Category Archives: Government/Research

NYT Reports “At Least 1 in 4 N.F.L. Players Gets Brain Disease”

A New York Times article published yesterday, August 25, 2026, focuses on a study published this week in BMJ: at least one in four former N.F.L. players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy. While The Times’ headline, Study’s Alarming Finding: At Least 1 in 4 N.F.L. Players Gets Brain Disease, captures the reader, it and the study itself omit an even grimmer finding: it appears that only about approximately a quarter of the 878 players who died had their brains examined. The real risk for CTE could be almost one hundred percent.

Worn navy football helmet with number 24 on a wooden bench

CTE comes from the cumulative force of repeated head impacts. (No tackle football position is safe, but low-contact positions like punters and kickers are the safest, while linemen absorb thousands of blows.) Roughly 60% of the players found with CTE had dementia and severe impairment, including an inability to feed or groom themselves.

This isn’t a call to ban tackle football. But public universities, however lucrative their football programs may be, are taxpayer-supported government institutions. Perhaps lawmakers should at least weigh the benefits and drawbacks of the sport on college campuses before federal funds are provided.

“Storm” That Some Endure After TBI

Translucent flames rising from a forest stream among moss and leaves

Excessive sweating is one of the most visible aftereffects of a severe traumatic brain injury. The problem, unfortunately, is far from rare. For decades, studies indexed by the National Library of Medicine have been examining this condition, with estimates showing that this condition strikes roughly 8 to 33 percent of severe TBI patients. In acute stroke, one study found that sweating primarily occurs on the paralyzed side of the body in 55 percent of patients.*

Clinically recognized as paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH), the condition causes sudden, severe surges in the body’s fight-or-flight nervous system. Damage to the hypothalamus, the body’s thermostat, deepens the disruption. The “storm” occurs when the injured brain disconnects the brain’s inhibitory centers from its excitatory ones. Patients then erupt in surges of racing heart, spiking blood pressure, fever and drenching sweat.

Treatment leans heavily on medication. A 2026 trial at Zagazig University, a public university in Egypt, that is published in BMC Anesthesiology and found in the NLM-database, concluded that “prophylactic propranolol significantly reduces PSH incidence.” Physicians also prescribe medications that are typically used to treat different ailments: clonidine, gabapentin, morphine, baclofen, and botulinum toxin injections.

* Can the reverse happen? Yes. The same hypothalamic damage can leave survivors feeling persistently cold, or even dangerously hypothermic.

When Calcium Turns Against the Brain

Calcium usually conjures images of strong bones and glasses of milk. Those with a brain injury are often told by their doctors to increase their calcium intake, as low blood calcium often occurs in brain-injury patients. Inside your brain, though, calcium plays a very different role that scientists are learning can turn dangerous after an injury.

Diagram showing calcium ions entering a neuron through a voltage-gated calcium channel

Brain cells communicate through tiny gates called calcium channels, which let calcium atoms flow in and out. “Calcium channels are the major determinant of calcium influx,” explains Troy Littleton, a neuroscience professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following a stroke or head injury, these gates can jam open, flooding cells with calcium and igniting inflammation and cell death.

Recent discoveries, many of which are available to view on the NLM database, spotlight new culprits. In 2026, scientists found that a channel called Orai1 flips the brain’s immune cells into “attack mode”; blocking it in mice calmed inflammation. Another channel, Piezo1, physically senses damage.

Importantly, these new findings confirm that the danger isn’t calcium itself, but the broken channels letting too much rush in.

Serious Gap in Veteran TBI Care Found

On August 5, 2026, the VA Office of Inspector General (VA OIG) released a national review that found a serious gap in traumatic brain injury care for post-9/11 veterans: Of 301,177 veterans who agreed to a comprehensive TBI evaluation after screening positive between September 11, 2001 and March 31, 2025, only 158,907 received one, leaving 142,270 without the assessment.

Though the evaluation largely draws on the same screening data of VA’s congressionally mandated TBI Veterans Health Registry, this oversight review is distinct in auditing the screening-to-evaluation pipeline rather than cataloging diagnosed cases. While very much not excusing the lapse, it was found to have several causes. In a 100-record sample, 65% of veterans canceled the appointment or did not respond to VA’s attempts to schedule it. But investigators also faulted the VA itself, as in 15% of cases the staff never placed the required consult, and a single-use electronic template blocked repeat evaluations for redeployed veterans. One VA official told investigators that once completed, the template effectively “locks down.”

The VA Inspector General Cheryl L. Mason issued three recommendations: (1) review the referral process after positive screenings, (2) consider a uniform system for directing veterans to Polytrauma System of Care specialists, (3) revise the template’s one-time-use limitation. The VA has agreed with the first two and agreed with the third, in principle.

When Sleep Turns Dangerous

Raina Heverin, 44, was left with a brain injury after plunging 40 feet from a balcony while sleepwalking on holiday in Paris. She suffered a bleed on the brain, a punctured lung, and a broken hip, arm and ribs, and spent three weeks in a coma.

Woman sleepwalking in bedroom at night while man sleeps on bed

This August 2026 Parisian case, and multiple reports filed on the National Library of Medicine since at least 2012, underscores how devastating sleepwalking can be. Sometimes called Elpenor syndrome, such falls are the primary way sleepwalking causes brain injury. Impaired perception during sleepwalking episodes can, for example, lead to falls from staircases and balconies. A meta-analysis of 51 studies found the estimated lifetime prevalence of sleepwalking was 6.9%, with current adult prevalence around 1.5%. (Though this meta-analysis was published, and made available on the NLM database, in November 2016, the findings remain notable.)

Traumatic brain injury can also precipitate devastating sleep disorders. Sleep disturbances overall affect 30% – 70% of persons after traumatic brain injury, in the forms of insomnia, fatigue, narcolepsy (with or without cataplexy, the sudden, brief loss of voluntary muscle control or tone), sleep apnea (obstructive and/or central), periodic limb movement disorder, and parasomnias. [In rehabilitation centers, parasomnias were the presenting complaint in 25% of patients with brain trauma.]

For prevention, doctors recommend brain injured patients create a safe sleep environment: remove sharp objects, lock doors and windows, install safety gates on staircases, and use door alarms. Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule that includes an hour before bed to mentally decompress is also important. Those with brain injury may want to consult with a sleep specialist, since these parasomnias frequently go underrecognized.

Celebrating World Elephant Day

Elephant standing in grassland with a semi-transparent brain illustration on its head

“Elephants are the largest land mammals on earth and have distinctly massive bodies, large ears, and long trunks,” states the WWF (World Wildlife Fund). Today, August 12, is globally celebrated at World Elephant Day, which, in 2026, emphasizes amplifying community-led conservation, treating people who live alongside elephants as essential partners. While not codified as a federal holiday, elephants, and the day, are honored by certain states and government agencies. (For example, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service funds the Asian Elephant Conservation Fund across Asian range states. The State Department has previously honored the day by launching its “Zoohackathon” to combat wildlife trafficking through technology. In relation to this site, one topic to consider is the consequences of a brain injury in these majestic creatures:

Veterinarians caring for an elephant with head injury under shelter

An elephant can sustain brain injury from blunt blows, falls, fighting, or human abuse. As with other animals, including humans, primary injury can result in contusions, hemorrhage, and skull fractures. This is followed by secondary swelling and the risk of seizures, impaired movement, or death. Though direct NLM-indexed clinical reports in elephants and brain injury are limited, caring for them has followed typical veterinary TBI principles: nursing care, fluid therapy, hyperosmolar agents, analgesia, anticonvulsants, oxygen, and, sometimes, surgery – scaled to an enormous patient.

Though they may be a thrill to see at the zoo, human contact with elephants can be of great peril. NLM’s database’s case reports describe elephants producing head injuries in humans through trampling, stomping, squeezing, tossing, or crushing, commonly targeting the head and chest.  A five-year retrospective PubMed-available 2021 Chinese Journal of Traumatology-published study of 45 emergency-department elephant-attack victims documented injury patterns and outcomes. Nonetheless, elephants are an important part of our ecosystem and risk is unlikely if proper precaution is taken.

No Pills, No Scalpel: Magnetic Pulse Treatment for Brain Injury

Healthcare professional applying a transcranial magnetic stimulation device to a patient's head in a clinical setting

Imagine treating a brain injury with no incision or pill, but just a magnetic coil held against the scalp. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) turns that promise into a reality, sending gentle magnetic pulses through the skull, so that misfiring brain circuits go back into rhythm. Long cleared by the FDA to treat depression, the painless technology is now being tested for treatment of traumatic brain injury and the lingering fog, headaches, and trauma it leaves behind.

Weighing TMS against combat-related PTSD, a 2026 systematic review examined a registry of 770 veterans who received TMS probes to determine how brain injury shapes treatment response. And, in a rigorous trial funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, researchers at VA San Diego treated 70 veterans plagued by relentless headaches after mild brain injuries. Half of the study participants received real stimulation, while half received a placebo. After just ten sessions, published in early 2026, the magnetic group reported fewer headaches, in addition to sharper memory and attention.

Soon, a quiet magnetic coil may become a mainstay of brain-injury medicine.

Veterans’ Brain-Injury Cases Surge as Research Funding Falls

Graph showing surge in confirmed veterans brain injury cases from 2018 to 2022 with key contributing factors

New data from the VA’s Traumatic Brain Injury Veterans Health Registry reveals that 556,502 veterans entered the registry between September 2001 and September 2025. (This 26 percent jump in just four years averages more than 28,000 new cases annually since 2021.) This data was make available in July 2026, just as the federal funding for TBI research has dropped from $175 million to $40.5 million. (Of course, this drop does not apply to state funding.)

In a joint statement, Disabled American Veterans National Commander Coleman Nee and Invisible Wounds Foundation CEO Shannon Connell urged Congress “to increase funding and direct greater focus toward service member and veteran-centered TBI research. The response from Congress has echoed this and crossed party lines. In a May 2026 hearing reviewing that budget, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins blasted proposed budget reductions targeting the National Institutes of Health.” Rep. Mike Levin (CA) called the current level “a drastic cut from prior years” and pledged to fight for more funding.

North Carolina’s New Four-Year Brain Injury Plan and Statewide Screening Tool

Diagram of OBISSS online brain injury screening and support system with five steps

North Carolina has launched a new statewide strategy to help residents living with traumatic brain injury. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced its 2026–2029 Traumatic Brain Injury State Action Plan on July 22, 2026; the plan officially took effect July 1. Developed by the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services alongside NC Medicaid, the Division of Public Health, and the Brain Injury Advisory Council, it centers on four priorities: expanding access to services, strengthening provider support, bolstering resources for people with TBI and their caregivers, and equipping communities to prevent injuries.

“Really listening to those most impacted by TBI was essential to developing strategies that will improve their quality of life,” said Kelly Crosbie, assistant secretary for mental health, developmental disabilities and substance use services.

The need is significant. In 2024, roughly 8,260 North Carolinians were hospitalized for TBI, more than 32,000 visited emergency departments, and 2,668 died from TBI-related causes, with falls the leading cause.

One of the plan’s first initiatives, the Online Brain Injury Screening & Support System (OBISSS), goes live August 1. Created by the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators, this free and confidential tool identifies an individual’s exposure to brain injury.

Protecting & Rejuvenating the Brain at the Pool

Three children playing and splashing in ocean waves at the beach
Swimmer diving into outdoor pool lane 4 with splash

On June 24, 2026, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released new data on child drowning. An average of 376 children under 15 died in pool and spa incidents each year from 2021 to 2023. Of these fatalities, nearly 80% of the victims are under age five, and more than 70% of incidents at residential homes.

Less visible are the roughly 8,000 nonfatal drownings annually, as both adult and youth survivors of such incidents can sustain lasting brain damage. Diving adds a second summer hazard, particularly head-first impact in shallow water drives force straight through the neck.

While these numbers may cause worry, time in the water can safely stay one of the best parts of the summer by following some rules, including:

  1. Assign a sober “water watcher”
  2. Install four-sided fencing with self-latching gates
  3. Enroll children in swimming lessons
  4. Learn CPR
  5. Enter unfamiliar water feet-first
Woman performing water exercise with therapist assistance in swimming pool

On the other side of the spectrum, for those in recovery from a brain injury, aquatic therapy (AT) is a highly recognized form of treatment. A 2020 PubMed-available study found that “the use of AT during post-acute phase to improve motor functions and quality of life in patients with s[evere]TBI.” In March 2026, a new in-depth review of this subject was published on PubMed: Aquatic Therapy as a Programmable Multisensory Environment for Arousal and Postural Control After Severe Acquired Brain Injury.