Concussion and Dementia

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I’m treating a young woman, 36 years old, who was in a car accident in January 2015. She saw several doctors without much benefit. She started gaining weight because she could not exercise, and reported that she literally had to hold onto the walls of her hallways at home so she wouldn’t fall over.

I first saw her about two years after her accident. She had problems finding the right words and had a very short attention span. She was incredibly emotional and also felt like she was losing her short-term memory. She had to quit her corporate job because of the injuries she sustained in the accident.

I am happy to announce that she is 95% better in all areas, and I’m hoping that she will be pre-accident status by the time the three-year statute of limitations expires for personal injury protection.

She reported last week that she could read multiple spreadsheets now without falling out of her chair. She said she was able to learn how to make a Google spreadsheet by reading the directions. She would not have been able to understand the directions six months ago. She also reported that she can remember things now without having to continually refer back to notes. She said she used to have to keep things in front of her face all the time to be able to remember something. She also reported improvement in beginning to remember peoples faces and names! Go brain go!

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I'm treating a woman who has had memory problems since a car accident. She came in this morning and told me she's starting to worry a little bit. Since decreased anxiety is USUALLY what people tell me after treatment, I was not happy about this information. Then she said that her memory was so bad that she knew there were things to worry about, but she couldn't remember what they were. She said that in her case worrying was a good sign.

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I examined a doctor on Monday who was in a car accident 2 months ago. She got a concussion and has been treated by various doctors. She is having memory, focus and fatigue problems. When I treated her this morning, she said she already noticed differences in her ability to focus. She had an easier time while she was examining her patients and writing reports. She said, "If I had known this was the most important treatment, I would have done this first."

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A man called me a few weeks ago and asked if I could confirm his prognosis for getting dementia. I certainly don't want to be in that situation! However, this man DID have an abnormal signal in his hippocampus in an MRI report and he stated he was told that he was probably going to get dementia. He also had 'episodes' in which he would 'blank out' and not remember what was going on. This week he had his fifth treatment. He reported that his 'episodes' are less frequent and less intense with less duration. Isn't his brain amazing? There's always hope, even with MRI findings that look bleak.