Compositions and Methods for Detecting and Treating Brain Injury Associated Fatigue and Altered Cognition (BIAFAC)

A method of treating a human patient with a brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition (BIAFAC) that will benefit from a probiotic bacteria treatment comprising:

• identifying a human patient with a brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition;
• obtaining a biological sample from the human patient that comprises gut intestinal flora;
• and
• determining whether the gut intestinal flora in the biological sample comprises a decrease in the presence of probiotic bacteria selected from at least one of Prevotella spp or Bacteroidies spp bacteria, when compared to a normal human sample;
• and
• providing the human patient with a composition comprising one or more probiotic bacteria selected from at least one of:
• Prevotella spp or Bacteroidies spp, in an effective amount sufficient to reduce or eliminate the brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition.

A method of treating brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition (BIAFAC) in a human patient comprising:

• identifying a human patient in need of treatment for a brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition associated with an altered intestinal flora;
• and
• providing the human patient with a composition comprising at least one of:
• a Prevotella spp or a Bacteroidies spp bacteria, or one or more agents that increase an amount of the Prevotella spp or the Bacteroidies spp bacteria in an intestinal flora of the human patient to reduce or eliminate the brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition.

A kit for screening a patient for a brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition of a patient and choosing a proper treatment based on the screening, the kit comprising:

• a screening tool that screens the patient for a risk of brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition, the screening tool comprising a questionnaire and further comprising a screening score system that determines the risk of the patient based on a cumulative point total from answers to the questionnaire;
• a diagnostic test that categorizes the brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition based on the cumulative point total from the questionnaire;
• a fecal sample collection container for determining a bacterial flora in a fecal sample of the patient;
• instructions for implementing the brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition treatment;
• and
• a brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition treatment composition comprising one or more probiotic bacteria selected from at least one of:
• Prevotella spp or Bacteroidies spp, or one or more agents that increase the amount of Prevotella spp or Bacteroidies spp in an intestinal flora of the patient, wherein the composition comprises an amount effective to reduce or eliminate the brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition.

A method of diagnosing and treating a patient for brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition, the method comprising:

• using an algorithm implemented in a computer program to:
• screen a patient for a brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition risk by scoring a questionnaire based on answers from the patient to the questionnaire, the scoring providing a cumulative point total, and determining the brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition of the patient based on the cumulative point total from the questionnaire;
• and
• choosing a proper brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition treatment product if the brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition risk exceeds a threshold, the brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition treatment product comprising a composition comprising one or more probiotic bacteria selected from at least one of:
• Prevotella spp or Bacteroidies spp, or one or more agents that increase the amount of Prevotella spp or Bacteroidies spp in an intestinal flora of the patient, wherein the composition comprises an amount effective to reduce or eliminate the brain injury associated fatigue or altered cognition.