TBI and the Tudors
I read an article called "Did Henry VIII suffer the same brain injury as some NFL players?" about King Henry VIII and his probable traumatic brain injuries that ultimately led to his decline and death. Henry the VIII was the English monarch in the beginning of the 16th century and he is known for having six wives, several of which he had imprisoned and then executed. It was said that Henry, as a young man, was wonderful and kind and a good fighter. But as he aged, he had become easy to anger, forgetful and overall tempestuous. He would forget decisions he had made recently and then go back on his word. Or he would give conflicting instructions and totally forget that he had given an order before that, which he had to be cued to be reminded what he had said previously. Among personality changes, problem-solving deficits, and memory deficits, Henry greatly declined and in physical and mental health. He had become obese and hardly like the young man he used to be.
Historians seem to agree that Henry's personality and overall demeanor greatly changed in 1536 after a head injury and he had sustained a head injury during a jousting accident in 1524. They think that following 2 severe injuries is what caused his deficits. One article I read believe that his 1536 injury caused a diffuse axonal injury and they think this because he was unconscious for 2 hours following it. I am not sure that I have the expertise to agree or refute their claim, but I do think his symptoms are indicative of some damage at least done to his frontal lobe. He had personality changes and memory problems, and he struggled with decision making.
I chose to read more from another article in a journal because my original article was so short and I wanted to know more of Henry's symptoms and other reasons that he had issues in the last half of his life. Among a probable TBI, he also probably had uncontrolled type 2 diabetes which would account for his sores on his lower extremities that he suffered from for about 20 years.
I think I learned how to understand the symptoms of a head injury more and I thought this topic was so interesting! My older sisters and I have all been long fascinated by the Tudors and I would never have thought that my current studies would be so relevant to a past interest in history. I chose to know more about Henry VIII because I like to draw connections between my current studies and previous interests I have. I think that if anyone would like to choose this topic in the future, there is definitely enough information out there for a student to write about this.
References:
Hathaway, B. (2016, February 2). Did Henry VIII suffer same brain injury as some NFL players?
YaleNews. https://news.yale.edu/2016/02/02/did-henry-viii-suffer-same-brain-injury-some-nfl- players#:~:text=Henry%20VIII%20may%20have%20suffered%20repeated%20traumatic
%20brain,neurology.%20Traumatic%20brain%20injury%20explains%20the%20memory%
20problems%2C
Ikram, M.Q., Sajjad, F.H., & Saladrini, A. (2016). The head that wears the crown: Henry VIII and traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neuroscience, 28 16-19.
Historians seem to agree that Henry's personality and overall demeanor greatly changed in 1536 after a head injury and he had sustained a head injury during a jousting accident in 1524. They think that following 2 severe injuries is what caused his deficits. One article I read believe that his 1536 injury caused a diffuse axonal injury and they think this because he was unconscious for 2 hours following it. I am not sure that I have the expertise to agree or refute their claim, but I do think his symptoms are indicative of some damage at least done to his frontal lobe. He had personality changes and memory problems, and he struggled with decision making.
I chose to read more from another article in a journal because my original article was so short and I wanted to know more of Henry's symptoms and other reasons that he had issues in the last half of his life. Among a probable TBI, he also probably had uncontrolled type 2 diabetes which would account for his sores on his lower extremities that he suffered from for about 20 years.
I think I learned how to understand the symptoms of a head injury more and I thought this topic was so interesting! My older sisters and I have all been long fascinated by the Tudors and I would never have thought that my current studies would be so relevant to a past interest in history. I chose to know more about Henry VIII because I like to draw connections between my current studies and previous interests I have. I think that if anyone would like to choose this topic in the future, there is definitely enough information out there for a student to write about this.
References:
Hathaway, B. (2016, February 2). Did Henry VIII suffer same brain injury as some NFL players?
YaleNews. https://news.yale.edu/2016/02/02/did-henry-viii-suffer-same-brain-injury-some-nfl- players#:~:text=Henry%20VIII%20may%20have%20suffered%20repeated%20traumatic
%20brain,neurology.%20Traumatic%20brain%20injury%20explains%20the%20memory%
20problems%2C
Ikram, M.Q., Sajjad, F.H., & Saladrini, A. (2016). The head that wears the crown: Henry VIII and traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neuroscience, 28 16-19.
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