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Article: Study bolsters head injury, Alzheimer's link.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- October 28, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Veterans who suffered a moderate or severe concussion during World War II face a heightened risk of Alzheimer's disease now that they have reached old age, a new study finds. The research reinforces other evidence that brain trauma can set off a long degenerative process resulting in the confusion, memory loss, and disorientation that mark Alzheimer's disease.
Using Navy and Marine Corps medical documents, researchers identified 548 men who had had a concussion in 1944 or 1945. As a comparison group, the researchers also located 1,228 men who had been treated for lacerations or pneumonia during the war but not head injury. In 1996 and 1997, interviewers ...