A new MRI technique can predict fatigue and headaches in depressed people
Diffusion MRI (DTI) scans the brains of people with dementia to help detect life-changing symptoms such as fatigue, memory problems and headaches.
Concussion is the most common brain injury in the world. Current evaluations include CT, which can detect abnormalities in less than 10 percent of cancer patients.
However, a research team at the University of Cambridge in the UK has found over the years that 30% to 40% of holidaymakers suffer from serious symptoms such as fatigue, memory problems, headaches and mental health problems. Addenbrooke’s Hospital emergency medicine physician Dr Virginia Newcombe said: “Motion is often considered a silent disease. In the absence of definitive evidence such as a diagnosis, patients’ symptoms are often dismissed or ignored, as a study team found using magnetic resonance imaging of brain tissue ( DTI), which measures the movement of water molecules, can better image stroke patients than traditional CT scans, improving prediction accuracy from 69% to 82%.
The researchers tested blood biomarkers, which are proteins that enter the bloodstream after a head injury. Although biomarkers alone are not sufficient, certain proteins such as glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurotransmitter (NFL) can be used to identify patients who may benefit from DTI testing.
“Given the significant impact that trauma symptoms can have on a person’s life, accurate assessment using DTI is urgently needed,” emphasized Dr. Newcomb. The team is currently studying blood biomarkers to integrate DTI into clinical practice and develop simple and practical predictors.
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Author: MedBlog18 Blog Team
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