Benefits of Tomatoes for All, Including the Brain Injured

In a trial indexed in the NLM’s PubMed database (PMC13203555) in May 2026, Antioxidants (a scientific journal from the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute based in Switzerland) published a study of 42 healthy adults who ate a measured amount of tomato paste daily for three months. At the end of the study, the participants gained 7.2 points on standardized cognitive tests in measurements of concentration. The authors determined that, “neural changes suggest that tomato intake, specifically lycopene, promotes functional reorganization of large-scale brain networks, enhancing neural efficiency and adaptability through the pruning of redundant cross-network interactions.”

Bowl of tomatoes, tomato paste jar, and basil tomato drink on table

Wide news coverage followed the publication of these finding, as it was “the first clinical trial to link changes in the antioxidant lycopene with alterations in functional brain connectivity.” These findings are promising and suggest that the lycopene in tomato paste is beneficial to all, though the study results are limited, as it only examined the effects on healthy participants.

Evidence of the benefit of tomato juice on those with a traumatic brain injury came recently from elsewhere. A 2026 Scientific Reports trial of 67 traumatic brain injury patients found that those given 300mL (1.25 cups) of tomato juice daily for 14 days had a lower C-reactive protein level, a higher Glasgow Coma Scale score and a shortened intensive care unit stay. Clinical investigations have also confirmed that lycopene reduces inflammatory markers and improves gastrointestinal and neurological functions in patients with TBI. 

Incorporating tomato paste and tomato juice into your diet is quite easy, and tasty. For example, thick uncooked tomato paste can be a base for bruschetta. Tomato juice is the base of a (Virgin) Bloody Mary. Additionally, a 2005 NLM-indexed study titled Increases in plasma lycopene concentration after consumption of tomatoes cooked with olive oil shows that tomato products retain lycopene after cooking, so simply adding tomato paste into sauce is beneficial.

NHL Return Possible for Faber after Skull Fracture

Skull model labeled “Fracture: 1952 Hockey Incident,” “Hairline crack,” and “Break”

Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber is out indefinitely after a deflected shot from Dallas Stars forward Sam Steel struck him near his left ear, an area the helmet doesn’t protect, on September 25, 2026. He had surgery two days later. The NHL team hasn’t said what kind of fracture it is, but a skull fracture is likely. According to the National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus, a skull fracture can damage brain tissue directly, or cause bleeding beneath the skull that compresses the brain. In a depressed skull fracture, broken bone is pushed inward toward the brain.

NHL history shows he can come back to play after his injury. Boston’s Ted Green suffered a life-threatening compound skull fracture in a 1969 stick fight. He needed three brain surgeries and a year of recovery. He then helped Boston win the 1972 Stanley Cup and played eight seasons of professional hockey.

Research indexed in NLM’s PubMed supports cautious optimism. A neurosurgery review found that after brain surgery for a sports injury, 40% to 50% of experts would advise those with such fractures to consider a return to play, but only after 6 to 12 months recuperation. However, about 80% opposed a return to collision sports if bleeding persisted.

Examination of Lindsay Clancy’s Brain

As widely reported, on September 4, the judge declared a mistrial in Lindsay Clancy’s triple-murder trial. Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, pleaded not guilty to killing her three children on Jan. 24, 2023. Her defense argued she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a psychiatric disorder. Prosecutors, however, called on a forensic psychiatrist, who testified that she “retained the capacities that were required for having criminal responsibility,” ABC News reported.

Questions about brain injury came up in the medical testimony. A January 24 jump from a second-floor window, following the strangulation of her kids, left Clancy paralyzed from the waist down. While one doctor testified that Clancy’s head CT was “unremarkable,” as reported by Boston 25, a defense pathologist testified that Clancy did a “freefall dive head first,” causing a C1 (first cervical vertebra) Jefferson fracture.

According to a 2021 report available on the NLM database, “Jefferson fractures with potential tears in the transverse ligament can cause cervical spine instability and can result in neurologic injury if not appropriately diagnosed and managed.” The NLM database also includes the results of a 2011 study on the rare neurological condition Collet-Sicard Syndrome due to Jefferson fracture. The report reveals that the examined patient had decreased gag reflex on the left side, decreased laryngeal elevation, tongue deviation to the left side, and atrophy of the left trapezius. Jefferson fracture, though, does not directly cause cognitive impairment.

Newsweek reported that Clancy had no skull fracture or brain bleed. A psychiatrist testified that Clancy’s brief delirium in the hospital could have been caused by anesthesia, oxygen problems or an elevated heart rate, and that it resolved, reported CBS Boston and Fox News. After the trial, defense attorney Kevin Reddington claimed she came out of “this obvious coma” with “no memory,” CNN reported.

As of now, no decision on whether or not to retry the case appears to have been made.

Christa Pike Survived Her Execution. Did Her Mind?

Tennessee tried to execute Christa Gail Pike via lethal injection on September 30. The convicted killer was unsuccessfully given two doses of pentobarbital. (According to the NLM database, pentobarbital is a barbiturate that primarily acts on the central nervous system. It is approved by the FDA for managing seizures, status epilepticus, and short-term treatment of insomnia. In higher doses, it is an anticonvulsant for emergent seizure control and for inducing medically induced comas.)  Currently, Pike is unconscious and on a ventilator. She has burned and blistered arms, suggesting the drug leaked into tissue instead of her veins. A brain injury is likely but has not been confirmed.

Nearly all execution methods kill by depriving the brain of oxygen. Pentobarbital suppresses breathing. Nitrogen removes oxygen directly. Beyond pharmaceutical means, electrocution can burn the brainstem, and hanging and firing squads cut off blood flow. However, a method may not fully work, as a person can survive a stretch of low oxygen, resulting in hypoxic brain injury.oxygen

Periodic table featuring pentobarbital only

Earlier survivors of pharmaceutical execution, including Romell Broom and Kenneth Smith, lived because staff never got an IV line working. Pike is the first person known to survive after the drugs were given.

In a broader sense, recreational drug overdose often involves medications used in the medical field, but at a much smaller dose. Typically, emergency services often come quickly. Reportedly, it took more than an hour for Pike to receive emergency treatment. According to prison protocol, inmates who survive or experience acute medical distress during the process are legally required to be transferred to an off-site medical facility for life-saving care.

Her recovery depends on how long her brain was deprived of oxygen, which is unknown. The law generally allows a second attempt. But if she can no longer understand why she is being executed, Supreme Court rulings forbid it. Gov. Bill Lee has paused executions in Tennessee pending an independent review.

As of now, no decision on whether or not to retry the case appears to have been made.

The Ride of a Lifetime, or a Lifetime Injury?

For years, thrill-seekers lined up at Six Flags Magic Mountain to be spun, flipped and dropped at 76 mph on X2. Now more than 100 say that momentary thrill left them brain-injured. On September 21, three riders sued the park and the ride’s car manufacturer, alleging brain bleeds, some requiring emergency surgery. Separately, Six Flags recently settled a wrongful-death suit following a man’s death from head trauma after riding X2 in 2022.

Roller coaster inspection scene with safety gear, Mechanical Inspection checklist, and ECG waveform labeled P, Q, S, T

Doctors state that through the rides’ rapid acceleration-deceleration, force can make the brain bleed even when the head hits nothing.

Currently, there is no national database of ride accidents, and no federal agency polices fixed-site rides. Permanently installed rides have been exempt from federal safety oversight since 1981. Rides are subject to state rules, such as that in California: Cal/OSHA closes hazardous rides and fine operators up to $70,000. On March 5, 2025, Rep. André Carson (IN) introduced HR1855, the National Amusement Park Ride Safety Act, “to amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to ensure amusement rides permanently fixed to a site are treated as consumer products.” In response, the amusement park industry’s trade group, IAAPA, says states already inspect rides.

For now, the thrill remains and can be enjoyed, with caution in mind.

Senate Marks National Concussion Awareness Day

The U.S. Senate unanimously consented to a resolution supporting the designation of September 18, 2026, as National Concussion Awareness Day, on September 23.

Cosponsored by Sen. Maggie Hassan (NH) and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (WV), S.Res. 892 encourages federal, state, and local policymakers to raise awareness and improve understanding of diagnosis and management of this most common form of mild traumatic brain injury and calls for further research and prevention efforts. To support this, the resolution cites a number of statistics, including CDC data noting “between 2001 and 2018, an estimated 3,800,000 children under age 17 visited an emergency department because of a traumatic brain injury sustained during sports- or recreation-related activities.”

“Recognizing the signs of a concussion early helps people get the treatment they need to prevent lasting neurological damage from these injuries,” Hassan said. Capito concurred: “Improving concussion prevention, raising awareness, and strengthening diagnosis and treatment are critical to keeping athletes, coaches, parents, and others safe and informed on the field and in the workplace.

CA Chooses Prevention vs Punishment for E-bikers

Electric bicycle with helmet and reflective vest on a bike path

The average e-bikes can travel up to 28 mph. However, drivers may have little or none of the training required to drive vehicles that can obtain that speed.  Young e-bike riders suffer traumatic brain injuries at nearly twice the rate of traditional cyclists, and fewer than half of hospitalized riders wore helmets. To address this, California has passed a law that chooses prevention over punishment, seemingly similar to the law requiring that teenagers take Driver’s Education classes.

On August 27, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1569, directing the California Department of Education, with the California Highway Patrol, to build a standardized e-bike safety and training program for students in grades 7 through 12 by March 2028. Sponsored by Assemblymembers Laurie Davies and Phillip Chen, the Pupil safety: electric bicycle: safety and training program bill unanimously passed the Assembly 77–0.

California’s attempt to address the risks of e-bikes, brain injury and otherwise, through the classroom, contrasts the approach of eleven other states that currently require licenses for their operation: Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, West Virginia, New Mexico, North Dakota, and New Jersey, the strictest. It will be interesting to compare the efficacy of these approaches and to see if some sort of a combination of law and education is needed.

When Bears Attack

Rocky forest trail leading toward snow-capped mountains and winding river

On Sept. 14, a 20-year-old bowhunter near Augusta, Montana, surprised a grizzly near a cow carcass. Badly hurt, the injured man still drove himself home. In May, a mother grizzly with cubs mauled two brothers at Yellowstone. The older brother needed facial reconstruction and care for a head wound.

Unfortunately, head injuries are a relatively common consequence of a bear attack, as bears typically strike the head, face or neck first. These strikes can then result in skull fractures and traumatic brain injury. In one study of 417 bear-attack victims, 55% had head injuries. While bear attacks are rare, roughly 11 brown-bear attacks a year occur in North America. These attacks are clustered, with Alaska, Montana, Wyoming and British Columbia known to be grizzly bear backcountry.

Western governors want control of grizzly management to return to the states. “The endangered species list is not a dean’s list,” Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said in July. “It’s time that [the grizzly] bear graduates.” Peak season for bear attacks is from July through September, as bears eat up to 20,000 calories a day to fatten up before hibernation.  According to 2024 information found in the NLM database, “upper‐body injury results from bears often attacking from a standing position, targeting the head and neck,” so be wary of a standing bear.

Year round, caution is recommended for those who traverse bear-friendly terrain: carry bear spray, travel in groups and make noise. The U.S. National Park Service and other wildlife authorities advise that if a grizzly attacks, lie face-down with your hands clasped over your neck. Fight back against black bears.

“From Invisible Injury to Precision Medicine” with Metabolism

The mildest brain injuries, the most common, leave no trace on CT or MRI scans. New research says the answer to this conundrum may lie in metabolism, how the injured brain burns fuel.

Diagram of brain glucose metabolism, oxygen use, ATP production, and neuronal energy pathways

In a July 2026 Open Access Government article, VA and University of Washington scientist James Meabon argues that FDG-PET (Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography), which uses a radioactive sugar tracer to show the brain’s glucose use, can expose blast injury where structural scans cannot. Tracking the executive-function problems of 79 blast-injured veterans, this Journal of Neurotrauma study found that a single deep-brain hotspot heightened glucose uptake in the left pallidum.

At the molecular level, a May 2026 npj Metabolic Health and Disease journal review details how blast-related injuries stall the brain’s energy cycle. In particular, metabolites – succinate, lactate, altered pyruvate-dehydrogenase activity – it “spills” into blood and urine.

While the work was funded by the Department of Defense, VA, and NIH, and focused on brain injury in the military, the findings are universally applicable. “By viewing blast injury through metabolism,” Meabon writes, medicine can move “from invisible injury to precision medicine.”

Guarding the Farmer’s Brain: 80+ Years of Farm Safety Week

When most people picture a farm, they imagine open fields and fresh air. However, farming is one of the most dangerous workplaces in America. “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1 in 10 farmers will overturn a tractor in his or her lifetime,” said Senator Chuck Grassley (IO), member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry, in 2024.

A study in the Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health found intracranial injuries were the third-leading cause of death among fatally injured U.S. farmers (16.1%), while research in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health reported that head, face, and neck injuries make up 16% of agricultural workers’ compensation claims.

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the first proclamation to acknowledge the 3rd week of September as National Farm Safety and Health Week. Every president since has renewed it. Since 1997, the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), partnered with the AgriSafe Network, has led the efforts to provide critical health, rescue training, and safety education during this week.

This year’s week, September 21–25, 2026, carries the theme “Safety Today, Success Tomorrow.”