Military risk factors for Alzheimer's dementia and neurodegenerative disease

* The linkage between head trauma and neurodegeneration represents not only an important public and military health issue but also provides crucial clues for putative risk factors for numerous late-life chronic brain disorders. Today, there is now growing evidence that a single traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained early in life might trigger a cascade of neurodegenerative processes. The outcomes may manifest as dementia, Alzheimer's dementia (AD), Lewy Body de-mentia (LBD), or other motor neuron diseases many years or decades later. The scientific and medical community has known the effects of trauma on boxers since the 1920s. Now, increasing number of studies are showing that even mild repetitive trauma may lead to onset of symptoms in some athletes as early as in their second decade of life. The renewed interest in the idea that mild repetitive trauma to the head can trigger not only chronic traumatic encepha-lopathy (CTE) but also other neurodegenerative diseases is indeed timely. This important recognition is reinforced by the increased risk and prevalence of TBI and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among young military personnel associated with combat experiences. Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of the association of TBI and PTSD with an increased risk of neuro-degenerative disease has become a high priority for the U.S. Army. Civilian public health research shares this military health interest and highlights a common critical challenge: the development of novel technologies for the early and accurate identification of people with elevated risk for neuro-degenerative diseases. An early challenge for military and civilian health research will be to unlock complex, intersecting associations and interactions among multiple risk factors (such as proteins , genes, and environment factors). This work will require more robust and granular longitudinal data, the collection of data parameters that may vary daily or hourly, and the application advanced data analytics and mathematical modeling. This intensive exploration should spur development of critical detection technologies. These tools will enable individuals with elevated risk to make informed lifestyle choices that limit head trauma exposures. Moreover, the answers found in studies of trauma-induced neurodegen-eration are likely to increase our understanding of the entire spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases as well as other age-associated chronic brain disorders [CBD]. Neurodegenerative diseases [ND], as a prototype for other CBD, represent an important class of conditions for healthcare systems due to their prolonged labor-intensive care requirements and profound economic impact. These conditions have severe psychosocial ramifications that may span an …