In at least two 13th century medical texts the suggested treatment for a patient with a broken skull involved lying them down with pegs at their shoulders and hitting a board under their feet with a sledgehammer, presumably until the dent in their head smoothed out. Thankfully, our understanding of how delicate an organ the human brain is has grown substantially in the centuries since. But we are still learning. Whether it is motorcycle helmets or construction site hard hats, we accept the need to protect ourselves and those we are responsible for from the risk of head accidents because of the profound immediate effects such accidents can have on them. A recent study by researchers at Oxford University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, reveals a hidden toll of longer term effects.
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