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- CDC Provides Free Toolkits for School Coaches (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
"Coaches, athletic directors and trainers play a key role in helping to prevent concussion and in managing it properly if it occurs." 03-09
- How to Know When a Head Bump Is Serious (Time.com)
"Head injuries are very common--on the order of 1.5 million in the U.S. last year. Most people shake them off, but many don't. The signs of a serious hit are a headache that gets worse, confusion, disorientation and vomiting. Slurred speech, sleepiness, a droopy eye and clumsiness are also signals, as is any kind of amnesia. And the signs may not be obvious. 'They gradually progress,' says Dr. Carmelo Graffagnino, director of the neuroscience critical-care unit at Duke University. 'Then suddenly it gets to the critical point that a person can't be woken up.' " 03-09
Papers
- -03-19-09 Brain Injury Basics (ABC News)
"The shocking death of actress Natasha Richardson following a skiing accident has many people asking questions about brain injuries, and why some can end up being no more than a bump on the head while others can kill." concussions. 03-09
- -03-20-09 Could a Helmet Have Saved Natasha Richardson? (Time.com)
"If skiers are moving slowly — say 10 m.p.h. or slower — and they fall on soft snow, they're probably not going to be hurt severely, whether they're wearing a helmet or not. If they're moving faster than 15 or 20 m.p.h. and strike ice, hard-packed snow or another solid object with the head, they're likely to suffer severe injury, and again the presence of a helmet may not make much difference. It's in the middle area — at speeds that are neither very slow nor very fast — that a helmet can play the biggest role." concussions 03-09
- -03-20-09 Could a Helmet Have Saved Natasha Richardson? (USA Today)
"Fifty-three people died on U.S. slopes last year, and 25 of those skiers and riders were wearing helmets, Hawks says. But sports-injury experts say ski helmets cut the rate of head injuries by 30% to 50% — and are particularly valuable when participants fall and suffer a glancing blow to the head on hard-packed snow." concussions 03-09
- -08-27-14 Helmet Manufacturer Improves Design (ABC News)
"Riddell, the biggest helmet manufacturer in the country doesn't claim the new helmet will stop concussions but says its flexible panel will absorb for energy on impact." 08-14
- -96% of Tested NFL Players Suffer from Concussion-Related Brain Disease (BuzzFeed.com)
"In results released on Friday, 87 out of 91 former players from the National Football League tested positive for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in an ongoing study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Boston University, and the Concussion Legacy Foundation, reported Frontline." 09-15
- Concussions in Football Players (CNN News)
"Scientists at the Boston University School of Medicine's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy tested Shane's brain tissue and confirmed that before he died he was suffering with a brain disease -- chronic traumatic encephalopathy -- that seems to afflict football players."
" 'There is evidence of CTE in his brain making him yet another former NFL player who had definite CTE,' said Chris Nowinski, co-director of the traumatic encephalopathy center. Nowinski said the center has found evidence of CTE in the brains of 13 of 14 former NFL players, including Dronett."
"Usually found in much older dementia patients, CTE is an accumulation of an abnormal protein in the brain called tau, which is associated with repeated head traumas -- concussions or subconcussive hits -- that are not allowed to heal. CTE can also diminish brain tissue and is associated with memory loss, depression, impulsive behavior and rage." 03-09
- Dead Athletes' Brains Show Damage from Concussions (CNN News)
"Until recently, the best medical definition for concussion was a jarring blow to the head that temporarily stunned the senses, occasionally leading to unconsciousness. It has been considered an invisible injury, impossible to test -- no MRI, no CT scan can detect it."
"But today, using tissue from retired NFL athletes culled posthumously, the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE), at the Boston University School of Medicine, is shedding light on what concussions look like in the brain. The findings are stunning. Far from innocuous, invisible injuries, concussions confer tremendous brain damage. That damage has a name: chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)." 03-09
- Definitions of a Concussion (Wikipedia.org)
"No single definition of concussion, mild head injury,[11] or mild traumatic brain injury is universally accepted, though a variety of definitions have been offered.[12] In 2001, the first International Symposium on Concussion in Sport was organized by the International Olympic Committee Medical Commission and other sports federations.[13] A group of experts called the Concussion in Sport Group met there and defined concussion as "a complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces."[14] They agreed that concussion typically involves temporary impairment of neurological function which quickly resolves by itself, and that neuroimaging normally shows no gross structural changes to the brain as the result of the condition.[6]" 03-09
- Female Athletes Have More Concussions (ABC News)
"In sports played by both women and men, women sustain more concussions. The girls' concussion rate in high school soccer is 68 percent higher than for boys. And it's nearly triple the boys' rate in high school basketball, according to research by scientists at Ohio State, Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and the NCAA. Other studies reveal similar differences between softball and baseball, in college sports as well as high school. Yet researchers, including Brooks, find that female athletes get less information than males about concussions from all sources, including coaches, trainers and the media. Generally, women athletes don't consider concussions a serious phenomenon." 03-09
- Joint Chiefs Chairman Seeks Brain-Injury Limit (USA Today)
"U.S. servicemembers who suffer up to three mild traumatic brain injuries or concussions during a deployment — typically from roadside bombs — could be pulled out of combat for the duration of their tour, according to a policy being pushed by Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." 09-09
- New Way of Treating Concussions in Youth (USA Today)
"Athletes at the 25 public high schools in Fairfax County, an affluent suburb of Washington, take baseline tests like the ones used by NFL players. The ImPACT tests are one tool doctors and athletic trainers can use to tell when it is safe to return to the field. That's crucial because a second concussion when not fully healed from a first one is dangerous." 05-11
- Sports Concussions a Growing Concern (HealthLink)
"Many other sports and recreational activities, including wrestling, hockey, soccer (from head collisions), snowboarding and in-line skating, can also result in concussions. Even whiplash can cause a concussion. Altogether, about 300,000 traumatic brain injuries occur each year in sports and recreation in the United States."
"Several National Football League players (notably, quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Steve Young) retired after suffering several concussions during their careers. Multiple concussions suffered over a period of months or years increases the risk of permanent brain damage and post-concussion syndrome, in which neurological or cognitive problems become chronic. Even mild concussions occurring within hours, days or weeks of each other can result in 'second impact syndrome,' which can be fatal. As a result, coaches and trainers are showing an increased sensitivity to the effects of concussions on their players." 03-09
- Study: Kids Returning to Sports Too Soon After Concussion (Time.com)
"Too many kids are returning to the playing field too soon after a concussion. How many? According to an alarming new study, from 2005 to 2008, 41% of concussed athletes in 100 high schools across the U.S. returned to play too soon, under guidelines set out by the American Academy of Neurology. The 11-year-old guidelines say, for example, that if an athlete's concussion symptoms, such as dizziness or nausea, last longer than 15 minutes, he should be benched until he's been symptom-free for a week. The most startling data point--uncovered by the same researchers who in 2007 brought to light the fact that girls have a higher incidence of concussion than boys--is that 16% of high school football players who lost consciousness during a concussion returned to the field the same day." 03-09
- Symptoms of a Concussion (MayoClinic.com)
"Concussions range in significance from minor to major, but they all share one common factor — they temporarily interfere with the way your brain works. They can affect memory, judgment, reflexes, speech, balance and coordination."
"Usually caused by a blow to the head, concussions don't always involve a loss of consciousness. In fact, most people who have concussions never black out. Some people have had concussions and not even realized it."
"Luckily, most concussions are mild and people usually recover fully." 03-09
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