Concussions Early in Life Tied to Late Life Cognitive Decline

A study of twins shows that having a concussion early in life is tied to having lower scores on tests of thinking and memory skills decades later as well as having more rapid decline in those scores than twins who did not have a concussion, or traumatic brain injury (TBI). The study is published in the September 6, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

TAPS Awareness Day: The spontaneous blood cell imbalance that can be sudden and deadly in monochorionic twins

At 31 weeks and 5 days pregnant with identical twins, Amberlyn Smith went to her bi-weekly ultrasound feeling confident. Just two weeks prior, both of the twins had grown appropriately and screening tests came back normal. But that day, Dec. 23, there was a clear discrepancy in their size, as well as a notable abnormality in their blood flow. Smith was immediately sent to see an intervention specialist with UTHealth at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she emergently delivered the twins the next morning, on Christmas Eve.