West Virginia women who suffer from a traumatic brain injury may be more likely than men with the same injury to also develop neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. Researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, funded by the university’s Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, found that this is because of the way that TBIs disrupt the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, a part of the neuroendocrine system.

Researchers specifically looked at individuals whose TBIs were the result of brain blasts. This is the most common type of TBI in the military. Overall, about 1.5 million people suffer from a TBI each year.

By doing anatomical, behavioral and hormonal studies, researchers found that the disruption and change in stress hormones created anxiety-like behavior in women. This understanding of the neuroendocrine dysregulation that is creating these symptoms is expected to lead to better treatment.

If a person sustains a head injury in an accident caused by the negligence of another party, there may sometimes be complications in getting compensation for the injury. One reason is that a brain injury does not always result in immediate symptoms, or in some cases, a brain injury turns out to be more serious than it initially appeared to be. Brain injuries can range from mild to severe and may result in permanent damage. People who are in accidents in which they hit their heads might want to talk to an attorney about how they should proceed even if they do not have any symptoms. It is important that a victim does not waive the right to seek additional compensation in case an injury does turn out to be more serious than it originally appeared.