Head injuries are complex because severity is difficult to define. Historically, head injuries were thought to occur only when a person lost consciousness. However, advances in brain imaging and other methods of cognitive testing over the past century have allowed scientists to see that the brain may be injured by even a mild concussion. Since the brain is responsible for orchestrating the actions of many other systems, it is important to look at external factors and how they play a role in recovery. Nutrition, in particular, has an impact on recovery since the brain injuries can hinder the way food is absorbed and used to regain health.
What is a Head Injury?
Head injuries can be open or closed. Open head injuries -- those that penetrate the skull, such as gun shot wounds -- can lead to brain trauma, as can skull fractures from severe falls. More common, though, are closed head injuries, such as concussions, that occur after a car accident or sports-related incident. Some concussions involve loss of consciousness, while in other cases the victim experiences a period of dazed confusion without out actually blacking out. In his 1994 book, "Sports Neuropsychology," psychologist Ruben Echemendia defines concussion as any alteration in brain activity and consciousness after an insult to the brain has occurred. The alteration may pass quickly, or may persist. Given the variation in types of injuries and time of recovery, researchers are interested in external factors, such as nutrition, that may help.
Absorbing Nutrients
Brain trauma affects numerous bodily systems, including digestion. The brain is responsible for setting off the complex endocrine reactions that allow the body to adequately break down the nutrients in food. In January 2011, the journal "Nutrition" published a study conducted at a medical school in China examining this issue. Researchers used rats with severe head injuries to investigate the effect of probiotics, or microorganisms that help in digestion, on gut absorptive capacity. They divided the rats into groups and gave some of them normal nutrition and others the same nutrition plus probiotics. The results showed that the rats with the additional probiotics had increased GAC. While it's unclear whether the same effect holds true for humans, physicians treating people with head injuries may still consider adding probiotics to the post-injury diet to maximize vitamin and mineral absorption needed for the body and brain to heal.
Protein After A Head Injury
Another research study from China, published in the "Chinese Journal of Burns" in 2009 looked at the role of glutamine in recovery from head trauma. Glutamine is an amino acid -- or building block of protein -- found in human muscles. The researchers divided brain trauma patients into two groups and provided glutamine-enriched nutrition to one group and regular nutrients to the other. They found that those who received glutamine-enriched food had more stable blood glucose levels and less loss of lean muscle tissue during the rehabilitation process. Such factors could improve a patient's overall nutrition status, and perhaps accelerate recovery to some extent.
The Immune System and Head Injury
A persistent danger following head trauma is that the immune system is often suppressed, leaving the patient vulnerable to infections and illnesses during the recovery phase. Some investigators propose that this immune-compromised state is the result of changes in the metabolic rate after an injury as well as inadequate nutrient absorption. A study conducted in 1994 at the University of Tennessee and published in the Archives of Surgery examined the effects of aggressive nutrition, combined with insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) -- a protein in humans that is important for growth during childhood -- right after injury. Using complex metabolic markers, they found that treating patients with IGF-I and aggressive early intravenous nutrition had a positive effect on the immune response of patients with head trauma. A more recent study, conducted in 2001 by doctors in Israel and published in the Journal of Neurosurgery, confirmed the theory that the immune system is weakened after a brain injury and that proper nutrition is an important part of recovery and return to health.
References
- "Sport Neuropsychology"; Ruben J. Echemendia; 2006.
- "Archives of Surgery"; Effect of Recombinant Human Insulin-like Growth Factor I and Early Total Parenteral Nutrition on Immune Depression Following Severe Head Injury; Kudsk KA, et al; January, 1994.
- "Chinese Journal of Burns"; Effects of Glutamine-enriched Enteral Nutrition on Nutritional Status and Prognosis of Patients with Severe Head Injury; Zeng J, et al; May, 2005.
- "Nutrition"; Increased Gut Absorptive Capacity in Rats with Severe Head Injury after Feeding with Probiotics; Yu XY, et al; January, 2011.
- "Journal of Neurosurgery"; Early Immunological Defects in Comatose Patients after Acute Brain Injury;" Wolach B, et al; May, 2001.
