Head injury doubles the risk of Alzheimer's disease

Young adults who experience a moderate or severe head injury have more than double the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia later in life, according to a new study.

Dr Brenda Plassman from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues looked for an association between head injury and Alzheimer's disease in more than 7000 US navy or marine veterans from the second world war. In all, 548 veterans with head injury and 1228 without head injury completed all assigned stages of the study.

The researchers found that any medical history of head injury more than doubled both the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease …