Preventing Alzheimer’s Dementia From a TBI

Research on older U.S. veterans with a TBI shows a doubling of the risk of Alzheimer’s dementia over people of like age without a TBI. How can someone with a TBI cut their risk of Alzheimer’s? New research by Dr. George Bartzokis, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA shows that excess iron in the brain is an earlier contributor to the development of Alzheimer’s than the development of beta-amyloid plaques in brain cells.

The excess iron damages the hippocampus (the brain’s memory center first) and only after this damage occurs do the beta-amyloid plaques appear. Dr. Bartzoki recommends cutting back on dietary sources such as red meat and iron supplements unless you have anemia. This is something that could help. Dr. Bartzokis’ research was published in the August 2013 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.