Category Archives: Government/Research

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 Brains at the Pool This Summer

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.

Widely Used Birth Control Comes With Brain-shaped Asterisk

Vial of Depo-Provera and syringe on medical tray

Per the CDC, roughly 1 in 4 sexually active American women have used the form of birth control Depo-Provera. Studies, though, found that the effects of this injectable go beyond contraception. The government paper trail also keeps growing, regarding the risks it may cause.  A JAMA Neurology study found a 2.43-fold higher risk for developing a brain tumor among users. Just this month, on July 2, 2026, another JAMA study flagged the injection as having the strongest risk of brain tumor development of any contraceptive. (This study also reported reassuring news: risk fades within roughly five years of stopping. Additionally, absolute risk stays low, as less than 5 in 10,000 women have this extremely negative effect.)

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Depo-Provera is a birth control shot that has the hormone progestin.” In actuality, it injects medroxyprogesterone acetate, a synthetic version of the natural hormone progesterone.  Long-term use of this injection can result in meningiomas, which are usually benign brain tumors. Meningiomas, though, can crowd the brain, triggering headaches, vision loss, and seizures. In December 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered a warning on the Depo-Provera label.

Meanwhile, Pfizer reached a June 2026 settlement covering over 5,500 federal lawsuits alleging it downplayed the danger. Though this number may seem large, the percent of Depo-Provera users it represents is small. So, users shouldn’t panic but should talk to their doctor about duration of use.

The Post-TBI Weight Gain No Diet Could Stop Until Now

For some survivors, uncontrollable gain weight can be a consequence of a brain injury. The condition, known as acquired hypothalamic obesity, strikes when there is damage to the hypothalamus, the brain region that regulates hunger and energy balance. Once that control center is disrupted, patients are left with relentless hunger and rapid weight gain that resists diet and exercise alone. (Most often, the condition follows treatment for brain tumors, but traumatic brain injuries and strokes can trigger it too.)

Pharmacist pointing at a medication bottle while a woman and a young man listen

Those with this condition previously have nowhere to turn for real help, but that changed on March 19, 2026: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved setmelanotide, sold as Imcivree, as the first therapy specifically designated for this rare disease. The drug works by restoring hormone signaling along the MC4R pathway, which is the same circuit the injury disrupts.

The approval followed the largest placebo-controlled study ever conducted for this condition, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 8, 2026. Patients on the drug saw a 16.5 percent average drop in BMI, compared with a 3.3 percent increase among those on the placebo. Trial co-author Dr. Reema Habiby confirms, “These results offer real hope to children and families who have had very few options.”

A Dangerous TBI Two-Way Street

A traumatic brain injury doesn’t just raise your risk of later neurological disorders; preexisting neurological disorders may raise the risk of brain injury, concludes a recent 2026 study from the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

Diagram showing circular relationship between brain injury and epilepsy with arrows indicating feedback loop and mutual exacerbation of seizures and brain damage

Published June 17, 2026. in the journal Neurology, the Department of Defense-supported study tracked more than 55,000 older veterans. Scientists found that traumatic brain injury was tied to higher rates of stroke, dementia, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s disease both before and after the injury. “Our findings raise the possibility that… [pre-existing brain diseases] are themselves risk factors for TBI in older people,” said study author Carrie Peltz, PhD, of the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

In the year before a TBI, older veterans were about three times more likely to have been diagnosed with stroke, dementia, or Parkinson’s and more than four times more likely to have epilepsy. After a TBI, they were roughly twice as likely to have a stroke or epilepsy. This results greatly build on an Oxford Academic, PubMed-accessible, 2025 study that found, “Among those with TBI, patients with pre-injury dementia had particularly high chronic mortality.” While causality has not firmly been medically defined, the study’s results are clear.

Women With Brain Injuries Less Likely to Reach Trauma Centers – But the Full Picture Matters

Male patient with head injury eating with visitor and female patient with head injury writing

A major new study published June 15, 2026, in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), and found in the PubMed database, reveals a striking inequity: women hospitalized with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Ontario are significantly less likely than men to be admitted to specialized (Level I or II) trauma centers. After adjusting for age, injury severity, comorbidities, and income, women’s odds for prompt treatment remain 26% lower (OR 0.74) than that of men.

The finding echoes earlier work: a 2022 US study found that female trauma patients, including those with TBI, experienced longer delays to reach trauma care than men even after accounting for injury severity and type. An accompanying editorial was pointedly titled “Sex Disparities in Trauma Care -Why Are the Women Waiting?” Other U.S. research similarly documents women being undertriaged in emergency departments despite comparable injuries.

Yet context is essential. Per CDC data reported in 2018 and 2020, males were nearly two times more likely to be hospitalized for a TBI (79.9 age-adjusted rate versus 43.7) and three times more likely to die from one than females (28.3 versus 8.4). Even in the Ontario study, men had more severe head trauma (33% vs 25%). The disparity in care is real and demands attention, but men remain more likely to sustain, and die from, TBI overall.

VA’s MDMA Trial Offers New Hope, Particularly for the Brain Injured

On May 26, 2026, the VA announced a clinical trial to test MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans battling PTSD and alcohol use disorder. The study, which began enrollment quietly on May 18, is one of 19 psychedelic trials the VA is funding through $23 million in external grants, enrolling approximately 80 veterans at facilities in Providence, Rhode Island, and West Haven, Connecticut, with results expected in May 2030.

The trial will study the safety and effectiveness of MDMA-assisted therapy to address conditions that do not fully respond to standard treatments. For those living with traumatic brain injury, the treatment’s benefit may be significant. Research shows that patients with head injuries are more likely to develop PTSD than those without a TBI history. Studies confirm that veterans with probable TBI have 1.72 times greater odds of developing PTSD.

“This trial represents an important step in safely evaluating new approaches and innovations to treat Veterans with severe mental health conditions,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins. For the hundreds of thousands of veterans carrying both a damaged brain and a traumatized mind, it may represent something even more profound: a second chance at healing.

Another Study Links TBI & PTSD to Cognitive Decline – But Not Through Brain Plaques

A study published May 30, 2026, in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease is reshaping how researchers understand cognitive decline in combat veterans. Using data from the Department of Defense’s Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, USC researchers examined how TBI and PTSD affect brain imaging markers and cognition in a U.S. veteran population.

Brain imaging results and cognitive test data assessing memory and executive function in veterans

The study found that greater PTSD symptom severity was linked to poorer performance across all three cognitive tests used, and higher TBI severity correlated with lower scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination. What is striking about these findings is that they did not show that TBI severity nor PTSD symptoms were associated with neuroimaging biomarkers of neurodegeneration or vascular damage.

This discovery suggests that cognitive impairment in veterans may not stem directly from the accumulation of Alzheimer’s pathologies or vascular injuries. This matters enormously for treatment. It suggests veterans’ cognitive struggles may require targeted interventions beyond standard dementia pathways – a finding directly relevant to legislative reauthorizing of funding for federal TBI surveillance and research programs.