Investigating The Relationship Between Concussion And Hormonal Dysfunction In A Colorado Patient Cohort

Approximately 2.87 million individuals are affected by mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), or concussion, within the US every year. Concussed individuals can experience profound, chronic symptoms, collectively called Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS), and may be predisposed to certain neurodegenerative diseases later in life. Some of the symptoms of PCS, including depression, anxiety, digestive issues, fatigue, cognitive issues, irritability, sleep disorders, and pain, may be caused by hormonal dysfunction following mTBI. Based on previous literature and research, differing hormones within sexes may be responsible for affecting both the rate at which individuals get injured and their outcomes following injury. Understanding how mTBI effects the brain and body is valuable for bettering treatment plans, designing and implementing preventative measures, and reducing chronic illness. In order to further understand hormonal imbalances and dysfunction following mTBI, we compared approximately 30 different hormone markers between 207 concussed and non-concussed individuals. Interestingly, we found that parathyroid hormone was significantly higher in individuals with no concussion, while dihydrotestosterone was significantly higher in individuals with concussion. We also found that SHBG was significantly higher in non-concussed males and parathyroid hormone in non-concussed females. Levels of progesterone, DHEA-S, and estriol were also different between individuals with mTBI who has experienced a loss of consciousness vs. those who experienced no loss of consciousness. This research will expand our current knowledge related to the impact of mTBI on hormones and may help physicians and researchers more deeply understand how to treat concussed patients and reduce the effects of PCS.