Learn More About Brain Diseases

Brain diseases affect all of us, whether through someone we know directly or through the impact it has on the lives of those around us. Here are the 21 major types of brain diseases and additional information about each.

1 in 3 people will suffer brain illness or injury in their lifetime.
Brain diseases and injuries cost society as much as $2 TRILLION per year in the US and EU.
Brain disorders and injuries cost society more than cancer and cardiovascular disease COMBINED.
1.7 MILLION Americans have Autism.
1.7 MILLION Americans suffer a Traumatic Brain Injury every year.
Approximately 1 million Americans suffer from Parkinson’s disease.
Over 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s Disease.
For every soldier killed in war in 2012, about 25 veterans took their own lives.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is one of the LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH AND DISABILITY in America.
By 2023, over 46 million American adults will suffer from a mental disorder.
53,000 Americans die every year due to Traumatic Brain Injury.
8 teenagers die EVERY DAY in the US from TBI.
Neurological disorders constitute 12% of total deaths globally each year.
There are 5 MILLION Americans living with TBI-related disabilities.
Mental disorders make up 35% of the cost of all non-communicable diseases worldwide.
5.3 MILLION Americans have lifelong disabilities due to Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
Direct and indirect cost of TBI is $76 BILLION per year in the US.
Nearly 8% of the US population suffers from POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS in their lifetime.
300,000 soldiers suffer TBI and/or PTS.
Women are about twice as likely as men to develop PTSD.
There is 1 military suicide per day in the US.
FOUR people commit suicide EVERY HOUR in the United States.
In the U.S., serious mental illness causes earnings loss of $193.2 billion annually.
90% of suicide victims have a TREATABLE MENTAL DISORDER.
Nearly 10% of people with SCHIZOPHRENIA commit suicide.
Number one sport per capita for traumatic brain injury is GIRLS SOCCER.
HALF A MILLION children under 14 go to the emergency room every year for TBI.
Funding for brain research from government and pharmaceutical companies is DECREASING EVERY YEAR.
Someone develops Alzheimer’s Disease EVERY 68 SECONDS.
Alzheimer’s Disease is the 6th LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH in US adults.
Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in children and young adults.
TBI patients are up to 5 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Medicaid and Medicare spend $130 BILLION per year on Alzheimer’s patients.
One in 10 high school athletes involved in contact sports sustain a concussion each year.
Over 400,000 Americans have Multiple Sclerosis.
An athlete who sustains a concussion is 5 times more likely to sustain a second concussion.
People with TBI are nearly twice as likely to report binge drinking.
The lowest rates of Multiple Sclerosis are in countries nearest to the EQUATOR.
20% of U.S. troops returning from combat tours show symptoms of PTSD or major depression.
DEPRESSION is the LEADING CAUSE of disease burden in the U.S.
Nearly 7% of American adults had a MAJOR DEPRESSIVE EPISODE in the past 12 months.
81.1 million people will be affected by dementia by 2040.
Over 2 MILLION Americans over the age of 18 suffer from BIPOLAR DISORDER.
About one in 10 individuals will have at least one epileptic seizure in their lifetime.
TBI victims are 50% more likely to suffer from depression.
Over 2 MILLION Americans have SCHIZOPHRENIA.
Among people with MS, physical disability contributes to a nearly 70% unemployment rate.
The annual medical cost of Schizophrenia in the US is OVER $32B.

Learn More About Brain Diseases

IF YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW MAY BE SUFFERING FROM A BRAIN DISEASE, MENTAL ILLNESS, OR BRAIN INJURY, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONSULT A HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL IMMEDIATELY.

For general resource websites on mental illness, mental health, brain disease, and brain injury, click here.

Brain Disorders

Alzheimer's Disease

One of the most frightening and devastating of all neurological disorders is the dementia that occurs in the elderly. The most common cause of this illness is Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

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Anxiety Disorders

The most widespread mental illnesses, anxiety disorders annually affect an estimated 12.6 percent of the adult population, or 24.8 million Americans.

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Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious public health problem in the United States.  Each year, traumatic brain injuries contribute to a substantial number of deaths and cases of permanent disability. Recent data shows that, on average, approximately 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury annually.

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Addiction

Drug abuse is one of the nation’s most serious health problems. Indeed, 9 percent of Americans, more than 22 million people, abuse drugs on a regular basis.

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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

This progressive disorder strikes more than 5,000 Americans annually, with an average survival time of just three to five years from symptom onset.

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Characterized by excessively inattentive, hyperactive, or impulsive behaviors, ADHD affects an estimated 2 million children in the United States, or 3 to 5 percent of children.

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Autism

An autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnosed in 1 of every 150 babies born in the United States (approximately 1.7 million Americans).

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Bipolar Disorder

Patients with bipolar disorder, previously known as manicdepressive illness, usually experience episodes of deep depression and manic highs, with a return to relatively normal functioning in between.

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Brain Tumors

Although brain tumors are not always malignant — a condition that spreads and becomes potentially lethal — these growths always are serious because they can interfere with normal brain activity.

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Down Syndrome

Down syndrome, the most frequently occurring chromosomal condition, appears in 1 of every 732 babies.

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Dyslexia

An estimated 15 to 20 percent of the population, as many as 60 million Americans, has some form of learning disability involving difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities.

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Huntington's Disease

Affecting some 30,000 Americans and placing 200,000 more at risk, Huntington’s disease (HD) is now considered one of the most common hereditary brain disorders.

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Major Depression

This condition, with its harrowing feelings of sadness, hopelessness, pessimism, loss of interest in life, and reduced emotional well-being, is one of the most common and debilitating mental disorders.

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Multiple Sclerosis

The most common central nervous system disease of young adults after epilepsy, multiple sclerosis (MS) is a lifelong ailment of unknown origin that affects more than 400,000 Americans.

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Neurological AIDS

In 2007, about 2.5 million people worldwide became infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); 33 million are now living with HIV.

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Neurological Trauma

Some 1.4 million people suffer traumatic head injuries each year in the United States, of whom roughly 50,000 die.

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Pain

More than 97 million Americans suffer chronic, debilitating headaches or have had a bout with a bad back or the pain of arthritis—all at a total cost of some $100 billion. But it doesn't need to be that way.

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Parkinson's Disease

This neurologic disorder afflicts 1 million individuals in the United States, most of whom are older than 50.

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Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS)

PTS is often referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We drop the ‘D’ because evidence shows that it is not in fact a “disorder,” but a type of brain injury. We also believe describing it as a disorder stigmatizes those who suffer from PTS, which currently affects over 300,000 soldiers and nearly 7% of the U.S. population at some time in their lives.

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Schizophrenia

Marked by disturbances in thinking, emotional reactions, and social behavior, schizophrenia usually results in chronic illness and personality change.

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Seizures and Epilepsy

Seizures are due to sudden, disorderly discharges of interconnected neurons in the brain that temporarily alter one or more brain functions.

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Stroke

A stroke occurs when a blood vessel bringing oxygen and nutrients to the brain bursts or is clogged by a blood clot or some other particle.

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Tourette Syndrome

One of the most common and least understood neurobiological disorders, Tourette syndrome (TS) is an inherited disorder that affects about 1 in 200 Americans.

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