?
Hi, I'm not sure where you live, I however live in Canada and I have Epilepsy.
The best doctor in the world is Dr. Andre Olivier. He is the:
Chair - Neurosurgeon-in-Chief
Neurosurgery, MUHC Department of
Neurology and Neurosurgery, Department of
MONTREAL NEUROLOGICAL Institute & Hospital
Telephone:
(514) 398-1938
Scanning? it's nothing at all. You lye down and let the machine take lots of pictures. I live in Toronto, Ontario and there is a Excellent one at St. Mikes Hospital.
I hopes this helps? Good luck
Dan
The Following User Says Thank You to Dan1 For This Useful Post: notafan (04-03-2011)
Concussion/Brain Scarring - Worried Sick! 
