Brain researchers link mental woes, alcoholism to long-ago blows

From the Wall Street Journal:

Researchers studying brain injury believe they’ve found a common thread running through many cases of seemingly unrelated social problems: a long-forgotten blow to the head.

New research indicates hidden traumatic brain injuries can cause social or educational failure, such as alcoholism or homelessness. Researchers at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York have found that providing therapy for an underlying brain injury often helps people with a variety of ills ranging from learning disabilities to chronic homelessness and alcoholism.

If broadly verified, the findings could have a significant impact in dealing with such intractable difficulties … The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 5.3 million Americans suffer from mental or physical disability that is due to brain injury.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 8:35 am and is filed under brain damage, intellectual/developmental disabilities, research news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post