Mild head injuries linked to risk of death years later

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Adults hospitalized with mild head injuries have almost double the risk of dying in the next 15 years compared to similar people with no history of head injury, according to a new UK study. It’s not clear whether lifestyle before and after a head injury is to blame for the increased risk, if the injury itself has lingering effects, or both, researchers say. “There is evidence in the study that points to lifestyle factors and health before and after the head injury,” said lead author Tom McMillan, of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow. High rates of death in the year following a severe head injury have been well documented, McMillan and his colleagues write in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.