TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURES & TBI-INDUCED AUTOIMMUNITY
MORE COMMON THAN EVER IMAGINED
Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 1.4 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury each year in the United States. Of these, about 50,000 die, 235,000 are hospitalized, and 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency room department…. head trauma may induce an autoimmune inflammatory disorder…. Damaged brain tissue leaks through the blood-brain barrier into the general circulation and becomes, in fact, an antigen just like a virus or allergen. Antibodies are formed against brain tissue that may become “auto” and start to attack various tissues including the brain itself. Regardless, an autoimmune inflammatory disorder may develop after head trauma and not only cause joint and muscle pain but attack other organs such as the eye, lung, heart, liver, intestine, and kidney—just like any autoimmune inflammatory condition. Dr. Forest Tennant, from the May 2013 issue of Practical Pain Management — a journal specifically for “Pain Doctors”. Dr. Tennant is the editor of PPM.
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The problem with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), however, is not simply the “Post-Concussion” headache. The problem is that Traumatic Brain Injuries are being linked to a host of health problems that are seemingly unrelated to the head injury itself. In fact, this is almost surely the reason that the famous whiplash research team of Gargan & Bannister declared over two decades ago that whiplash-like injuries frequently result in a host of, “bizarre and seemingly unrelated symptoms“.
The specific symptoms of TBI mentioned in Dr. Tennant’s article include (links are mine), “memory loss and confusion; mood swings; reading, speaking, or reasoning problems; problems understanding what is being said, learning new things, or dealing with old familiar things like time, numbers, or money; difficulty sleeping; abnormally low body temperature; weight gain; confusion; explosive behavior; severe fatigue; loss of interest in hobbies, friends, and sex; difficulty organizing and prioritizing or sequencing events, multitasking, watching movies or sports; coping with noisy or brightly lit places; eroding social skills; failure for children to develop‘ THYROID, pituitary, adrenal [FIBROMYALGIA] or other hormonal problems”. But that’s not all folks — the hits keep coming. Some of the others listed in the article include
- INABILITY TO LEARN OR CONCENTRATE (Mental Fog)
- INCREASED RISK OF HEART ATTACKS AND / OR STROKES
- LOSS OF MUSCLE MASS / WEAKNESS (This is most likely a function of injury-induced LOW TESTOSTERONE)
- LOSS OF LIBIDO — MALE OR FEMALE
As you can see, thinking about concussions / head injuries in simple terms of headaches is extremely short-sighted. This is why those of you struggling with Chronic Pain that your doctors cannot seem to find a reason for might want to take the time to read DR. TENNANT’S ARTICLE. It will take you less than five minutes, and could be the thing that starts you on the pathway back to health.
I will share a couple of tidbits with you concerning this article / editorial. It is my experience that people who are AUTOIMMUNE have an almost 100% chance of being GLUTEN SENSITIVE, which, in and of itself leads to numerous other NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS. And if you are sensitive to Gluten, you are probably sensitive to other things as well (HERE). Fail to address these issues, and you cannot possibly hope to find a “cure”.
INFLAMMATION will continue to run rampant in your body. And in similar fashion to the “LEAKY BRAIN SYNDROME” discussed in Dr. Tennant’s article, you will undoubtedly develop LEAKY GUT SYNDROME as well. But there is hope. Between various forms of BRAIN-BASED THERAPY, SCAR TISSUE REMODELING, CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENTS, COLD LASER THERAPY, as well as proper DIET / NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT, people with these sorts of problems can often be helped — many times significantly (HERE). It is truly unfortunate that no one shared this information with ELVIS PRESLEY after his head injury.
