Parents point to this tainted research just like they did when smoking was considered safe, when lead was deemed good for diets, and excess sugar wasn't a health concern:
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/20 ... laned.html
concussions
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
anti-concussion-bill-worries-some
They can find the money for Athletic Directors, new jerseys, and fancy scoreboards but can't cover the cost of athletic trainers to protect student-athletes?
DES MOINES, Iowa -- A bill meant to better protect athletes who've suffered a concussion is moving ahead in the Iowa Senate, however, some high school athletic directors have their doubts about the bill.
The bill proposes an athletic trainer at every high school varsity level sporting event in the case of a head injury. Trainers would be required to evaluate injured players then sign off before those players are allowed back in to compete.
Democrat Sen. Tod Bowman is backing the bill.
“Coaches have been trained. We’ve made progress in making sure coaches are well informed, but unfortunately, they are not professional health care providers,” Bowman said.
Currently, athletes who suffer a concussion must be removed from the game then receive medical clearance in order to reenter.
Lawmakers believe immediate medical attention will make it harder for coaches to put a player back in the game without the proper evaluation.
Rick Roberts, activities director at Van Meter High School, said he thinks there will be school districts that will struggle if the bill passes.
Funding for the trainers will likely come from the athletic departments. Van Meter recently began outsourcing its trainers, relying heavily on booster club support.
“It’s costing us between $5,000 and $7,000 a year to have these people in place,” Roberts said.
While he appreciates the safety precaution, he said it is unrealistic for smaller districts.
Larger athletic departments worry there are not enough athletic trainers to attend multiple events at one time.
“Unfortunately, when the state puts more requirements on us but doesn’t fund it, we have to cut something else --- take away from something else,” said Brad Rose, athletics and activities director for Valley High School in West Des Moines.
The bill will be discussed in the Senate full committee sometime next week.
http://whotv.com/2016/02/11/anti-concus ... directors/
DES MOINES, Iowa -- A bill meant to better protect athletes who've suffered a concussion is moving ahead in the Iowa Senate, however, some high school athletic directors have their doubts about the bill.
The bill proposes an athletic trainer at every high school varsity level sporting event in the case of a head injury. Trainers would be required to evaluate injured players then sign off before those players are allowed back in to compete.
Democrat Sen. Tod Bowman is backing the bill.
“Coaches have been trained. We’ve made progress in making sure coaches are well informed, but unfortunately, they are not professional health care providers,” Bowman said.
Currently, athletes who suffer a concussion must be removed from the game then receive medical clearance in order to reenter.
Lawmakers believe immediate medical attention will make it harder for coaches to put a player back in the game without the proper evaluation.
Rick Roberts, activities director at Van Meter High School, said he thinks there will be school districts that will struggle if the bill passes.
Funding for the trainers will likely come from the athletic departments. Van Meter recently began outsourcing its trainers, relying heavily on booster club support.
“It’s costing us between $5,000 and $7,000 a year to have these people in place,” Roberts said.
While he appreciates the safety precaution, he said it is unrealistic for smaller districts.
Larger athletic departments worry there are not enough athletic trainers to attend multiple events at one time.
“Unfortunately, when the state puts more requirements on us but doesn’t fund it, we have to cut something else --- take away from something else,” said Brad Rose, athletics and activities director for Valley High School in West Des Moines.
The bill will be discussed in the Senate full committee sometime next week.
http://whotv.com/2016/02/11/anti-concus ... directors/
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Critical Appraisal of Online Concussion Healthcare
60% of Canadian online concussion healthcare providers have no on-site medical doctor (MD)
Googling Concussion Care: A Critical Appraisal of Online Concussion Healthcare Providers and Practices in Canada.
Ellis MJ, et al. Clin J Sport Med. 2016.
Show full citation
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Concussion is an emerging public health concern, but care of patients with a concussion is presently unregulated in Canada.
METHODS: Independent, blinded Google Internet searches were conducted for the terms "concussion" and "concussion clinic" and each of the Canadian provinces and territories. The first 10 to 15 concussion healthcare providers per province were identified. A critical appraisal of healthcare personnel and services offered on the provider's Web site was conducted.
RESULTS: Fifty-eight concussion healthcare providers were identified using this search methodology. Only 40% listed the presence of an on-site medical doctor (M.D.) as a member of the clinical team. Forty-seven percent of concussion healthcare providers advertised access to a concussion clinic, program, or center on their Web site. Professionals designated as team leaders, directors, or presidents among concussion clinics, programs, and centers included a neuropsychologist (15%), sports medicine physician (7%), neurologist (4%), and neurosurgeon (4%). Services offered by providers included baseline testing (67%), physiotherapy (50%), and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (2%).
CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that there are numerous concussion healthcare providers in Canada offering diverse services with clinics operated by professionals with varying levels of training in traumatic brain injury. In some cases, the practices of these concussion clinics do not conform to current expert consensus guidelines.
Review study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/26867204/
Googling Concussion Care: A Critical Appraisal of Online Concussion Healthcare Providers and Practices in Canada.
Ellis MJ, et al. Clin J Sport Med. 2016.
Show full citation
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Concussion is an emerging public health concern, but care of patients with a concussion is presently unregulated in Canada.
METHODS: Independent, blinded Google Internet searches were conducted for the terms "concussion" and "concussion clinic" and each of the Canadian provinces and territories. The first 10 to 15 concussion healthcare providers per province were identified. A critical appraisal of healthcare personnel and services offered on the provider's Web site was conducted.
RESULTS: Fifty-eight concussion healthcare providers were identified using this search methodology. Only 40% listed the presence of an on-site medical doctor (M.D.) as a member of the clinical team. Forty-seven percent of concussion healthcare providers advertised access to a concussion clinic, program, or center on their Web site. Professionals designated as team leaders, directors, or presidents among concussion clinics, programs, and centers included a neuropsychologist (15%), sports medicine physician (7%), neurologist (4%), and neurosurgeon (4%). Services offered by providers included baseline testing (67%), physiotherapy (50%), and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (2%).
CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that there are numerous concussion healthcare providers in Canada offering diverse services with clinics operated by professionals with varying levels of training in traumatic brain injury. In some cases, the practices of these concussion clinics do not conform to current expert consensus guidelines.
Review study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/26867204/
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Problem With Computer Programs That Claim They Can Measure
Problem With Computer Programs That Claim They Can Measure Concussion Symptoms
https://www.yahoo.com/health/the-proble ... soc_trk=tw
https://www.yahoo.com/health/the-proble ... soc_trk=tw
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Raiders Lose Another Player to Concussion
“Lebanon High girls hockey is starting to look like the little team that can.
Suiting up just eight healthy skaters after losing another player to concussion observation, the Raiders still piled 44 shots on the Bishop Brady-Trinity net on Saturday night and came away with a 4-3 win over the Giant Pioneers at Everett Arena. Continuing a monthlong run of superb offensive play, Grace Lindsay notched her first hat trick of the season for Lebanon (7-7) and assisted on the Raiders’ other goal. The capper, scored on third-period passes from Lauren Goodell and Elle Brine, gave Lindsay 13 goals in 10 games since the calendar turned.
“We had just five forwards and three defensemen,” Lebanon coach Brad Shaw said. “This is a nod to how well our players played. We had a pretty short bench. The girls really lunged it out.”
Lindsay and Sage Ballard gave Lebanon a 2-1 lead after one period, and Lindsay’s second goal of the night ensured a 3-2 Raider cushion entering the final 15 minutes. Brine, who spent the night alternating shifts on offense and defense, produced three assists, with Goodell and Erin White contributing two each. Hope Brown backed it up with 16 saves in goal.
Lebanon returns to Campion Rink on Tuesday for a date with Con-Val.”
High School Roundup: Shorthanded Lebanon Stops Brady-Trinity
http://www.vnews.com/sports/21042792-95 ... dy-trinity
“Lebanon High girls hockey is starting to look like the little team that can.
Suiting up just eight healthy skaters after losing another player to concussion observation, the Raiders still piled 44 shots on the Bishop Brady-Trinity net on Saturday night and came away with a 4-3 win over the Giant Pioneers at Everett Arena. Continuing a monthlong run of superb offensive play, Grace Lindsay notched her first hat trick of the season for Lebanon (7-7) and assisted on the Raiders’ other goal. The capper, scored on third-period passes from Lauren Goodell and Elle Brine, gave Lindsay 13 goals in 10 games since the calendar turned.
“We had just five forwards and three defensemen,” Lebanon coach Brad Shaw said. “This is a nod to how well our players played. We had a pretty short bench. The girls really lunged it out.”
Lindsay and Sage Ballard gave Lebanon a 2-1 lead after one period, and Lindsay’s second goal of the night ensured a 3-2 Raider cushion entering the final 15 minutes. Brine, who spent the night alternating shifts on offense and defense, produced three assists, with Goodell and Erin White contributing two each. Hope Brown backed it up with 16 saves in goal.
Lebanon returns to Campion Rink on Tuesday for a date with Con-Val.”
High School Roundup: Shorthanded Lebanon Stops Brady-Trinity
http://www.vnews.com/sports/21042792-95 ... dy-trinity
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
"One Mountaineer has dealt with these issues, Darryl Talley. Talley played with the Mountaineers from 1979-1982. While at WVU, Talley appeared in multiple bowl games including the Peach Bowl, and the Gator Bowl. His career stats at WVU are extraordinary, finishing off his career off with 484 total tackles and 19 sacks. Talley gained multiple recognitions with All-American status, getting elected to the WVU Hall of Fame, and the College football Hall of Fame. Talley was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 1983 NFL draft in the second round.
In 2014 it was reported that Talley has brain damage and was battling severe depression and has contemplated suicide because from concussions. In a private interview with Talley, he spoke on the current concussion issue in the sport.
“Them [the NFL] just now noticing it, I don’t buy into it, I believe they have known about it longer,” says Talley. “How long did they know?”
The movie “Concussion” with lead actor Will Smith, brought awareness to the concussions in the NFL to fans and non fans alike. It highlights the issues players ran into which was found by Dr. Bennet Omalu. Talley watched the movie with great interest.
“It’s pretty much on point,” he said. “The scary part is if a player starts spinning out of control, they attribute it to CTE.
“The movie is scary, scary as hell.”
The current concussion issue stretches across many sports across all age levels.
“You look at soccer, you look at hockey, they probably all got more concussions than we do, but because football is a bigger sport, everyone knows about it,” says Talley. “I had a daughter who was disqualified in volleyball because she ran into her own teammate. In hockey they hit the ice that does the same thing, you think it feels good when a puck hits them upside the head?”
WVU Great Darryl Talley Talks Concussions in Pro Sports
http://www.bluegoldsports.com/wvu-great ... ign=buffer
In 2014 it was reported that Talley has brain damage and was battling severe depression and has contemplated suicide because from concussions. In a private interview with Talley, he spoke on the current concussion issue in the sport.
“Them [the NFL] just now noticing it, I don’t buy into it, I believe they have known about it longer,” says Talley. “How long did they know?”
The movie “Concussion” with lead actor Will Smith, brought awareness to the concussions in the NFL to fans and non fans alike. It highlights the issues players ran into which was found by Dr. Bennet Omalu. Talley watched the movie with great interest.
“It’s pretty much on point,” he said. “The scary part is if a player starts spinning out of control, they attribute it to CTE.
“The movie is scary, scary as hell.”
The current concussion issue stretches across many sports across all age levels.
“You look at soccer, you look at hockey, they probably all got more concussions than we do, but because football is a bigger sport, everyone knows about it,” says Talley. “I had a daughter who was disqualified in volleyball because she ran into her own teammate. In hockey they hit the ice that does the same thing, you think it feels good when a puck hits them upside the head?”
WVU Great Darryl Talley Talks Concussions in Pro Sports
http://www.bluegoldsports.com/wvu-great ... ign=buffer
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Phil and Amanda Kessel
For more than a decade, Phil and Amanda Kessel's hockey careers kept them apart, in different cities and often unable to coordinate trips to their family's home in Wisconsin.
A concussion, one that nearly ended Amanda's time with the Minnesota Gophers on a sour, unfinished note, finally created the opportunity for the little sister and oldest of two brothers — Blake is the middle child — in one of the great American hockey families to spend time together.
Not even a chance for more shared time with siblings comes between a Kessel and on-ice competition, though.
After almost two years of struggling with concussion symptoms, 24-year-old Amanda returned to action Feb. 5 and registered two assists for the No. 3 Gophers in a 3-0 home win over No. 8 North Dakota. With the Penguins facing Tampa Bay that night, 28-year-old Phil followed from afar, relieved to see such a long period away from the game failed to stifle his sister's stardom.
“She's a big girl, but obviously, you worry,” Phil said. “It's been a long time since she played. She's been successful in her career, so it's good to see her back.”
In her first four games with the Gophers, Amanda tallied a goal and three assists. While she's in no position to claim multiple Player of the Year awards and lead the nation in scoring as she did with 101 points (46 goals, 55 assists) in 2012-13, she remains the kind of talent that will thrive in international play — as she did with Team USA in the 2014 Olympics — and possibly continue her career in the professional ranks with the newly formed National Women's Hockey League.
The outlook for Amanda appeared bleak last summer, when Minnesota coach Brad Frost said his star scorer was not well enough to rejoin the team. Symptoms from a concussion suffered while training with the U.S. National Team around the time of the 2014 Olympics, held in February of that year in Sochi, Russia, remained.
But before Phil headed to Pittsburgh in the Penguins' trade with Toronto on July 1, 2015, the family already had made trips here. Amanda visited to meet with UPMC's Michael Collins, one of the foremost experts on concussions.
“Once (Phil) was here and he had his home and everything, we'd stay with him,” said Phil Kessel Sr. “It's actually been a nice bonding experience over the last six months. They actually see each other again.
“During the hockey seasons for the last 12 years, they haven't seen a game (of each other's). This was the first year she actually got to come to some games because she wasn't playing. That was sort of nice. So they got a new bond established together. Now they text a little more. Talk a little more. Obviously, as an older brother, he's a little bit concerned about what was going on.”
Asked after Penguins practice Saturday if he considered any of his own injury experiences comparable to what his sister endured, the younger Phil shook his head.
“Not really,” he said.
He mentioned the left shoulder surgery he underwent in May 2009. That procedure kept him out of Toronto's lineup until early November.
He omitted his bout with testicular cancer during his rookie season in 2006. That surgery removed a small lump and eliminated the chance of the cancer spreading. He missed just 11 regular-season games with Boston. He received the league's Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy that season as the player who best exemplified perseverance.
“Obviously I haven't been through what she's been through,” Phil said of Amanda. “I haven't had an injury like that. I think she handled it pretty well, and she's happy to be back.”
Once again, the brother and sister are bound to their hockey duties. Winters will come and go without much time together. But their father suspects there's now more awareness and availability between the siblings.
“He looks out for her,” said Phil Sr. “It's hard to be protective when you're not there. But he's interested and wants to know how she's doing. He's similar to me in saying, ‘Hey, you've got to tough it out and go play.' ”
Penguins winger Kessel pulls for sister Amanda in her comeback from concussion
http://triblive.com/mobile/9972189-96/a ... il-assists
A concussion, one that nearly ended Amanda's time with the Minnesota Gophers on a sour, unfinished note, finally created the opportunity for the little sister and oldest of two brothers — Blake is the middle child — in one of the great American hockey families to spend time together.
Not even a chance for more shared time with siblings comes between a Kessel and on-ice competition, though.
After almost two years of struggling with concussion symptoms, 24-year-old Amanda returned to action Feb. 5 and registered two assists for the No. 3 Gophers in a 3-0 home win over No. 8 North Dakota. With the Penguins facing Tampa Bay that night, 28-year-old Phil followed from afar, relieved to see such a long period away from the game failed to stifle his sister's stardom.
“She's a big girl, but obviously, you worry,” Phil said. “It's been a long time since she played. She's been successful in her career, so it's good to see her back.”
In her first four games with the Gophers, Amanda tallied a goal and three assists. While she's in no position to claim multiple Player of the Year awards and lead the nation in scoring as she did with 101 points (46 goals, 55 assists) in 2012-13, she remains the kind of talent that will thrive in international play — as she did with Team USA in the 2014 Olympics — and possibly continue her career in the professional ranks with the newly formed National Women's Hockey League.
The outlook for Amanda appeared bleak last summer, when Minnesota coach Brad Frost said his star scorer was not well enough to rejoin the team. Symptoms from a concussion suffered while training with the U.S. National Team around the time of the 2014 Olympics, held in February of that year in Sochi, Russia, remained.
But before Phil headed to Pittsburgh in the Penguins' trade with Toronto on July 1, 2015, the family already had made trips here. Amanda visited to meet with UPMC's Michael Collins, one of the foremost experts on concussions.
“Once (Phil) was here and he had his home and everything, we'd stay with him,” said Phil Kessel Sr. “It's actually been a nice bonding experience over the last six months. They actually see each other again.
“During the hockey seasons for the last 12 years, they haven't seen a game (of each other's). This was the first year she actually got to come to some games because she wasn't playing. That was sort of nice. So they got a new bond established together. Now they text a little more. Talk a little more. Obviously, as an older brother, he's a little bit concerned about what was going on.”
Asked after Penguins practice Saturday if he considered any of his own injury experiences comparable to what his sister endured, the younger Phil shook his head.
“Not really,” he said.
He mentioned the left shoulder surgery he underwent in May 2009. That procedure kept him out of Toronto's lineup until early November.
He omitted his bout with testicular cancer during his rookie season in 2006. That surgery removed a small lump and eliminated the chance of the cancer spreading. He missed just 11 regular-season games with Boston. He received the league's Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy that season as the player who best exemplified perseverance.
“Obviously I haven't been through what she's been through,” Phil said of Amanda. “I haven't had an injury like that. I think she handled it pretty well, and she's happy to be back.”
Once again, the brother and sister are bound to their hockey duties. Winters will come and go without much time together. But their father suspects there's now more awareness and availability between the siblings.
“He looks out for her,” said Phil Sr. “It's hard to be protective when you're not there. But he's interested and wants to know how she's doing. He's similar to me in saying, ‘Hey, you've got to tough it out and go play.' ”
Penguins winger Kessel pulls for sister Amanda in her comeback from concussion
http://triblive.com/mobile/9972189-96/a ... il-assists
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Concussion Risks in Youth Sports Hardly Minimal
"So, we cannot condone a laissez-faire attitude toward concussion as Dr. Kirkwood endorses. While we are working towards effective treatments for TBI, the science encourages caution and perhaps…something besides football as a sport. Track, tennis, and racquetball all train the reflexes and the body. One does not need to concuss the brain to get exercise or develop team spirit."
Rebuttal: Concussion Risks in Youth Sports Hardly Minimal
Read more: http://newswire.net/newsroom/oped/00091 ... nimal.html
Rebuttal: Concussion Risks in Youth Sports Hardly Minimal
Read more: http://newswire.net/newsroom/oped/00091 ... nimal.html
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Sophia Wright-Seymour
"Excitement rings from the four Terrace ringette players who are headed to the B.C. Winter Games this weekend.
Lisa Nicholson is going for the second time, first time in ringette, and it is a first for Ty Giesbrecht, Nolan Kaye, Grace Magnusson, and Sophia Wright-Seymour, who will form a Zone 7 team with players from Houston, B.C.
“I feel really, really excited about it,” said Wright-Seymour. “I’m excited for having fun, meeting new friends and hopefully getting a few goals in there.”
Wright-Seymour joined ringette a year ago, switching into the sport from hockey after getting a concussion. “It looked really fun and some of my friends were in it,” she said of ringette.
“I like the ice time, and I like the exercise… there is lots of passing and you have to talk a lot,” she said. “It’s really fun.”
Magnusson also played hockey and then switched into ringette four years ago.
With more experience on the ice than the other hockey players on the team, Magnusson said she found hockey a bit slow, but in ringette she played with older girls who were stronger skaters.
She says she finds ringette more challenging, and it involves more teamwork because passing is so crucial.
“In ringette you have to pass constantly because you can only have the ring for 30 seconds, so its a lot faster of a sport,” said Magnusson."
Players Ring With Excitement For Winter Games
Read more: http://www.terracestandard.com/sports/3 ... obile=true
"Excitement rings from the four Terrace ringette players who are headed to the B.C. Winter Games this weekend.
Lisa Nicholson is going for the second time, first time in ringette, and it is a first for Ty Giesbrecht, Nolan Kaye, Grace Magnusson, and Sophia Wright-Seymour, who will form a Zone 7 team with players from Houston, B.C.
“I feel really, really excited about it,” said Wright-Seymour. “I’m excited for having fun, meeting new friends and hopefully getting a few goals in there.”
Wright-Seymour joined ringette a year ago, switching into the sport from hockey after getting a concussion. “It looked really fun and some of my friends were in it,” she said of ringette.
“I like the ice time, and I like the exercise… there is lots of passing and you have to talk a lot,” she said. “It’s really fun.”
Magnusson also played hockey and then switched into ringette four years ago.
With more experience on the ice than the other hockey players on the team, Magnusson said she found hockey a bit slow, but in ringette she played with older girls who were stronger skaters.
She says she finds ringette more challenging, and it involves more teamwork because passing is so crucial.
“In ringette you have to pass constantly because you can only have the ring for 30 seconds, so its a lot faster of a sport,” said Magnusson."
Players Ring With Excitement For Winter Games
Read more: http://www.terracestandard.com/sports/3 ... obile=true
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
"In 2014-15, men’s college hockey players self-reported the second most concussions of any sport. Even though concussions in men’s hockey haven’t amounted to the head injuries epidemic present in women’s hockey, the NCAA has made it a point of interest to crack down on any hits on or around the head."
Men's hockey: Plagued with suspensions, Badgers question consistencies of NCAA rules
Read more: https://badgerherald.com/sports/2016/02 ... caa-rules/
Men's hockey: Plagued with suspensions, Badgers question consistencies of NCAA rules
Read more: https://badgerherald.com/sports/2016/02 ... caa-rules/
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Fiona LaPierre
"Last Saturday night at the Icenter in Salem was extra special for Fiona LaPierre.
For the first time in two years, LaPierre put on the Central Catholic jersey, her old No. 8, and skated to mid-ice for introductions at Senior Night. It was then announced that she was in the starting lineup for the Raiders against Shawsheen Tech.
Except that LaPierre then went to the bench and never saw the ice once after the whistle blew to start the game.
That last part was tough to take, but the diminutive 5-foot Raider from Salem was just happy to put on the jersey again for a game and sit on the bench.
“I couldn’t wait to get out there,” said LaPierre. “I was just unbelievably happy to be out there after two years. I’ve missed it so much. I’d give anything to be out there (playing) again, but this was still great.”
LaPierre began playing as a freshman in Central’s inaugural girls season on the ice and was known as a speedy puck-controlling defenseman and a definite asset to the team. She even scored the first goal in program history.
“She was one of our better defensemen, quick and not afraid to skate with the puck,” said Central coach Jeff Marggraf. “She was passionate about hockey and, for a smaller player, never backed down from contact.”
She clearly had a bright future and showed steady improvement as a sophomore until disaster struck in the second to last game of the season against St. Bernard’s of Leominster.
Taking the puck behind the net, she brought it up the ice when suddenly she was blindsided by a check into her shoulder. She tumbled to the ice and hit her head and, briefly, was knocked unconscious.
“They called me from the stands and for about 10 seconds she didn’t move,” said Kevin LaPierre, her father. “But she got up and went to the bench. She didn’t play the rest of the game but she seemed better and played the next game, the whole game.”
But LaPierre wasn’t better. She began getting severe headaches and a doctor diagnosed a severe concussion. Memory lapses, focus problems and the headaches associated with concussions made it difficult for her to continue school, forcing her to miss a lot of academic time.
By late summer, LaPierre’s problems had hardly improved despite spending much of her time in a darkened room doing nothing. At the beginning of her junior year at Central, she could still only handle a half day of school. She took another trip to the neurosurgeon.
Upon further diagnosis, it was revealed that LaPierre’s hit had been so severe that her brain had moved in her skull and it was no longer in the correct location. Corrective surgery was required.
That was bad enough, but even worse for LaPierre was what the surgeon told her after the procedure.
“He told her that she could never play hockey again, that it would be too dangerous,” said Kevin. “I think that news was worse than any surgery. Hockey was her life.”
In a situation like this, one can wither into a hole and be depressed, or make the best of a difficult situation. LaPierre chose the latter.
STAYING INVOLVED
Determined to stay involved with the team and the game, LaPierre immediately became the team’s de facto manager, offering advice to teammates, videotaping games and assisting the coaches in games and practices. In two years, she never missed a practice, even those scheduled at 5:45 a.m.
“I love the team — they were there for me when I had the surgery and when I was having a tough time — and I had to stay with them,” she said. “When I was playing, I liked the sense of being on the team, being out there and having a common goal. It wasn’t fun not playing, but I still had that feeling.”
At the same time, after being told that she could not play hockey again, LaPierre got involved in “Learn to Play Hockey” sessions for youngsters in both Methuen and Charlestown, teaching the basics of skating and hockey and passing on her love of the game.
“To observe her watching her teammates play the game she absolutely loves and not being able to be out there was heartbreaking,” said LaPierre’s father. “However, Fiona’s resolve and her ability to always look on the bright side and accept what happened has impressed me so much.”
On that bright side, LaPierre has shifted her career goals because of her experience. At one time, she was pondering a life as a mechanical engineer. But now she plans on studying physical therapy, hoping to one day help youngsters who have suffered injuries like her own.
If that happens, LaPierre will perhaps feel better about the unfortunate end to her hockey career. For now, she’s just happy that she could stay involved in the game in some way and cap off her brief Central career on the ice with her teammates.
“I was just unbelievably happy to be out there after two years. I’d give anything to be out there (playing) again, but this was still great." Fiona LaPierre
Central Hockey Player Fiona LaPierre's Last Good-bye to Game She Loves
Read more: http://www.eagletribune.com/sports/nati ... 36893.html
"Last Saturday night at the Icenter in Salem was extra special for Fiona LaPierre.
For the first time in two years, LaPierre put on the Central Catholic jersey, her old No. 8, and skated to mid-ice for introductions at Senior Night. It was then announced that she was in the starting lineup for the Raiders against Shawsheen Tech.
Except that LaPierre then went to the bench and never saw the ice once after the whistle blew to start the game.
That last part was tough to take, but the diminutive 5-foot Raider from Salem was just happy to put on the jersey again for a game and sit on the bench.
“I couldn’t wait to get out there,” said LaPierre. “I was just unbelievably happy to be out there after two years. I’ve missed it so much. I’d give anything to be out there (playing) again, but this was still great.”
LaPierre began playing as a freshman in Central’s inaugural girls season on the ice and was known as a speedy puck-controlling defenseman and a definite asset to the team. She even scored the first goal in program history.
“She was one of our better defensemen, quick and not afraid to skate with the puck,” said Central coach Jeff Marggraf. “She was passionate about hockey and, for a smaller player, never backed down from contact.”
She clearly had a bright future and showed steady improvement as a sophomore until disaster struck in the second to last game of the season against St. Bernard’s of Leominster.
Taking the puck behind the net, she brought it up the ice when suddenly she was blindsided by a check into her shoulder. She tumbled to the ice and hit her head and, briefly, was knocked unconscious.
“They called me from the stands and for about 10 seconds she didn’t move,” said Kevin LaPierre, her father. “But she got up and went to the bench. She didn’t play the rest of the game but she seemed better and played the next game, the whole game.”
But LaPierre wasn’t better. She began getting severe headaches and a doctor diagnosed a severe concussion. Memory lapses, focus problems and the headaches associated with concussions made it difficult for her to continue school, forcing her to miss a lot of academic time.
By late summer, LaPierre’s problems had hardly improved despite spending much of her time in a darkened room doing nothing. At the beginning of her junior year at Central, she could still only handle a half day of school. She took another trip to the neurosurgeon.
Upon further diagnosis, it was revealed that LaPierre’s hit had been so severe that her brain had moved in her skull and it was no longer in the correct location. Corrective surgery was required.
That was bad enough, but even worse for LaPierre was what the surgeon told her after the procedure.
“He told her that she could never play hockey again, that it would be too dangerous,” said Kevin. “I think that news was worse than any surgery. Hockey was her life.”
In a situation like this, one can wither into a hole and be depressed, or make the best of a difficult situation. LaPierre chose the latter.
STAYING INVOLVED
Determined to stay involved with the team and the game, LaPierre immediately became the team’s de facto manager, offering advice to teammates, videotaping games and assisting the coaches in games and practices. In two years, she never missed a practice, even those scheduled at 5:45 a.m.
“I love the team — they were there for me when I had the surgery and when I was having a tough time — and I had to stay with them,” she said. “When I was playing, I liked the sense of being on the team, being out there and having a common goal. It wasn’t fun not playing, but I still had that feeling.”
At the same time, after being told that she could not play hockey again, LaPierre got involved in “Learn to Play Hockey” sessions for youngsters in both Methuen and Charlestown, teaching the basics of skating and hockey and passing on her love of the game.
“To observe her watching her teammates play the game she absolutely loves and not being able to be out there was heartbreaking,” said LaPierre’s father. “However, Fiona’s resolve and her ability to always look on the bright side and accept what happened has impressed me so much.”
On that bright side, LaPierre has shifted her career goals because of her experience. At one time, she was pondering a life as a mechanical engineer. But now she plans on studying physical therapy, hoping to one day help youngsters who have suffered injuries like her own.
If that happens, LaPierre will perhaps feel better about the unfortunate end to her hockey career. For now, she’s just happy that she could stay involved in the game in some way and cap off her brief Central career on the ice with her teammates.
“I was just unbelievably happy to be out there after two years. I’d give anything to be out there (playing) again, but this was still great." Fiona LaPierre
Central Hockey Player Fiona LaPierre's Last Good-bye to Game She Loves
Read more: http://www.eagletribune.com/sports/nati ... 36893.html
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Erin Kerr
"The Brantford Collegiate Institute Mustangs won their second consecutive Brant County high school girls hockey championship on Wednesday but the victory didn't come easy.
Playing against Paris District High School in the final at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre, the Mustangs needed overtime to score a 2-1 win against the Panthers.
"We played unbelievable," BCI captain Julia Buckley said. "We practised really hard because we wanted this. We had it last year so we wanted to keep it going.
"We're pumped."
On paper, the final was a mismatch. BCI came into the contest as the first-place team in the league with a record of seven wins, zero losses and a tie in the regular season. Paris was 3-3-2.
And, although it didn't show on the scoresheet, the Mustangs proved their power for most of the game.
Following a penalty kill late in the first period, BCI got on the board while on their own power play. With 3:15 remaining, Nicole Kelly beat Erin Kerr high for the game's first goal.
Tess Hasenbacher got the lone assist.
After one period, Paris didn't have a shot on goal.
BCI's offensive domination continued in the second. Enjoying an early 5-on-3 player advantage, a Mustangs point shot was deflected in front by a BCI player. But, after the puck clanged off the crossbar, Kerr was able to smother it near the goal line.
Finally, with 4:09 to go in the middle period, Paris got its first shot of the game.
To start the third period, Paris's Paige Cohoon took the puck off the draw, skated in over the BCI blue-line and then slid a shot along the ice past Emily Denis from 15 feet away for the equalizer.
Asked if the Mustangs were nervous after the goal, Buckley said: "Honestly, we were."
Both goalies then stopped everything thrown their way until overtime.
Buckley said the Mustangs were confident going into the extra period.
"I think we were more confident because we practise 3-on-3 in practices, just in case of this," she said.
"We were prepared for it."
In the extra session, Kelly put a shot on Kerr and then followed through by putting her own rebound in the back of the net at 1:55 for the winner.
BCI now advances to the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association AAA championships in Cambridge on Feb. 24 and 25.
"We want to get further than we did last year," said Buckley. "Obviously, we want to get to OFSAA. That's a big step up."
Despite losing to the powerhouse Mustangs, Paris captain Rachael Irvine said her team is happy with how it played.
"If you look at the beginning of the year, we lost 5-1 to those guys so no one in the community thought we'd take them to overtime," she said.
"We're pretty proud of ourselves but obviously it's still not what we wanted."
Kerr, coming off a concussion, must have turned away at least 30 shots from the Mustangs. She earned praise from her teammates.
"We couldn't ask for anything more from her," said Irvine."
BCI Girls Repeat as Brant Hockey Champions
Read more: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2016/0 ... -champions
"The Brantford Collegiate Institute Mustangs won their second consecutive Brant County high school girls hockey championship on Wednesday but the victory didn't come easy.
Playing against Paris District High School in the final at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre, the Mustangs needed overtime to score a 2-1 win against the Panthers.
"We played unbelievable," BCI captain Julia Buckley said. "We practised really hard because we wanted this. We had it last year so we wanted to keep it going.
"We're pumped."
On paper, the final was a mismatch. BCI came into the contest as the first-place team in the league with a record of seven wins, zero losses and a tie in the regular season. Paris was 3-3-2.
And, although it didn't show on the scoresheet, the Mustangs proved their power for most of the game.
Following a penalty kill late in the first period, BCI got on the board while on their own power play. With 3:15 remaining, Nicole Kelly beat Erin Kerr high for the game's first goal.
Tess Hasenbacher got the lone assist.
After one period, Paris didn't have a shot on goal.
BCI's offensive domination continued in the second. Enjoying an early 5-on-3 player advantage, a Mustangs point shot was deflected in front by a BCI player. But, after the puck clanged off the crossbar, Kerr was able to smother it near the goal line.
Finally, with 4:09 to go in the middle period, Paris got its first shot of the game.
To start the third period, Paris's Paige Cohoon took the puck off the draw, skated in over the BCI blue-line and then slid a shot along the ice past Emily Denis from 15 feet away for the equalizer.
Asked if the Mustangs were nervous after the goal, Buckley said: "Honestly, we were."
Both goalies then stopped everything thrown their way until overtime.
Buckley said the Mustangs were confident going into the extra period.
"I think we were more confident because we practise 3-on-3 in practices, just in case of this," she said.
"We were prepared for it."
In the extra session, Kelly put a shot on Kerr and then followed through by putting her own rebound in the back of the net at 1:55 for the winner.
BCI now advances to the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association AAA championships in Cambridge on Feb. 24 and 25.
"We want to get further than we did last year," said Buckley. "Obviously, we want to get to OFSAA. That's a big step up."
Despite losing to the powerhouse Mustangs, Paris captain Rachael Irvine said her team is happy with how it played.
"If you look at the beginning of the year, we lost 5-1 to those guys so no one in the community thought we'd take them to overtime," she said.
"We're pretty proud of ourselves but obviously it's still not what we wanted."
Kerr, coming off a concussion, must have turned away at least 30 shots from the Mustangs. She earned praise from her teammates.
"We couldn't ask for anything more from her," said Irvine."
BCI Girls Repeat as Brant Hockey Champions
Read more: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2016/0 ... -champions
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
"Is concussion the the new asbestos?"
"Is concussion the the new asbestos?"
"It looks that way."
Insurers Brace for Impact of Concussion Claims
A first wave of concussion-related lawsuits against helmet manufacturers and sports-related organizations threatens to become a bigger liability issue for insurers and reinsurers, according to insurers and brokers familiar with the issue.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/pla ... 2403406001
"It looks that way."
Insurers Brace for Impact of Concussion Claims
A first wave of concussion-related lawsuits against helmet manufacturers and sports-related organizations threatens to become a bigger liability issue for insurers and reinsurers, according to insurers and brokers familiar with the issue.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/pla ... 2403406001
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Where Is Sports Concussion Litigation Headed?
Where Is Sports Concussion Litigation Headed?
By Steven M. Sellers
Feb. 18 — Concussion litigation—and the brain injury science that underlies it—is trickling from the ranks of professional athletes to amateur and youth players, and that may create an expanding pool of future plaintiffs and new legal challenges for defendants, lawyers and academics tell Bloomberg BNA.
Repetitive head trauma often begins in youth sports, and the impact on young brains may be the key to future sports concussion litigation, the lawyers say. Developments in chronic brain injury diagnosis may also raise the odds of suits by youth and adult amateur players against equipment manufacturers, schools and non-profit sports leagues.
Predicted diagnostic tools that will detect chronic traumatic encephalopathy in living athletes—a chronic degenerative disease found in the brains of some deceased NFL and NHL players—may change the litigation calculus significantly, the lawyers add.
But how will recent class action concussion settlements with the National Football League and the National Collegiate Athletics Association frame future sports concussion litigation?
Paul Anderson, a plaintiff's lawyer with The Klamann Law Firm in Kansas City, Mo., who also blogs on concussion litigation, told Bloomberg BNA Feb. 12 he sees a “tidal wave” of litigation ahead as a result of the settlements.
“It’s had an impact at all levels, starting with the NFL and then shortly thereafter the NCAA, and now you’re seeing it in high school and peewee,” said Anderson. “And it’s not just limited to football—it’s all sports.”
Others interviewed for this report agreed.
“Whenever one corporate entity pays money to a claimant, more claims follow,” Mark Granger, of Granger Legal Consulting, Inc., in Schroon Lake, N.Y., who chairs the Sports and Fitness Industry Association's Legal Task Force, told Bloomberg BNA Feb. 14 in an e-mail.
“We expect concussion litigation to become a significant new field of law, potentially involving regular class action suits and mirroring what once existed with asbestos, cigarettes, and lead paint,” according to Granger, formerly with Morrison Mahoney's Boston office, whose clients have included Easton Sports, Franklin Sports and Reebok.
Granger said he wasn't speaking on behalf of those or other sports industry clients.
NFL, NCAA Settlements Set Stage
Lawyers for former players who sued the NFL say the $675 million uncapped class settlement already has risen to $1 billion, and may increase “exponentially” if currently asymptomatic players develop symptoms at a higher rate than predicted (In re Nat'l Football League Players' Concussion Injury Litig., 2015 BL 114599, E.D. Pa., MDL No. 2323, final settlement approved 4/22/15
Another, tentatively approved, $75 million class settlement with the NCAA for a class comprised of all current and former student-athletes may invite further litigation because athletes retain the ability to bring tort claims against the NCAA or its member institutions for a future brain injury diagnosis (In re Nat'l. Collegiate Athletic Ass'n Student-Athlete Concussion Litig., N.D. Ill., MDL No. 2492, preliminary class settlement approved 1/26/16).
Yet another federal multidistrict litigation is pending over the concussion injury claims of former National Hockey League players (In re Nat'l Hockey League Players' Concussion Injury Litig., D. Minn., No. 14-md-02251, filed, 8/19/14).
But medical science may be the strongest barometer for future concussions-related cases—a conclusion evident in the NFL litigation itself.
Focus on Youth Concussions?
“The science could determine really that all that matters for developing CTE is how many hits you take before your eighteenth birthday,” Paul Clement, a lawyer for the NFL, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit last November in oral argument of an appeal by objectors who are challenging the class settlement as insufficient (In re Nat'l Football League Players' Concussion Injury Litig., 3d Cir., No. 15-2304, oral argument, 11/19/15)
Clement is with the Bancroft law firm in Washington.
CTE, found in the brains of some deceased NFL players, currently may only be diagnosed post-mortem. That may soon change, however, according to Dr. Robert Stern, a professor of neurology, neurosurgery, anatomy and neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
“Based on the scientific and medical literature, my own first-hand knowledge of the current state of the scientific field, and on my own research, I am confident that within the next five to ten years there will be highly accurate, clinically accepted, and FDA-approved methods to diagnose CTE during life,” Stern said in a declaration filed in the NFL litigation.
Anderson said the tentative NCAA settlement alone will affect as many as 4.4 million student-athletes, some of whom may learn they have CTE in a future test.
“I think the NCAA settlement is going to trigger a tidal wave of litigation,” said Anderson. “I can’t believe the NCAA agreed to it. It’s going to allow [players] to sue in the future on a diagnosis of CTE in the living.”
“Fighting the science is going to be very difficult on the part of the NCAA because it was their settlement that allowed the diagnosis of CTE,” said Anderson. “That settlement’s going to go on for the next 50 years, so we’re looking at a half-century of CTE litigation to come.”
“Effective CTE diagnoses on living persons will change the landscape of litigation dramatically,” Paul Haagen, a professor at Duke University Law School, Durham, N.C., and director of its Center for Sports Law and Policy, told Bloomberg BNA Feb. 11.
“As the risks involved in playing these sports become better understood, the arguments for assumption of risk by the athletes—and their parents/guardians—will be stronger,” Haagen said in an e-mail. “Because of the progressive nature of CTE, the arguments related to the onset of the disease are more powerful.”
Potential streams of new CTE litigation will also multiply because of the notoriety of the NFL and NCAA settlements, Douglas Abrams, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, Columbia, Mo., told Bloomberg BNA Feb. 12.
“When the NFL does something, or the NCAA does something, the media notices and people notice,” said Abrams, who writes extensively on legal and regulatory issues in youth sports concussions. “The fact that the litigation is happening in these high-profile organizations is going to filter down to the youth league and high school levels and produce concussion litigation there, as well.”
Those leagues include an estimated 30 to 45 million children and adolescents who participate in non-scholastic sports, and more than seven million athletes in the U.S. who compete in high school sports each year, according to a recent study of the incidence of youth sports concussions.
Cases to Watch
One indication of the trend may be found in tort suits filed against sports leagues by the parents of youths who suffered brain or spinal injuries in sports.
One California case cited by Abrams involves claims by the parents of a quadriplegic youth football player that Pop Warner league coaches trained their son to tackle with his helmet, increasing the likelihood of severe injury (Dixon v. Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., Cal. Super. Ct., No. BC526842, filed, 11/5/13).
The case was recently resolved in a confidential settlement for an undisclosed amount.
Abrams added that similar scenarios may play out in other cases because of some distinct differences between high-level leagues and non-profit youth leagues and schools.
“Most youth leagues and high schools do not have certified trainers on the sidelines; they’re too expensive,” Abrams said. “So a lot of the burden falls on coaches.”
Another pending case, Anderson said, is Pyka v. Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., W.D. Wis., No. 15-cv-00057, filed 1/5/15, in which the parents of Joseph Chernach allege in part that their son's suicide was the result of repeated concussions and the league's failure to warn of the dangers of youth football.
Abrams said individual cases like these are sure to be on the rise in the future. But Granger, of the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, said, however, that it is “dubious” that class claims like those in the professional league MDLs will spread—as long as medical causation remains an issue.
“The NFL, NHL, and NCAA cases are based on alleged withholding [of] information from athletes and their families,” said Granger. “These claims really don’t exist for individual schools and not-for-profit leagues. Class claims against such defendants are not likely to be successful.”
Helmet Manufacturers On Guard?
Helmet manufacturers—also in the path of future concussion litigation—have taken steps to enhance the protective qualities of helmets and to detect on-field head impacts, but it's not clear helmets can prevent concussions, as opposed to skull fractures.
“The reality is that the helmet isn’t going to be the answer because you can’t stop the brain from rattling around in the skull,” said Anderson. “It’s just a matter of physics and science.”
Riddell, Inc., a major manufacturer of football helmets, won a jury verdict in 2014 over allegations that a defectively designed helmet caused a high school player to suffer brain damage (Acuna v. Riddell Sports, Inc., Cal. Super. Ct., No. LC090924, verdict entered, 3/20/14).
Observers suggested the verdict was based, in part, on the notion that jurors are receptive to arguments that athletes in contact sports assume the risk of injury.
“The liability of helmet and other equipment manufacturers is based both on faulty design and failure to warn,” Haagen said. “In the future, it will depend a lot on how equipment manufacturers market their products and how effective they are at warning of risks.”
William Staar, of Morrison Mahoney's Manchester, N.H. office, told Bloomberg BNA Feb. 14 in an e-mail that helmets are a part of player safety, but aren't designed to prevent concussions.
“Helmets were created and designed to prevent severe head trauma, e.g., skull fractures, subdural hematomas, and cerebral hemorrhage,” said Staar, who advises the sporting goods industry and is also, like Granger, a member of the Sports and Fitness Industry Association's Legal Task Force. “They have done this very effectively for decades. They were not designed and, to date, have not been successful in preventing concussions,” said Staar.
“Helmets are, at best, only part of the solution to head trauma,” Staar said. “Coaching, education of athletes, training, rulemaking, and better rule enforcement can and does reduce brain injury.”
http://www.bna.com/sports-concussion-li ... 982067520/
By Steven M. Sellers
Feb. 18 — Concussion litigation—and the brain injury science that underlies it—is trickling from the ranks of professional athletes to amateur and youth players, and that may create an expanding pool of future plaintiffs and new legal challenges for defendants, lawyers and academics tell Bloomberg BNA.
Repetitive head trauma often begins in youth sports, and the impact on young brains may be the key to future sports concussion litigation, the lawyers say. Developments in chronic brain injury diagnosis may also raise the odds of suits by youth and adult amateur players against equipment manufacturers, schools and non-profit sports leagues.
Predicted diagnostic tools that will detect chronic traumatic encephalopathy in living athletes—a chronic degenerative disease found in the brains of some deceased NFL and NHL players—may change the litigation calculus significantly, the lawyers add.
But how will recent class action concussion settlements with the National Football League and the National Collegiate Athletics Association frame future sports concussion litigation?
Paul Anderson, a plaintiff's lawyer with The Klamann Law Firm in Kansas City, Mo., who also blogs on concussion litigation, told Bloomberg BNA Feb. 12 he sees a “tidal wave” of litigation ahead as a result of the settlements.
“It’s had an impact at all levels, starting with the NFL and then shortly thereafter the NCAA, and now you’re seeing it in high school and peewee,” said Anderson. “And it’s not just limited to football—it’s all sports.”
Others interviewed for this report agreed.
“Whenever one corporate entity pays money to a claimant, more claims follow,” Mark Granger, of Granger Legal Consulting, Inc., in Schroon Lake, N.Y., who chairs the Sports and Fitness Industry Association's Legal Task Force, told Bloomberg BNA Feb. 14 in an e-mail.
“We expect concussion litigation to become a significant new field of law, potentially involving regular class action suits and mirroring what once existed with asbestos, cigarettes, and lead paint,” according to Granger, formerly with Morrison Mahoney's Boston office, whose clients have included Easton Sports, Franklin Sports and Reebok.
Granger said he wasn't speaking on behalf of those or other sports industry clients.
NFL, NCAA Settlements Set Stage
Lawyers for former players who sued the NFL say the $675 million uncapped class settlement already has risen to $1 billion, and may increase “exponentially” if currently asymptomatic players develop symptoms at a higher rate than predicted (In re Nat'l Football League Players' Concussion Injury Litig., 2015 BL 114599, E.D. Pa., MDL No. 2323, final settlement approved 4/22/15
Another, tentatively approved, $75 million class settlement with the NCAA for a class comprised of all current and former student-athletes may invite further litigation because athletes retain the ability to bring tort claims against the NCAA or its member institutions for a future brain injury diagnosis (In re Nat'l. Collegiate Athletic Ass'n Student-Athlete Concussion Litig., N.D. Ill., MDL No. 2492, preliminary class settlement approved 1/26/16).
Yet another federal multidistrict litigation is pending over the concussion injury claims of former National Hockey League players (In re Nat'l Hockey League Players' Concussion Injury Litig., D. Minn., No. 14-md-02251, filed, 8/19/14).
But medical science may be the strongest barometer for future concussions-related cases—a conclusion evident in the NFL litigation itself.
Focus on Youth Concussions?
“The science could determine really that all that matters for developing CTE is how many hits you take before your eighteenth birthday,” Paul Clement, a lawyer for the NFL, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit last November in oral argument of an appeal by objectors who are challenging the class settlement as insufficient (In re Nat'l Football League Players' Concussion Injury Litig., 3d Cir., No. 15-2304, oral argument, 11/19/15)
Clement is with the Bancroft law firm in Washington.
CTE, found in the brains of some deceased NFL players, currently may only be diagnosed post-mortem. That may soon change, however, according to Dr. Robert Stern, a professor of neurology, neurosurgery, anatomy and neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
“Based on the scientific and medical literature, my own first-hand knowledge of the current state of the scientific field, and on my own research, I am confident that within the next five to ten years there will be highly accurate, clinically accepted, and FDA-approved methods to diagnose CTE during life,” Stern said in a declaration filed in the NFL litigation.
Anderson said the tentative NCAA settlement alone will affect as many as 4.4 million student-athletes, some of whom may learn they have CTE in a future test.
“I think the NCAA settlement is going to trigger a tidal wave of litigation,” said Anderson. “I can’t believe the NCAA agreed to it. It’s going to allow [players] to sue in the future on a diagnosis of CTE in the living.”
“Fighting the science is going to be very difficult on the part of the NCAA because it was their settlement that allowed the diagnosis of CTE,” said Anderson. “That settlement’s going to go on for the next 50 years, so we’re looking at a half-century of CTE litigation to come.”
“Effective CTE diagnoses on living persons will change the landscape of litigation dramatically,” Paul Haagen, a professor at Duke University Law School, Durham, N.C., and director of its Center for Sports Law and Policy, told Bloomberg BNA Feb. 11.
“As the risks involved in playing these sports become better understood, the arguments for assumption of risk by the athletes—and their parents/guardians—will be stronger,” Haagen said in an e-mail. “Because of the progressive nature of CTE, the arguments related to the onset of the disease are more powerful.”
Potential streams of new CTE litigation will also multiply because of the notoriety of the NFL and NCAA settlements, Douglas Abrams, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, Columbia, Mo., told Bloomberg BNA Feb. 12.
“When the NFL does something, or the NCAA does something, the media notices and people notice,” said Abrams, who writes extensively on legal and regulatory issues in youth sports concussions. “The fact that the litigation is happening in these high-profile organizations is going to filter down to the youth league and high school levels and produce concussion litigation there, as well.”
Those leagues include an estimated 30 to 45 million children and adolescents who participate in non-scholastic sports, and more than seven million athletes in the U.S. who compete in high school sports each year, according to a recent study of the incidence of youth sports concussions.
Cases to Watch
One indication of the trend may be found in tort suits filed against sports leagues by the parents of youths who suffered brain or spinal injuries in sports.
One California case cited by Abrams involves claims by the parents of a quadriplegic youth football player that Pop Warner league coaches trained their son to tackle with his helmet, increasing the likelihood of severe injury (Dixon v. Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., Cal. Super. Ct., No. BC526842, filed, 11/5/13).
The case was recently resolved in a confidential settlement for an undisclosed amount.
Abrams added that similar scenarios may play out in other cases because of some distinct differences between high-level leagues and non-profit youth leagues and schools.
“Most youth leagues and high schools do not have certified trainers on the sidelines; they’re too expensive,” Abrams said. “So a lot of the burden falls on coaches.”
Another pending case, Anderson said, is Pyka v. Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., W.D. Wis., No. 15-cv-00057, filed 1/5/15, in which the parents of Joseph Chernach allege in part that their son's suicide was the result of repeated concussions and the league's failure to warn of the dangers of youth football.
Abrams said individual cases like these are sure to be on the rise in the future. But Granger, of the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, said, however, that it is “dubious” that class claims like those in the professional league MDLs will spread—as long as medical causation remains an issue.
“The NFL, NHL, and NCAA cases are based on alleged withholding [of] information from athletes and their families,” said Granger. “These claims really don’t exist for individual schools and not-for-profit leagues. Class claims against such defendants are not likely to be successful.”
Helmet Manufacturers On Guard?
Helmet manufacturers—also in the path of future concussion litigation—have taken steps to enhance the protective qualities of helmets and to detect on-field head impacts, but it's not clear helmets can prevent concussions, as opposed to skull fractures.
“The reality is that the helmet isn’t going to be the answer because you can’t stop the brain from rattling around in the skull,” said Anderson. “It’s just a matter of physics and science.”
Riddell, Inc., a major manufacturer of football helmets, won a jury verdict in 2014 over allegations that a defectively designed helmet caused a high school player to suffer brain damage (Acuna v. Riddell Sports, Inc., Cal. Super. Ct., No. LC090924, verdict entered, 3/20/14).
Observers suggested the verdict was based, in part, on the notion that jurors are receptive to arguments that athletes in contact sports assume the risk of injury.
“The liability of helmet and other equipment manufacturers is based both on faulty design and failure to warn,” Haagen said. “In the future, it will depend a lot on how equipment manufacturers market their products and how effective they are at warning of risks.”
William Staar, of Morrison Mahoney's Manchester, N.H. office, told Bloomberg BNA Feb. 14 in an e-mail that helmets are a part of player safety, but aren't designed to prevent concussions.
“Helmets were created and designed to prevent severe head trauma, e.g., skull fractures, subdural hematomas, and cerebral hemorrhage,” said Staar, who advises the sporting goods industry and is also, like Granger, a member of the Sports and Fitness Industry Association's Legal Task Force. “They have done this very effectively for decades. They were not designed and, to date, have not been successful in preventing concussions,” said Staar.
“Helmets are, at best, only part of the solution to head trauma,” Staar said. “Coaching, education of athletes, training, rulemaking, and better rule enforcement can and does reduce brain injury.”
http://www.bna.com/sports-concussion-li ... 982067520/
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
The terrifying link between concussions and suicide
The terrifying link between concussions and suicide - The Washington Post
Redelmeier, who has long been intrigued by mild head injuries in patients who are not elite athletes or military veterans — patients who, he says, “aren’t such superstars” — thinks physicians can do better. When prevention fails, he says, it’s up to medical practitioners to take the condition seriously. He says he was shocked at how frequently concussion patients who eventually committed suicide had come into contact with health-care professionals (about half saw a physician within the last week of life).
But there’s another factor, too: the patients themselves. Instead of getting back in the game, he says, people who have sustained concussions should give themselves time to recover and remember to consider their head injury — no matter how mild — as an important part of their medical history. “Look after your brain,” he says. “People just don’t take concussions seriously.”
The Terrifying Link Between Concussions And Suicide
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to- ... d-suicide/
Redelmeier, who has long been intrigued by mild head injuries in patients who are not elite athletes or military veterans — patients who, he says, “aren’t such superstars” — thinks physicians can do better. When prevention fails, he says, it’s up to medical practitioners to take the condition seriously. He says he was shocked at how frequently concussion patients who eventually committed suicide had come into contact with health-care professionals (about half saw a physician within the last week of life).
But there’s another factor, too: the patients themselves. Instead of getting back in the game, he says, people who have sustained concussions should give themselves time to recover and remember to consider their head injury — no matter how mild — as an important part of their medical history. “Look after your brain,” he says. “People just don’t take concussions seriously.”
The Terrifying Link Between Concussions And Suicide
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to- ... d-suicide/
-
greybeard58
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The NCAA¹s Concussion Gender Gap
Beyond Football Players: The NCAA¹s Concussion Gender Gap
The NCAA knows even less about concussions among women than it does about those among men; will that change?
“With 22 seconds left in a December 2012 game against South Carolina, Toni Kokenis stepped up to the free-throw line to try to protect Stanford’s two-point lead. She knew where she was, but had no idea what would happen next.
“I remember going to the line and being like, ‘Oh my gosh. I hope this goes well,’” she says.
An hour earlier, she was splashing water on her face during halftime, trying to shake concussion symptoms that had been lingering for the entire season. She hadn’t hinted to her coaches or teammates just how bad they had gotten.
Throughout the second half of the game, Kokenis, then the starting point guard for the No. 1 team in the nation, struggled to run back and forth between the two 3-point lines at opposite ends of the court. During timeouts, she’d fight overheating with cold towels and ice packs for her head. Now, Kokenis could no longer go through the motions — not when the game was on the line.
“So much of that time was a blur,” she says, looking at highlights from the game.
But to the rest of the arena, Kokenis seemed at the top of her game.
Kokenis, a 77 percent free-throw shooter the previous season, hit both of her shots, putting the Cardinal up three. Then, South Carolina fouled Kokenis again, sending her to the line for a second time in 12 seconds. Again, she’d hit both shots. With three seconds to go, South Carolina hit a 3-pointer, forcing the Gamecocks to foul Kokenis for a third time with 1 second on the clock. With a chance to ice the game, she did just that, sinking her two remaining free throws to seal a 53-49 win.
That sixth and final free throw concluded a 22-second stretch that felt endless for the hazy Kokenis.
“I remember talking to my mom after the game and saying, ‘I don’t know how that happened because I could not focus,’” she tells me.
It wasn’t the first time Kokenis would fight the haziness and headaches from her concussion symptoms. But it would be one of the last.
After at least five or six concussions — four that were diagnosed during high school and college and another one or two she believes she suffered during high school — Kokenis, a key part of the Cardinal’s Final Four runs in 2011 and 2012, was forced to retire from college basketball in the summer of 2013.
Three years after her retirement, however, the conversation around concussions among female athletes and what it means for life after sports has not advanced in the same way as it has for football-related concussions among male athletes. This is particularly evident in the college ranks, where concussion-related retirements of women in college athletics — particularly in sports that don’t generate the same level of revenue or attention as football programs — go virtually unnoticed.
Even in a groundbreaking decade in research on concussions, one with more increased awareness on head trauma in sports than any time in U.S. history, there’s still a noticeable knowledge gap between what we know about the effects of concussions on men and women. What we do know, however, only leaves us wanting more, especially when it comes to women who play college sports.
“There’s enough information out there about CTE [chronic traumatic encephalopathy], and I think female athletes are struggling to figure out, ‘Does the media coverage of football players – and their ultimate demise – apply to me?’” says Katherine Snedaker, executive director of the nonprofitPINKconcussions, who helped lead a very comprehensive study on the experience of sport-related concussion on women athletes.
...“The gender gap is as wide as it can be,” says Chris Nowinski, founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on research and education of sports-related head injuries. “There hasn’t been a lot of intensive research on difference in gender, outside of speculating on why the numbers are so different.”
Critics such as Nowinski wonder whether the knowledge gap in concussion research between the genders can be bridged, especially in a field so heavily focused on men’s sports — namely, football.
In December, Nowinski told America Tonight that the NCAA has “no motivation in changing” current policies to help better protect past and present student-athletes, adding that the governing body has done “the worst job of any level of sports in terms of the protections they offer their players.” The most jarring example of safety concerns regarding concussions in women college athletes is the ongoing lawsuit from Casey Conine, a former University of Illinois women’s soccer player who has accused the university of ignoring concussion protocol, forcing her to end her soccer career.
Now, in the run up to an expected settlement in a concussion lawsuit involving the NCAA and thousands of former college athletes affected by head trauma, Nowinski’s skepticism of the NCAA has been echoed by former female athletes — from Division I college programs in basketball, soccer and volleyball — interviewed for this story.
Kokenis and other women who have had to retire from their sport because of at least one concussion are part of a growing group of women who are finding their voice, and gaining their footing, on a topic of research that has been mostly dominated by one gender and one sport.
“If I knew everything I know now, I would have not let myself play in certain games with those concussion symptoms,” says Kokenis, now a first-year law student at Northeastern University in Boston. “That’s a lot of responsibility to put on a player who’s expected to perform and contribute for her team. And it’s just way too much to expect one player to do herself.”
Inside her Boston apartment, blocks away from Northeastern’s law school, she turns to me with a look of helplessness for what’s still happening for women college athletes: “No one knows what to do when a woman athlete has a concussion.”
...Stories like Kokenis’ are beginning to gain traction throughout college athletic departments.
In basketball, players like Texas’ Chelsea Bass , UCLA’s Lauren Holiday all ended their careers in the last three years. Each suffered anywhere from two to five instances of head trauma during high school and college. This month, Toledo’s Nancy Kessler announced her decision to step away after at least four concussions.
But perhaps no sport in women’s athletics has been under more scrutiny for concussions than soccer, with recent, notable retirements from Stanford’s Emily Oliver, Northwestern’s Anna Cassell and Utah’s Molly Poletto, who each suffered at least two reported concussions during the course of their high school and college playing careers.
In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Caitlin Ball, a member of the University of North Carolina’s women’s soccer team, suffered five concussions within a 15-month period — four in soccer and another one while hiking. Ball, who retired in 2014, is thankful for the program for honoring the rest of her scholarship, but is still surprised by people’s reactions when they learn about her history with concussions.
“If you ask the normal fan, they would be somewhat surprised that any women’s soccer player has had to retire due to head trauma,” Ball says. “There’s quite a few cases every day, week, month and year, but it’s not terribly talked about at all.”
It was something of a different situation for Emily Peters in 2009. Before Peters ever played a game for the women’s soccer team at the University of Pittsburgh, she was forced to retire, suffering an estimated eight concussions — only three of which were ever diagnosed. After she retired, she slipped into depression and suicidal ideation, relying on marijuana to help her eat and sleep. The experience, which has taken up a quarter of her life, has left a sour taste for Peters.
“It got to a point where I was feeling s***ty or s****ier,” says Peters, who continues to fight symptoms, such as vertigo, six years after stepping away from soccer. “I know universities have put out certain rules, kind of like, ‘wash your hands’ signs. The NCAA has a lot of room to grow, and the teams and universities aren’t doing their part, either.”
The transition into retirement wasn’t easy for Kokenis, whose lingering symptoms forced her to take three incompletes during the semester she retired. Refocusing her attention back toward her academics proved to be difficult, especially given that she was still trying to disconnect herself from the team, and sport, for which she’d sacrificed so much for so many years.
...“Once college athletes medically retire, you’re kind of forgotten. It’s like, ‘You did your time, you helped us do this and that, but what are you doing for us now?’” she says. “And it wasn’t my choice. I didn’t choose to leave. I got injured representing my school and giving all of myself to my school and community.”
Finding a strong voice
...“When a football player retires, they’re given a stage in which to note their history,” says Snedaker, a mother of two sons who suffered multiple concussions of their own. “I’m not sure a female athlete in equestrian or polo or field hockey who is retiring from concussion is going to make any sort of influence. I don’t think women have a strong enough voice in the first place.”
To help find that stage, Snedaker actually had to help create one. Through PINKconcussions, her nationwide initiative on female concussions, Snedaker teamed up with researchers from Clemson University for the first-ever study on the effect of concussions on women, titled, “No Guts, No Glory: What price does she pay to play the game?” The study, which polled 520 former female athletes with varying sports backgrounds, crystallizes the bigger issues in play for women at the collegiate level:
Nearly 58 percent of the women polled who have suffered at least one concussion — and continue to play organized sports today.
More than 69 percent of the women polled continue to play through a head injury, and never report it, while experiencing symptoms such as headaches, blurred or double vision, dizziness, slowed thinking and nausea.
More than half of the women polled are still suffering from symptoms they believe could only be caused from their head injuries.
“Our research showed women do not always report concussions as commonly thought in the past; and they hide concussions for different reasons than the male athletes — due to their lack of awareness of concussions and lack of resources like an athlete trainer,” Snedaker says of the results of the study. “Women’s sports need more concussion education for their athletes, education targeted specifically for women and athletes trainers present at their practices and games."
If the NCAA hopes to change those perceptions surrounding its concussion research of women athletes, it starts with research and legislation. In May 2014, the NCAA announced a partnership with the Department of Defense (DoD) on a $30 million study on concussions among student-athletes and military members. As of Dec. 15, 2015, 21 schools and 17,500 student-athletes had enrolled in the study, according to the Concussion Assessment, Research and Education (CARE) Consortium.
Drs. Thomas McAllister and Steve Broglio are two of the medical professionals leading the CARE Consortium, overseeing two of the three major branches of the research effort.
McAllister, chair of Indiana University’s School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, oversees the fiduciary oversight of the effort. He acknowledges that there’s “a big gap” in what we know between men and women who suffer concussions.
“There are indications that given equivalent biomechanical force exposure or hits that females may be more likely to get a concussion. And there is some emerging evidence suggesting that the resolution of symptoms after a concussion takes a little bit longer in females,” McAllister says. “But other than that, we don’t know enough really about why, or if, either of those are true.”
Broglio, director of the NeuroSport Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan, is coordinating the research on the concussion history among college student-athletes. Broglio is confident the findings in the ongoing study will help bridge the gender gap “sooner rather than later.”
“The data will allow us to address the things we know about men and things we don’t know about both genders,” Broglio says.
While the NCAA-DoD study is a step in the right direction for women’s athletics, Snedaker is pushing for even more female-specific concussion research in college athletics.
“They’re starting from behind and are trying to make up for lost time,” says Snedaker, referring to the NCAA’s efforts on concussion research. “They have the money and the expertise to do this. I’m always optimistic they’ll do the right thing.”
To learn more about concussions in women athletes, check out the International Summit on Female Concussion and TBI in Washington, D.C., later this month. To hear more from Emily Peters and Dr. Steve Broglio, check out Timothy Bella’s “Life After Concussions in College Sports panel at South by Southwest in March.
Beyond Football Players: The NCAA’s Concussion Gender Gap
Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/show ... 3pq=3bgma8
The NCAA knows even less about concussions among women than it does about those among men; will that change?
“With 22 seconds left in a December 2012 game against South Carolina, Toni Kokenis stepped up to the free-throw line to try to protect Stanford’s two-point lead. She knew where she was, but had no idea what would happen next.
“I remember going to the line and being like, ‘Oh my gosh. I hope this goes well,’” she says.
An hour earlier, she was splashing water on her face during halftime, trying to shake concussion symptoms that had been lingering for the entire season. She hadn’t hinted to her coaches or teammates just how bad they had gotten.
Throughout the second half of the game, Kokenis, then the starting point guard for the No. 1 team in the nation, struggled to run back and forth between the two 3-point lines at opposite ends of the court. During timeouts, she’d fight overheating with cold towels and ice packs for her head. Now, Kokenis could no longer go through the motions — not when the game was on the line.
“So much of that time was a blur,” she says, looking at highlights from the game.
But to the rest of the arena, Kokenis seemed at the top of her game.
Kokenis, a 77 percent free-throw shooter the previous season, hit both of her shots, putting the Cardinal up three. Then, South Carolina fouled Kokenis again, sending her to the line for a second time in 12 seconds. Again, she’d hit both shots. With three seconds to go, South Carolina hit a 3-pointer, forcing the Gamecocks to foul Kokenis for a third time with 1 second on the clock. With a chance to ice the game, she did just that, sinking her two remaining free throws to seal a 53-49 win.
That sixth and final free throw concluded a 22-second stretch that felt endless for the hazy Kokenis.
“I remember talking to my mom after the game and saying, ‘I don’t know how that happened because I could not focus,’” she tells me.
It wasn’t the first time Kokenis would fight the haziness and headaches from her concussion symptoms. But it would be one of the last.
After at least five or six concussions — four that were diagnosed during high school and college and another one or two she believes she suffered during high school — Kokenis, a key part of the Cardinal’s Final Four runs in 2011 and 2012, was forced to retire from college basketball in the summer of 2013.
Three years after her retirement, however, the conversation around concussions among female athletes and what it means for life after sports has not advanced in the same way as it has for football-related concussions among male athletes. This is particularly evident in the college ranks, where concussion-related retirements of women in college athletics — particularly in sports that don’t generate the same level of revenue or attention as football programs — go virtually unnoticed.
Even in a groundbreaking decade in research on concussions, one with more increased awareness on head trauma in sports than any time in U.S. history, there’s still a noticeable knowledge gap between what we know about the effects of concussions on men and women. What we do know, however, only leaves us wanting more, especially when it comes to women who play college sports.
“There’s enough information out there about CTE [chronic traumatic encephalopathy], and I think female athletes are struggling to figure out, ‘Does the media coverage of football players – and their ultimate demise – apply to me?’” says Katherine Snedaker, executive director of the nonprofitPINKconcussions, who helped lead a very comprehensive study on the experience of sport-related concussion on women athletes.
...“The gender gap is as wide as it can be,” says Chris Nowinski, founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on research and education of sports-related head injuries. “There hasn’t been a lot of intensive research on difference in gender, outside of speculating on why the numbers are so different.”
Critics such as Nowinski wonder whether the knowledge gap in concussion research between the genders can be bridged, especially in a field so heavily focused on men’s sports — namely, football.
In December, Nowinski told America Tonight that the NCAA has “no motivation in changing” current policies to help better protect past and present student-athletes, adding that the governing body has done “the worst job of any level of sports in terms of the protections they offer their players.” The most jarring example of safety concerns regarding concussions in women college athletes is the ongoing lawsuit from Casey Conine, a former University of Illinois women’s soccer player who has accused the university of ignoring concussion protocol, forcing her to end her soccer career.
Now, in the run up to an expected settlement in a concussion lawsuit involving the NCAA and thousands of former college athletes affected by head trauma, Nowinski’s skepticism of the NCAA has been echoed by former female athletes — from Division I college programs in basketball, soccer and volleyball — interviewed for this story.
Kokenis and other women who have had to retire from their sport because of at least one concussion are part of a growing group of women who are finding their voice, and gaining their footing, on a topic of research that has been mostly dominated by one gender and one sport.
“If I knew everything I know now, I would have not let myself play in certain games with those concussion symptoms,” says Kokenis, now a first-year law student at Northeastern University in Boston. “That’s a lot of responsibility to put on a player who’s expected to perform and contribute for her team. And it’s just way too much to expect one player to do herself.”
Inside her Boston apartment, blocks away from Northeastern’s law school, she turns to me with a look of helplessness for what’s still happening for women college athletes: “No one knows what to do when a woman athlete has a concussion.”
...Stories like Kokenis’ are beginning to gain traction throughout college athletic departments.
In basketball, players like Texas’ Chelsea Bass , UCLA’s Lauren Holiday all ended their careers in the last three years. Each suffered anywhere from two to five instances of head trauma during high school and college. This month, Toledo’s Nancy Kessler announced her decision to step away after at least four concussions.
But perhaps no sport in women’s athletics has been under more scrutiny for concussions than soccer, with recent, notable retirements from Stanford’s Emily Oliver, Northwestern’s Anna Cassell and Utah’s Molly Poletto, who each suffered at least two reported concussions during the course of their high school and college playing careers.
In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Caitlin Ball, a member of the University of North Carolina’s women’s soccer team, suffered five concussions within a 15-month period — four in soccer and another one while hiking. Ball, who retired in 2014, is thankful for the program for honoring the rest of her scholarship, but is still surprised by people’s reactions when they learn about her history with concussions.
“If you ask the normal fan, they would be somewhat surprised that any women’s soccer player has had to retire due to head trauma,” Ball says. “There’s quite a few cases every day, week, month and year, but it’s not terribly talked about at all.”
It was something of a different situation for Emily Peters in 2009. Before Peters ever played a game for the women’s soccer team at the University of Pittsburgh, she was forced to retire, suffering an estimated eight concussions — only three of which were ever diagnosed. After she retired, she slipped into depression and suicidal ideation, relying on marijuana to help her eat and sleep. The experience, which has taken up a quarter of her life, has left a sour taste for Peters.
“It got to a point where I was feeling s***ty or s****ier,” says Peters, who continues to fight symptoms, such as vertigo, six years after stepping away from soccer. “I know universities have put out certain rules, kind of like, ‘wash your hands’ signs. The NCAA has a lot of room to grow, and the teams and universities aren’t doing their part, either.”
The transition into retirement wasn’t easy for Kokenis, whose lingering symptoms forced her to take three incompletes during the semester she retired. Refocusing her attention back toward her academics proved to be difficult, especially given that she was still trying to disconnect herself from the team, and sport, for which she’d sacrificed so much for so many years.
...“Once college athletes medically retire, you’re kind of forgotten. It’s like, ‘You did your time, you helped us do this and that, but what are you doing for us now?’” she says. “And it wasn’t my choice. I didn’t choose to leave. I got injured representing my school and giving all of myself to my school and community.”
Finding a strong voice
...“When a football player retires, they’re given a stage in which to note their history,” says Snedaker, a mother of two sons who suffered multiple concussions of their own. “I’m not sure a female athlete in equestrian or polo or field hockey who is retiring from concussion is going to make any sort of influence. I don’t think women have a strong enough voice in the first place.”
To help find that stage, Snedaker actually had to help create one. Through PINKconcussions, her nationwide initiative on female concussions, Snedaker teamed up with researchers from Clemson University for the first-ever study on the effect of concussions on women, titled, “No Guts, No Glory: What price does she pay to play the game?” The study, which polled 520 former female athletes with varying sports backgrounds, crystallizes the bigger issues in play for women at the collegiate level:
Nearly 58 percent of the women polled who have suffered at least one concussion — and continue to play organized sports today.
More than 69 percent of the women polled continue to play through a head injury, and never report it, while experiencing symptoms such as headaches, blurred or double vision, dizziness, slowed thinking and nausea.
More than half of the women polled are still suffering from symptoms they believe could only be caused from their head injuries.
“Our research showed women do not always report concussions as commonly thought in the past; and they hide concussions for different reasons than the male athletes — due to their lack of awareness of concussions and lack of resources like an athlete trainer,” Snedaker says of the results of the study. “Women’s sports need more concussion education for their athletes, education targeted specifically for women and athletes trainers present at their practices and games."
If the NCAA hopes to change those perceptions surrounding its concussion research of women athletes, it starts with research and legislation. In May 2014, the NCAA announced a partnership with the Department of Defense (DoD) on a $30 million study on concussions among student-athletes and military members. As of Dec. 15, 2015, 21 schools and 17,500 student-athletes had enrolled in the study, according to the Concussion Assessment, Research and Education (CARE) Consortium.
Drs. Thomas McAllister and Steve Broglio are two of the medical professionals leading the CARE Consortium, overseeing two of the three major branches of the research effort.
McAllister, chair of Indiana University’s School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, oversees the fiduciary oversight of the effort. He acknowledges that there’s “a big gap” in what we know between men and women who suffer concussions.
“There are indications that given equivalent biomechanical force exposure or hits that females may be more likely to get a concussion. And there is some emerging evidence suggesting that the resolution of symptoms after a concussion takes a little bit longer in females,” McAllister says. “But other than that, we don’t know enough really about why, or if, either of those are true.”
Broglio, director of the NeuroSport Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan, is coordinating the research on the concussion history among college student-athletes. Broglio is confident the findings in the ongoing study will help bridge the gender gap “sooner rather than later.”
“The data will allow us to address the things we know about men and things we don’t know about both genders,” Broglio says.
While the NCAA-DoD study is a step in the right direction for women’s athletics, Snedaker is pushing for even more female-specific concussion research in college athletics.
“They’re starting from behind and are trying to make up for lost time,” says Snedaker, referring to the NCAA’s efforts on concussion research. “They have the money and the expertise to do this. I’m always optimistic they’ll do the right thing.”
To learn more about concussions in women athletes, check out the International Summit on Female Concussion and TBI in Washington, D.C., later this month. To hear more from Emily Peters and Dr. Steve Broglio, check out Timothy Bella’s “Life After Concussions in College Sports panel at South by Southwest in March.
Beyond Football Players: The NCAA’s Concussion Gender Gap
Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/show ... 3pq=3bgma8
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Concussion Issues Becoming Evident in Women's Sports
“It might not get as much attention as it does in football, but women’s sports have a concussion problem.
...It’s tougher to explain in ice hockey, considering body checking is illegal in the women’s game. But a review of limited data in 2010 revealed 2.72 concussions per 1,000 player hours in women’s ice hockey – even higher than the rate of 2.34 in football and well above the men’s rate of 1.47.
A five-year study of NCAA athletes released in 2015 put the women’s hockey concussion rate just below the rate for men, but still above football and all other women’s sports. Explanations for the high rates vary, from physiological differences to the fact that because of the rules women aren’t anticipating the hit.
One theory players and coaches don’t seem to believe is that women are more likely to self-report their injuries. All coaches and players interviewed for this story said increased awareness and more cautious concussion protocols have made their players more reluctant to reveal headaches or dizziness for fear of having to miss games.
That makes it all the more important for everyone involved to be aware of the signs, since many concussions don’t look obvious to a casual observer. Bailes said officials can often be the first line of defense, which is why local high school soccer referee assignor Milt Magaw encourages vigilance and concussions are always a major focus at training sessions.
“We’re really limited as to what we can do,” said Magaw, who estimates area officials note concussions in game reports once or twice each season. “We’re not certified health professionals and we can’t diagnose.”
But referees can get the attention of trainers or even not allow players back on the field if they seem dizzy or shaken up after taking a blow to the head. Levermann recalled a recent club match where her goalie ran into the post with her cheek, and the official refused to allow her to continue playing until a trainer cleared her of symptoms.”
...Highest NCAA concussion rates, by sport between 2009-2010 to 2013-2014 academic years
Men's wrestling 10.92 (average of 617 annually)
Men's ice hockey 7.91
Women's ice hockey 7.52
Football 6.71 (3,417)
Women's soccer 6.31 (1,113)
Women's basketball 5.95 (998)
Women's lacrosse 5.21
Women's field hockey 4.02
Men's basketball 3.89 (773)
Women's volleyball 3.57
Numbers are sports-related concussions per 10,000 athlete exposures. Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26330572
Concussion Issues Becoming Evident in Women's Sports
Read more: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sp ... /80543614/
...It’s tougher to explain in ice hockey, considering body checking is illegal in the women’s game. But a review of limited data in 2010 revealed 2.72 concussions per 1,000 player hours in women’s ice hockey – even higher than the rate of 2.34 in football and well above the men’s rate of 1.47.
A five-year study of NCAA athletes released in 2015 put the women’s hockey concussion rate just below the rate for men, but still above football and all other women’s sports. Explanations for the high rates vary, from physiological differences to the fact that because of the rules women aren’t anticipating the hit.
One theory players and coaches don’t seem to believe is that women are more likely to self-report their injuries. All coaches and players interviewed for this story said increased awareness and more cautious concussion protocols have made their players more reluctant to reveal headaches or dizziness for fear of having to miss games.
That makes it all the more important for everyone involved to be aware of the signs, since many concussions don’t look obvious to a casual observer. Bailes said officials can often be the first line of defense, which is why local high school soccer referee assignor Milt Magaw encourages vigilance and concussions are always a major focus at training sessions.
“We’re really limited as to what we can do,” said Magaw, who estimates area officials note concussions in game reports once or twice each season. “We’re not certified health professionals and we can’t diagnose.”
But referees can get the attention of trainers or even not allow players back on the field if they seem dizzy or shaken up after taking a blow to the head. Levermann recalled a recent club match where her goalie ran into the post with her cheek, and the official refused to allow her to continue playing until a trainer cleared her of symptoms.”
...Highest NCAA concussion rates, by sport between 2009-2010 to 2013-2014 academic years
Men's wrestling 10.92 (average of 617 annually)
Men's ice hockey 7.91
Women's ice hockey 7.52
Football 6.71 (3,417)
Women's soccer 6.31 (1,113)
Women's basketball 5.95 (998)
Women's lacrosse 5.21
Women's field hockey 4.02
Men's basketball 3.89 (773)
Women's volleyball 3.57
Numbers are sports-related concussions per 10,000 athlete exposures. Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26330572
Concussion Issues Becoming Evident in Women's Sports
Read more: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sp ... /80543614/
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Long-tail Risk
Long-tail Risk
Asbestosis, a deadly lung condition caused by exposure to asbestos fibres, is a classic example of a “long-tail” risk - one that can result in insurance payouts years after an original policy was first underwritten.
Most sufferers of asbestosis and other asbestos-related conditions, including lung cancer, only developed symptoms years after they were first exposed to asbestos fibres.
This meant that when their employer eventually lodged liability claims to its insurer the policy was often decades old. It also meant that reserves of money set aside to pay claims were often insufficient because awareness of the illness had been non-existent.
How Asbestos Brought Lloyd's of London to Its Knees in the 90s
Spiralling asbestos claims from the United States almost resulted in the collapse of the Lloyd’s of London insurance market in the 1990s.
Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... e-90s.html
Asbestosis, a deadly lung condition caused by exposure to asbestos fibres, is a classic example of a “long-tail” risk - one that can result in insurance payouts years after an original policy was first underwritten.
Most sufferers of asbestosis and other asbestos-related conditions, including lung cancer, only developed symptoms years after they were first exposed to asbestos fibres.
This meant that when their employer eventually lodged liability claims to its insurer the policy was often decades old. It also meant that reserves of money set aside to pay claims were often insufficient because awareness of the illness had been non-existent.
How Asbestos Brought Lloyd's of London to Its Knees in the 90s
Spiralling asbestos claims from the United States almost resulted in the collapse of the Lloyd’s of London insurance market in the 1990s.
Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... e-90s.html
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Brianna Scurry, Anoka MN
"If I as an Olympian had trouble finding the right doctor, how much difficulty do others with concussions have?"
~Brianna Scurry, Anoka MN
The PINKconcussions International Summit on Female Concussion and TBI
https://mobile.twitter.com/griz1/status ... 7335711744
~Brianna Scurry, Anoka MN
The PINKconcussions International Summit on Female Concussion and TBI
https://mobile.twitter.com/griz1/status ... 7335711744
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greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Something to think about
The majority of high school hockey careers end at age 18, college age 22. The average life expectancy of an American female is 82. What are you going to do for the next 60 years?
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm