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Right now, the devastating concussion-linked brain condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) can only be diagnosed after death via autopsy. But new research could help change that, allowing doctors to someday spot the illness earlier.

According to the new study, MRI may be able to detect CTE while people are still alive.

"While this finding is not yet ready for the c...

Blows to the head are common among America's kids, with close to 7% showing signs of a brain injury at some time in childhood, U.S. health officials report.

Sports, falls and abuse are likely causes, experts say.

Concussions and other head injuries are more common among white kids than Black or Hispanic kids. And prevalence increases with age -- from 2% in children up to 5 years ol...

Older blood thinners, especially when taken in combination with daily low-dose aspirin, are associated with a higher risk of brain bleeds and death after hospital discharge in patients treated for head injury, new research shows.

The risk fell when patients were taking one of the newer blood thinners, said the authors of a study presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Radiological ...

Repetitive head hits are common in football, and they're also linked to debilitating brain injuries.

But rendering a definitive diagnosis typically means waiting for autopsy results after the player has died.

Now, a new study suggests that brain scans can reliably spot troubling signs of sports-inflicted neurological damage while a person is still alive.

The research also show...

Slings and other popular "baby-wearing" products have sent thousands of U.S. infants to the emergency room in the past decade, a new study finds.

Researchers estimate that between 2011 and 2020, more than 14,000 infants nationwide ended up in an ER because of an injury related to a baby sling or other carrier. In more than half of cases, the baby fell out of the carrier.

The most co...

Days in the saddle can be risky, with horseback riding a potentially deadly activity, according to a new study.

"Hospital admission risk from horseback riding is higher than football, auto and motorcycle racing, and skiing," the study authors noted. Chest injuries are most common among riders, but head and neck injuries are the deadliest.

The findings show that "equestrian-related i...

New research provides further proof that helmets are essential for young users of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and dirt bikes.

Wearing a helmet significantly reduces their risk of moderate or severe head injuries in crashes, and also lowers their risk of death, the study found.

"For neurosurgeons treating pediatric trauma patients, these findings are not at all surprising," said stud...

Hoverboards, electric scooters and electric bikes are the transportation of choice for a growing number of Americans, but they're taking many straight to the emergency room.

Injuries associated with these so-called "micromobility products" skyrocketed 70% between 2017 and 2020, according to a soon-to-be-released report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

That in...

When people suffer a severe head injury, it's hard to predict how they will fare in the long run. But a new study suggests that something fairly simple -- measuring a protein in the blood -- could help.

The protein, called neurofilament light (NfL), is a component of the nerve fibers brain cells use to transmit signals. Damage to those fibers (called axons) is known to foretell a higher...

Logging and landscaping are the most dangerous jobs in America, a new study finds.

The risk of death for loggers is more than 30 times higher than for all U.S. workers. Tree care workers also encounter hazards at rates far higher than a typical worker.

"This was the first research to look at commercial logging and landscaping services together," said Judd Michael, a professor of agr...

College athletes who suffer a concussion may take as long as a month to recover, not the two weeks considered normal, new research finds.

"Normal return-to-play time was previously set at 14 days -- meaning 50% of people recovered in that time," said lead researcher Steve Broglio. He is director of the University of Michigan Concussion Center in Ann Arbor. "Our paper suggests that 28 days...

It can happen in an instant. A young child climbs a heavy piece of furniture, and it topples over on the toddler.

New research suggests that's not as rare as you might think: Hundreds of thousands of children have been treated in U.S. emergency rooms for such injuries in recent decades.

"Some families may not think that heavy furniture or TVs can tip over, but they do, and when this...

Young soccer players have more head impacts during practices but experience more severe head impacts during games, a small, preliminary study shows.

The findings could help devise ways to improve head impact safety in youth soccer, according to the researchers.

"Headers are a fundamental component to the sport of soccer. Therefore, it is important to understand differences in header...

Marriages can remain stable after something as challenging as a brain injury for one of the spouses, new research indicates.

Though past reports have suggested that divorce rates were high among those who experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI), that was not true for most people in the current study.

"Our data dispel myths about risk of divorce after TBI and suggest a message of ...

As the use of e-scooters has risen with the introduction of urban rideshare programs, so have serious injuries associated with their use, a new study finds.

Neck and head injuries are especially common.

"Since e-scooters became a popular form of transportation in major cities, the number of injuries jumped significantly because they've become more available to more people," said stu...

Strict rest isn't advised after athletes suffer a concussion because it could slow their recovery, an updated consensus statement from a U.S. expert panel says.

Most adult athletes fully recover within two weeks and children within four, according to the statement published June 15 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The number and severity of initial symptoms are th...

The nutrient zinc can be both helpful and harmful when it comes to kidney stones, a new study finds.

There have been two conflicting theories about the link between zinc and kidney stones. One suggests zinc stops the growth of the calcium oxalate crystals that make up the stones. The other suggests zinc changes the crystals' surfaces, which encourages further growth.

Turns ...

The risk of death after a traumatic brain injury is twice as high among people of color as it is among whites, a new study finds.

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) researchers reviewed outcomes among more than 6,300 traumatic brain injury patients treated at the university's hospital between 2006 and 2017.

The overall death rate was 9.9%, but it was 14.6% among patients who ...

There's good news and bad on rates of head injuries among America's bike-riding public: Rates for these injuries have sharply declined among kids but barely budged among the growing number of adult bike riders.

Between 2009 and 2018, increasing helmet use, construction of dedicated bike lanes in cities and other safety interventions have greatly reduced bike-related traumatic brain injur...