concussions

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Jess Chicko
"Jess Chicko awoke sprawled out on the ice, with here teammates, coaches and trainer rushing to her side.

"I was skating for a loose puck, an opponent tripped me and I went head first into the boards at full speed," said Chicko. "I blacked out. I came to a few seconds later and thought to myself, 'Oh no, not again!'"

Chicko had suffered her second concussion in less than a month, knocked unconscious by a massive impact with the boards at the Haverhill High rink.

Her 2014-15 season was over, and doctors wondered days later if she should continue to play hockey at all.

But the Haverhill/Pentucket/North Andover star wasn't about to give up on the sport she loves.

"When my doctor mentioned me not playing hockey anymore I just looked at her and laughed," she Chicko. "I told her there wasn't even a question if I would get back on the ice."

Following an offseason of recovery to regain her form both on and off the ice, the North Andover High junior has returned to the ice with a vengeance this winter.

Chicko has scored a team-high 13 goals, No. 2 in the area, to lead Haverhill/Pentucket/North Andover to an 8-1-5 record, 7-0-2 in the Merrimack Valley Conference.

"Jess worked all summer with the hope of getting back to play hockey this season," said coach Gary Kane. "She is fully recovered and is leading our team in goals and points. She is a natural leader on and off the ice, dedicated and has been great for us."

In love with hockey as far back as she can remember, Chicko wasted no time making her mark at the high school level. As a freshman for the first-year HPNA program, the forward saw regular shifts, finishing the year with four goals and nine points.

Chicko then won a spot on the top line last winter, and went right to work. She scored her first high school hat trick in a win over Waltham, following that up with two goals in a victory over Concord-Carlisle.

But trouble was looming for the winger.

During a Jan. 21 game against Lincoln-Sudbury — having already scored a goal — Chicko suffered her first concussion of the season after a collision with the boards.

"I lost the edge of my skate, fell into the boards and hit head first at a strange angle," she said. "Of course I told everyone I was OK and tried to skate. But my coaches could see I wasn't acting normally, and once I rested I knew something wasn't right."

Chicko's parents took her to the doctor, where she was diagnosed with a concussion, forcing her to sit out three weeks.

"The first concussion wasn't quite as bad," she said. "I just had to be monitored. It was frustrating. But I was back skating in about a week and a half with no contact, and I was back playing in a game in a few weeks."

She returned with a goal in a win over Wayland, and added another against Methuen/Tewksbury. But it was against the rival Red Rangers that her season came to an end.

"I got hit hard on my first shift of the game," she said. "I told everyone I was fine. I figured, what are the odds I would have another concussion. But the more I skated I wasn't feeling well.

"Later in the game I was going for a loose puck and the girl didn't mean to, but she tripped me and I went into the boards hard. I was out cold for a few seconds. The next thing I remember were people skating over to me. I thought, 'Oh no, it happened again!'"

Chicko remained on the ice while she was assessed, then was gently helped off the ice before going to the hospital. She had suffered a second concussion, this one more severe than the last.

"It was the worst," she said. "I knew how bad it was when I was trying to get back to school and it was so hard. I had a lot of trouble memorizing things and I was very sensitive to light and noise.

"And it hurt so bad to miss the rest of the season and tournament. I wanted to help them. But I knew rushing things would only hurt myself and my team."

Chicko was also forced to sit out lacrosse season, and doctors wondered if hockey was the best idea. But she was having none of it.

"I had to play hockey," she said. "My parents knew that I had to get back on the ice. You can't live scared. That doesn't help anything. You just have to move forward."

In the spring, Chicko began skating with her club team, the North Shore Vipers. Finally, in the summer, she was cleared to return to game action for the Beantown Classic Hockey Tournament in July. After spending the fall playing field hockey for North Andover, she was ready for hockey in the winter.

"I can't even describe the feeling of being back," she said. "I worked hard to get back to my form, and coach Kane worked with me to avoid injury and to go into the boards differently. When I scored my first goal, I felt like I was finally back and we were ready for success."

Chicko has been outstanding, leading HPNA in goals and points (13-7—20). And with the tournament looming her coaches are thrilled to have her in the lineup.

"She has provided so much for us on offense and in leadership," said Kane. "She has been tearing it up all season alongside Katherine Capobianco. Missing her in the state tournament was one of the reasons for our exit. She is our sparkplug, a great leader and a great player."

After Suffering Two Concussions, North Andover's Chicko Returns To Star For Haverhill Co-op Hockey
Read more: http://www.eagletribune.com/sports/afte ... 48106.html

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Kalaya McConnell

"The International Falls girls hockey team scored four times in the first period and added three second-period goals Friday night when the Falls won at home over North Shore, 7-1.

“I thought the kids really played well together (Friday night),” said Broncos head coach Gerald Bolstad. “I thought we cycled the puck really good, and we just used each other – made a lot of nice plays.”

The Falls took a 4-0 lead after the first period on a pair of goals from Amber Tilander and single scores from Gina Auran and Lexi Edwards.

The Broncos extended their lead to 7-0 with second-period goals from Abby Auran, Tilander and Edwards.

The Storm's only goal came with 5:24 left in the game when Jessie Ketola scored.

Shots on goal favored the Falls, 43-16. The Broncos started in goal with Grace Wegner, who was replaced in net by Kalaya McConnell with 7:58 left in the second period.

“Kalaya's just coming back from her concussion,” Bolstad said. “She's getting healthy. We wanted to get her a little playing time now, so it was just a good night to do it.”

Grace Hietala played all three periods in goal for North Shore."
Bronco Girls Hockey Team Swamps North Shore
Read more: http://www.ifallsjournal.com/news/sport ... c34cf.html

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18. Part II: I Think My Kid Has Concussion Symptoms - Now What?
http://www.theinvisibleinjury.net/blog/ ... s-now-what

19. My Concussion Recovery: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back — The Invisible Injury
http://www.theinvisibleinjury.net/blog/2016/2/7/19

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"More and more professional athletes are advocating keeping their kids out of contact sports because of the dangers it posses to their long term health. Professional athletes, people, men and women who have competed at the highest level of sport and understand the toll that head injuries at a young age can take on the future of an athlete."

We Should Stop Ignoring Concussions Before It's Too Late
Read more: http://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/sports/ ... -1.2166564

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"Glenn Beckmann, the director of marketing communications for Schutt Sports, echoed those sentiments. “There is no such thing as a concussion-proof helmet. And there won’t be for the foreseeable future,” he wrote in an email. “We still aren’t anywhere close to knowing enough to say we can prevent concussions."

The Fruitless Search for a 'Concussion-Proof' Football Helmet
Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... =SFTwitter

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Hockey Helmets
“Concussions are becoming a bigger and bigger part of sports – especially contact sports like football and hockey,” says David Pearsall, Co-Director of the McGill Ice Hockey Research Group and an expert in biomechanics. “Athletes are getting bigger, faster and stronger and the collisions are becoming increasingly violent. While helmet design has become more sophisticated over the years, nothing can guard against concussion 100 per cent.”

This was backed up at the end of March when a study out of Virginia Tech (VT) suggested that most hockey helmets offer little protection against concussions. In fact, the study gave the majority of the 32 brands of helmets it tested a failing grade, with only one helmet getting three of a possible five stars in the VT scale. The rest of the helmets received two stars or less, with nine brands getting zero stars and a “not recommended ranking.”

Bigger not necessarily better
Pearsall, who has been studying hockey helmet design for 20 years, says the VT research, though timely, may be oversimplifying a very complex issue somewhat. “The Virginia group is using a fairly standard but simplified rating scale that, ideally, should be multi-dimensional,” he says. “You have to take into account all sorts of competing factors like functionality; fit; area coverage and a helmet’s ability not to obstruct visual and auditory cues. These other factors aren’t as obvious as the greatest priority – to protect – but they still are factors.”

For example, Pearsall continues, one of the suggestions coming out of VT is that helmets should be bigger. While bigger generally will offer better protection against linear impact (a head-on blow, as in a car accident, in which much of the damage occurs when the brain slams into the front of the skull on initial impact and then snaps back), it may actually increase the risk of sustaining injuries due to rotational forces.

These types of collisions, in which a sudden blow to the side of the head results in a rapid turning of the head or neck, can stretch and even shear brain tissue. The injury resulting from rotational force is most prominent at the juncture between grey and white matter i.e., where neurons and axons from other neurons meet.

“Yes, bigger helmets will be better at absorbing linear forces,” says Pearsall, “but they could also amplify rotational acceleration and make it worse. If your helmet is sticking out more and you are hit at an off angle, that will torque your head even more. It is the difference between a small wrench and a big wrench – torque is an issue that can’t be trivialized.”

Snug but not too snug
Fit is another important factor. Part of the problem, says Pearsall, is that helmet manufacturers don’t take into consideration that people have different shaped heads. “Helmets are designed in a very generic way. But not everyone’s head shape is the same,” he says. “This can create cavities or gaps in one area or another.”

And while there are some groups looking at incorporating football-style inflatable bladders in hockey helmets to improve the fit, it doesn’t seem to be a development that is gaining much momentum. “Most hockey helmets are padded with vinyl nitrile or expanded polypropylene foam liners. Some people are looking at using the air-type bladders from football but they haven’t really taken off,” says Pearsall. “Part of the problem is you still want the helmet to have a certain degree of give so that it has the ability to pivot a little bit, otherwise you are going to rip your scalp off.”

He says he’s seen some interesting design work that incorporates several hard shells into one, kind of a helmet-within-a-helmet. “The premise is to have an outer layer and inner layer that can deform and deal with some of the torque and rotational acceleration issues,” he says. “If you can make big impacts stretch a bit longer in time, the acceleration values get much lower which is more tolerable for the brain tissue.”

Secondhand helmets not all they’re cracked up to be
Product wear is one issue that most pros – who have their equipment repaired and upgraded regularly – don’t have to worry about. Not so true of Canada’s thousands of amateur players who regularly strap on used equipment bought at secondhand sports stores or handed down from older siblings. While playing with used shin pads isn’t cause for concern, entrusting your child’s health to an aging helmet can have serious repercussions.

Pearsall has studied the effects of time on hockey helmets, literally storing various helmets for over a decade to see what – if anything – would happen. “We just finished a study with helmets sitting on a shelf for 10 years and we found that up to five years the helmets were very stable,” he says. “But I was surprised at the big changes between years 6 and 10 – especially when it comes to adhesives. Glues start to dry our and foam starts to change.”

Based largely on these findings, the Canadian Standards Agency and the Hockey Equipment Certification Council have now imposed a five-year limit on the lifetime of a helmet. After five years all helmets, even those that have done nothing but collect dust on a shelf, will no longer be deemed safe.”

Concussions Are a Top-of-mind Issue in Hockey
Read more: http://publications.mcgill.ca/reporter/ ... in-hockey/

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Risk of suicide after a concussion

Abstract

Background: Head injuries have been associated with subsequent suicide among military personnel, but outcomes after a concussion in the community are uncertain. We assessed the long-term risk of suicide after concussions occurring on weekends or weekdays in the community.

Methods: We performed a longitudinal cohort analysis of adults with diagnosis of a concussion in Ontario, Canada, from Apr. 1, 1992, to Mar. 31, 2012 (a 20-yr period), excluding severe cases that resulted in hospital admission. The primary outcome was the long-term risk of suicide after a weekend or weekday concussion.

Results: We identified 235 110 patients with a concussion. Their mean age was 41 years, 52% were men, and most (86%) lived in an urban location. A total of 667 subsequent suicides occurred over a median follow-up of 9.3 years, equivalent to 31 deaths per 100 000 patients annually or 3 times the population norm. Weekend concussions were associated with a one-third further increased risk of suicide compared with weekday concussions (relative risk 1.36, 95% confidence interval 1.14–1.64). The increased risk applied regardless of patients' demographic characteristics, was independent of past psychiatric conditions, became accentuated with time and exceeded the risk among military personnel. Half of these patients had visited a physician in the last week of life.

Interpretation: Adults with a diagnosis of concussion had an increased long-term risk of suicide, particularly after concussions on weekends. Greater attention to the long-term care of patients after a concussion in the community might save lives because deaths from suicide can be prevented.
http://m.cmaj.ca/content/early/2016/02/08/cmaj.150790

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Adults who suffer concussions are at a heightened risk of dying by suicide, a study released Monday by researchers at the University of Toronto has found.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, examined more than 235,000 adults who had suffered concussions over 20 years and found an incidence rate of 31 suicides per 100,000 people. While suicides among those who suffer concussions remain extremely rare -- less than 1 percent of those studied died by suicide -- that means they occur nearly three times more often than in the broader population.

Researchers and the media have long associated concussions with increased suicide risk, in part because of high-profile suicides among NFL players like Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, who were later found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease linked to repetitive head trauma.

The Toronto study is among the first to provide empirical evidence linking concussions to increased suicide rates, said Dr. Michael Fralick, a chief medical resident at the University of Toronto and the study’s lead author.

The study is significant in that it adds to the body of research linking concussions and increased risks of suicide, said Dr. Robert Cantu, a concussion expert and the co-director of Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. Still, Cantu said, more research is needed to assess whether brain injuries themselves or other factors, including depression, are more responsible for the heightened risk of suicide.

“Right now I don't think there is any definitive science that tells us how much of it is the concussion and how much of it is the other stuff that's going on around it,” Cantu said. “How much of the problem is really due to structural brain injuries, and how much of it is due to the fact that these people are often the set with depression symptoms and/or addictive behaviors ... is the $64,000 question. … It's really not clear why there is this increased risk. But it's there.”

While much of the focus on concussions has centered around how they are managed and treated in professional sports, the study’s authors said it has broad implications for the general public.

“The most straightforward implication is that the association between concussions and suicide is not just confined to professional athletes or military veterans, but might also extend to normal individuals in the community who are undertaking everyday activities,” said Dr. Donald Redelmeier, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto who helped author the study.

A key finding in that regard is that the rate of suicides increased even further when concussions were suffered on weekends. A possible explanation for that finding, Redelmeier said, is that weekend activities like recreational sports or home improvement often lack injury protections that are standard in the workplace, and because people who suffer brain injuries during those activities may be less likely to seek medical attention or treat the injuries seriously. That could increase the likelihood that symptoms like depression and anxiety develop later, he said.

The study also found that suffering multiple concussions can increase the risk of suicide.

These risks, the researchers behind the study said, should raise awareness about the importance of seeking proper medical attention to manage and treat concussions, not just among athletes but also in the general public.

And when it comes to professional and youth sports, further evidence of another damaging effect of concussions should lead to even more emphasis on the prevention and management of the injuries, particularly in terms of making sure athletes are fully healed before they return to play, the researchers said.

“There's nothing worse than sustaining a concussion and then being told to go back on the field only to put yourself at risk for a second event. That is just setting up a potentially perilous situation,” Fralick said. “That is not the time to get right back into sports. We've seen that with athletes who came back too quickly. If you don't rest for a significant period of time, you're at risk for a second concussion.”

“The value of this study,” Cantu said, “is one more piece of evidence that we shouldn't be blowing off concussions.”

If you or someone you know needs help, please call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention for a database of international resources.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_56ba4 ... 0245c4694c

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Hockey ranks high on concussion risk list

By: Paul Wiecek
Posted: 12/29/2015 3:01 PM | Comments: 2



Sweden’s William Nylander took a stomach-churning hit last weekend at the world juniors that got everyone talking.

HEIKKI SAUKKOMAA / LEHTIKUVA FILES

Sweden’s William Nylander took a stomach-churning hit last weekend at the world juniors that got everyone talking.

"Quick — in what sport are you most likely to sustain a concussion?

It has to be football you’re thinking, right?

You’re thinking wrong: In a five-year study of 25 NCAA sports published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers found from 2009 through 2014 collegiate football players ranked fourth in terms of their risk of sustaining a concussion during practice or competition.

Wrestlers, by a mile, had the highest risk of concussion in collegiate athletics, which makes sense when you consider the lack of meaningful head protection and the very nature of the sport.

What’s most intriguing is what the second and third highest-risk sports are men’s hockey and women’s hockey respectively.

Think about that for a second: a women’s hockey player has a higher risk of sustaining a concussion than an NCAA football player.

That’s a staggering statistic and one that should give every Canadian pause right now as we collectively gather around the national television set and revel in the annual holiday tradition that is the world junior hockey championship.

There’s some symmetry to the fact this year’s world juniors coincides with the release of the Will Smith film, Concussion, which portrays one doctor’s long battle to get the NFL to acknowledge what, deep down in our hearts, we’ve all known for a long time: playing football makes football players sick.

The timing is serendipitous, of course, because if football is bad for football players, the NCAA study would seem to suggest hockey is even worse for hockey players.

And yet — crickets.

Yes, there are strict concussion protocols in hockey that never existed previously. And yes, there is a general awareness of the issue in hockey that never existed in the old days when a helmetless player would be described as getting his bell rung and the cameras would catch him on the bench taking a whiff of smelling salts moments before heading back out for his next shift.

But let’s be honest — we, as Canadians, still generally regard concussions as a football problem. And when we do talk about the issue at all in the context of hockey, it’s usually only because something spectacular has made the news: yet another former hockey enforcer has killed himself or some sickening hit has forced us to pay attention.

Last weekend, it was the stomach-churning hit on Sweden’s William Nylander at the world juniors that got everyone talking. Nylander was the leading scorer in the American Hockey League this season — and a top prospect of the Toronto Maple Leafs — and you couldn’t help but wonder while watching the replays if his future, on and off the ice, is now a little bit dimmer.

Because not only is hockey bad for hockey players, there are some who think it’s even worse for young hockey players.

Dr. Bennet Omalu, the subject of the Will Smith film, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times in which he called for a serious discussion about the wisdom of allowing young athletes to play contact sports at all.

Although the article was entitled, Don’t Let Kids Play Football, Omalu made clear he was also talking about other contact sports, including hockey: "Over the past two decades it has become clear that repetitive blows to the head in high-impact contact sports like football, ice hockey, mixed martial arts and boxing place athletes at risk of permanent brain damage," wrote Omalu. "Why, then, do we continue to intentionally expose our children to this risk?"

Why? Because if we don’t play contact sports for fun as kids, we won’t play contact sports for a living as adults. Or, for that matter, watch them. And there’s a multi-billion dollar professional sports and entertainment industry in North America set up to ensure that never, ever happens.

No one seriously thinks we’re ever going to ban kids from playing contact sports. And it’s not even clear we should, even among the professionals in the field. The New York Times published another op-ed just last week by pediatric-neurologist Steven Rothman who says parents of young athletes don’t need to panic, citing an absence of any meaningful scientific evidence that kids playing contact sports for a short period of time face the same risks of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy as the adults who’ve played for a long period of time.

The flip side to that argument, of course, is there’s also currently no meaningful evidence there isn’t such a risk.

That will come as cold comfort to all the hockey parents in this town and this country, who’d surely like to be able make potentially life-altering decisions with their kids based on something more than, ‘So, do you feel lucky?’

Let’s close with this: I was one of the few people in the house on Boxing Day when Mark Scheifele collided with Andrew Ladd during Winnipeg Jets practice at the MTS Centre.

The collision occurred during a routine drill, but it was clear the moment Scheifele went down with a sickening thud this was not a routine collision. Bleeding from his head, the Jets training staff slowly guided one of the team’s brightest stars to the Jets bench.

As they did, Scheifele tilted his head up to where I was sitting in the stands and for a brief moment, I swear our eyes locked. But while I saw him, the vacant stare that Scheifele returned suggested he didn’t see me.

The early prognosis is Scheifele will be out of the Jets lineup at least a week with a concussion. If he’s lucky."


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports ... 54941.html

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A Generation Loses Consciousness, and Grows More Conscious of Headbanging

New data suggests blows to the head are on the rise among U.S. adults and kids, but definitive diagnosis remains elusive

"The work was released alongside another study in JAMA that found that National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I football players, irrespective of their concussion diagnosis, have shrunken hippocampal volume on average compared with healthy nonplayers. Football players with a longer history of play (and presumably more opportunities for blows to the head) showed even more reduced hippocampal volume. The hippocampus, located inside the brain, helps with such mental work as memory and spatial reasoning. But the study co-authors, led by Rashmi Singh of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Okla., note that they still cannot discern what the reduced volumes mean for long-term cognitive function in these individuals.

Compared with 25 nonathletes with no history of concussion, players with a history of concussion had hippocampal volumes in both hemispheres of their brains that appeared about 25 percent smaller than those of healthy nonathletes. Meanwhile, players without a history of diagnosed concussion also had hippocampal volumes about 15 percent smaller than those healthy nonathletes. (This is noteworthy because players tend to underreport concussion symptoms.) More football experience also generally correlated with slower reaction time on cognitive tests. Exactly how to interpret the implications of the reduced brain mass or connect the dots to respective head injuries remains uncertain because there was little available baseline data for the studied players. So, the “snapshots” of these brains fail to provide a time line of football experience and hippocampal damage.

Still, it’s clear that none of this is good news. At the hospital, Marin says, “we stabilize patients but then they go home and a lot of them will experience complications down the line.”

Read more: http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... adbanging/


Relationship of Collegiate Football Experience and Concussion With Hippocampal Volume and Cognitive Outcomes
Read about original study: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/mobile/arti ... id=1869211


"The hippocampus is a small organ located within the brain's medial temporal lobe and forms an important part of the limbic system, the region that regulates emotions. The hippocampus is associated mainly with memory, in particular long-term memory. The organ also plays an important role in spatial navigation."

Read more: http://www.news-medical.net/health/Hipp ... tions.aspx

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2015-16 Dartmouth Women
“The last time the Dartmouth College women’s hockey team won a game, Ben Carson was a relevant presidential candidate, gasoline cost more than $2 per gallon and rock singer Scott Weiland was still alive.

The Big Green is 0-13-1 since that last triumph, which came Nov. 14 against Union. The Dutchwomen are winless this season and have long occupied the ECAC cellar, but Dartmouth is a once-proud program that reached the NCAA tournament as recently as 2011.

That memory is fading. It’s quite possible the current Dartmouth team will miss the conference tournament for the first time since the 2009-10 season and for just the third time since the ECAC began sponsoring the sport in 1989.

Then again, the playoffs haven’t been kind to the Big Green of late. Dartmouth has lost its last 10 postseason games by a combined 37-5 and been shut out during six of its last seven. The team claimed the ECAC’s eighth and final playoff berth each of the last two seasons.

At this point, however, eighth looks dandy for Dartmouth. The 10th-place Big Green is five points out of a playoff berth with six games to play as it enters this weekend’s games against visiting Yale and Brown. Its last four scheduled contests are on the road, including the finale at third-place Colgate.

“It’s almost like, what do we have to lose at this point?” senior forward Ailish Forfar said. “It’s not like anyone’s naive to the situation. We need to stop worrying about ‘the streak, the streak’ and just play for each other.”

Coach Mark Hudak appears calm despite his team’s 4-15-3 overall record and the fact that it needs three more victories just to tie the 39-year-old program’s record for fewest victories in a season. A West Point graduate and former U.S. Army field artillery officer, he’s in his 13th season at the helm and was a Big Green assistant for five years before being promoted.

“I still believe that we’ve got a really good team, and now that we’re mostly healthy, I’m looking forward to the last six games,” he said.

Available depth has been an issue in recent years for Dartmouth which, like most women’s college teams, has roughly 20 players. Men’s teams, whose sport allows bodychecking, tend to carry closer to 30.

The Big Green women lost promising junior forward Katy Ratty to career-ending back and neck injuries before the current campaign. Two Dartmouth players quit the sport during the past three years, and an incoming freshman goaltender announced shortly before last season that she wouldn’t matriculate, forcing Hudak to pluck a former high school netminder out of the student body to back up starter Robyn Chemago.

A junior, Chemago is one of the country’s top 30 goaltenders in terms of statistics. However, she played the highest percentage of a team’s minutes of any NCAA goaltender, man or woman, last season and has played 90 percent of them this winter.

Sophomore forward Brooke Ahbe was showing signs of becoming an impact player before being sidelined for more than two months with what Hudak said was originally diagnosed as a concussion, but turned out to be exercise-induced migraines. The usual assortment of injuries and illnesses has also struck, leaving the Big Green with a patchwork lineup.

Dartmouth is fairly solid defensively, but struggles to score, having tallied 26 fewer goals than it’s allowed. Only one Big Green player has so much as an even rating, indicating that she’s been on the ice for as many goals scored as allowed, discounting special-teams situations. Co-captain and forward Catherine Berghuis is a minus-20, and seven other skaters are in double digits on the negative side.

“Offensive confidence is elusive right now,” said Hudak, whose team has been outscored, 50-18, during its winless streak.”

Net Loss: Once-Powerful Dartmouth Women Struggle on the Ice
Read more: http://mobile.vnews.com/home/20889075-1 ... on-the-ice

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Megan Brooks
“This hockey tournament should be fun considering last time I played was a year ago with the boys & I got a concussion & haven't played since.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/megb611/stat ... 4636230656


Lauren Augustine
“I get a minor concussion today playing hockey and my dad texts me 3 hours later "ready to play again tomorrow?"
https://mobile.twitter.com/LauAugustine ... 0065289216


Bowdoin 2015-16
“Unfortunately, the team has faced trouble with injuries this season and are still not completely healthy. However, Bourque believes that being able to adjust to these setbacks will only help down the road in the postseason. Most of the injured players have rehabilitated themselves enough to be able to play through the pain, so the team has more numbers now than earlier in the season.

However, Bowdoin experienced a challenging weekend the following week at Middlebury, losing the first game 2-0 and the second 4-2. According to O’Neil, the team was not psychologically ready going into the weekend and suffered a mental and physical letdown. However, O’Neil believes that this should motivate the team if they face Middlebury again in the playoffs.
“We’ve struggled throughout the season with playing an entire 60 minutes of hockey,” said Maddy Hall ’17. “Oftentimes we won’t come out right away ready to play.”

After Stumbling Through January, Women’s Hockey Hopes to Finish Strong
Read more: http://bowdoinorient.com/article/10873

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Yekaterina Smolentseva
"Smolentseva fell, hit her head on the boards, it seems. Off the ice right now."
https://mobile.twitter.com/k_cimini/sta ... 0766078976


Jessie Brown
“Emma Weatherbie scored on a breakaway in double overtime to give the UPEI Panthers a 3-2 win over the Mount Allison Mounties Wednesday in Atlantic University Sport (AUS) women's hockey action.

"The defender was all over her," Panthers head coach Bruce Donaldson explained. "It was a great individual effort by Weatherbie to battle and keep control of the puck and beat both the defender and the goalie."

The game was scoreless after the first period and the host Mounties took a 1-0 lead to the third.

Jessie Brown scored in the first minute of the third to tie it. Mount Allison regained the lead 2:22 into the period before Kiana Strand scored 1:24 later.

Donaldson said the Panthers responded every time they faced adversity. He said the goal by Strand, one of the team's hardest workers, sparked the Panthers.

The teams played a scoreless 10-minute overtime while skating four a side. Weatherbie won it midway through the three-on-three double overtime with an unassisted goal.

Rachel Colle and Maggie Grimmer had assists in regulation.

Marie-Soleil Deschenes made 25 saves for the win.

The Panthers improved to 5-13-3 and are two points back of Dalhousie (7-12-1) for the final playoff spot. The two teams meet Sunday at 6 p.m. at MacLauchlan Arena.

"That's what you play for: a chance to continue on in the playoffs," Donaldson said. "We've given ourselves an opportunity."
Brown sustained a concussion Wednesday and is not expected to play Sunday.”

Weatherbie Snipes OT Winner for Panthers
Read more: http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Sports/Hoc ... Panthers/1

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http://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/w5/lives-s ... sc=S9WrP9g

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Kaitlyn Miller
“Two hits in high school knocked Kaitlyn Miller down.

Now a college hockey player at Saint Benedict, she's out to prove she'll always get back up.

THE HITS

The first hit came during her junior year of high school. Miller was skating the puck up the middle of the ice. Just as she passed the puck, a defending player hit her straight on, and knocked her backwards onto the ice.

"I just remember getting hit. It was slow motion, like a movie," Miller said. "My head bounced off the ice. It's on film, but I've never seen it. I don't want to. I played the rest of the game, and I scored a goal, but I have no recollection of it."

Miller finished the game, but was taken to the hospital after she kept falling asleep on the bus ride home. She had a major concussion and suffered seizures and headaches – and still does on her left side – on top of neck and back problems.

Miller played in the last game of her junior year, but played scared, she said.

The second hit came in her senior year. This time after she was hit, she couldn't feel her legs.

"I got hit, went down and I couldn't get up. They pulled me off the ice because we didn't know what was going on," she said. "I started freaking out because I couldn't feel my legs."

The temporary paralysis wore off in less than 24 hours and Miller returned to the ice once again. She wasn't quite the same player right away. But she wasn't ready to quit on her passion.

"I just wasn't ready to give it up yet," said Miller, who started playing hockey in fifth grade. "Honestly I never really thought about why I kept stepping on the ice over and over again. It just never occurred to me that maybe I shouldn't. I really wanted to play and nothing else mattered."

With her diminished play, college hockey coaches weren't actively recruiting Miller during her senior year, and any dreams she may have had of a Division I scholarship had fallen away.

CHOOSING SAINT BENEDICT

Jen Kranz, the head hockey coach at Saint Benedict, was one coach who did come looking. She only watched Miller play once, but as soon as Kranz saw the 5-foot-7 forward in action in one of the final games of her high school career, she knew Miller needed to be a part of the CSB hockey program.

"Going to see Miller play was amazing," Kranz said of the Esko, Minnesota, native. "It was fast and furious then because we needed this kid. We always joke about 218ers – athletes from the 218 area code in Minnesota. And I knew she was going to come with great work ethic and attitude, because she embodies that spirit of the 218er."

Miller waited as long as she could to make a decision, but ultimately chose to come to school to major in nursing and play NCAA Division III hockey at CSB. It's a decision she doesn't regret.

"Everyone [on my campus visit] was talking about team chemistry and getting along, and it was fun to see," she said. "I got to skate with [the team] and realized I could do it. I liked the campus; there's a lot to offer and everyone is really kind. CSB also has a really good nursing program, and that drew me in.

"Coming to CSB is probably the best decision I've ever made; I can't see myself anywhere else."

Miller passed the physical exams required by the NCAA, MIAC and CSB and came to Saint Ben's with the required paperwork (including a health form signed by her physician). She took the baseline concussion test that is also required by both the NCAA and CSB and has been a part of the team ever since.

As well as playing hockey, Miller is also a part of the CSB nursing program. During her first year she quickly learned to balance hockey and the rigorous academic schedule that comes with being a nursing major. She starts clinic rotations this semester.

"The nursing program is brutal your first year," she said. "It's busy, but I tell people it's definitely doable. The faculty know it's hard, but the teachers and faculty are people you can turn to for help, even if you don't know them.

MONEY MATTERS

As if balancing being a nursing major and playing varsity hockey at the college level wasn't enough, Miller also paid for her first three semesters of college on her own.

"Our parents have been telling (my sister and I) for a long time that we'd be [paying for college] on our own," she said. "So I knew it was coming. That was the reason I took so long to decide [where to go to college]."

Miller took out a few loans, and her dad took out a loan – one she knows she has to repay. That paid for her first two semesters at CSB.

Her third semester was paid off by working 80-plus hours per week at the Duluth Paper Mill this past summer. She worked as much as she could in the mill, and spent her "off" days coming into the office to help out.

"It's a unique experience to pay for an education," Miller said. "I don't miss class. I'm paying for that class, so I'm not missing it. It's my hard-earned money. It's rewarding being able to say I did this on my own. It makes you humble.

"It's hard, though. I feel bad for my parents that they can't give me that. I know they'd like to. But they're supportive in a lot of other ways."

The hard work paid off, as Miller was able to write a check for her first semester of the 2015-16 school year. But another decision she made this past summer has allowed her to get that entire check back.

JOINING ROTC
When she looked at colleges, Miller had looked at the ROTC program at Saint Ben's, but didn't think it would be an option while also balancing hockey and a nursing major.

When she got to Saint Ben's, however, she saw friends making similar balancing acts work. So this past summer she applied for the program. She passed the tests – both the academic and the physical fitness – and was awarded a full-tuition scholarship. That scholarship will pay for her final three years of college.

"Money just got harder; I think that was the biggest ([factor in joining ROTC]," Miller said. "It was a bigger stressor than school. I couldn't pull out more loans. I thought I was going to have to transfer until I got my scholarship at the end of September."

Kranz said Miller's decision to join ROTC is just part of who she is and shows her incredible will to do whatever it takes to do what she loves.

"She just has this attitude that says nothing is going to stop her from fulfilling her dreams and doing what she wants," Kranz said. "She could spend 80 hours a week in the paper mill every summer, or she could give herself to her country and get school paid for and have an incredible experience.

"What an incredible testament to Saint Ben's. It's a bummer that money has become that much of an issue. But wow, that says something about the experience that she's willing to sacrifice so much to be here."

"While so many student-athletes juggle a large number of responsibilities each week, Miller is over the top in how she manages the demands in her life," CSB Athletic Director Glen Werner added. "She not only does all of this with grace, but under more pressure than many of her peers."

Now, on top of hockey workouts, practices and games and nursing classes, practicals and studying, Miller also has ROTC classes, workouts and monthly drills. Monday and Wednesday mornings are Army workouts (Miller goes to the ROTC workout Monday and lifts with the hockey team Wednesday). Thursday night is a two-and-a-half hour ROTC lab. And every Monday and Wednesday at 8 a.m. she has her military science class. Plus, Miller is also taking the first-year military science class as an independent study, since she wasn't part of the program last year.

"Cadet Miller has definitely chosen an incredibly challenging path," said Lt. Col. Darrell Bascom. "Her ability to accomplish this, while rare in the standard population, is not surprising because her comfort level is to push herself to the limits of her ability whether it's on the rink, in the classroom or in the field on an exercise. It's why we selected her, and I think it is an indicator of the quality of students overall at CSB and SJU.

"The opportunities opened up for Cadet Miller by participating in and completing Army ROTC are limitless. Not only have you completed a leadership program widely considered to be one of the best in the nation, but you have been selected to lead soldiers in the greatest military fighting force in history."

BALANCING ACT

While balancing varsity hockey, a nursing major and ROTC training is tough, Miller said that having been a student-athlete her whole life and balancing two of the three during her first year has helped her transition so far this year.

Having school paid for – no more 80-hour work weeks during summer vacations – and her future laid out for her is an added bonus.

"[The scholarship] has been a huge stress reliever," she said. "I have a free ride. It has not come without work, and I pay for it every day in different ways. I can't complain, though. Life has been good to me.

"ROTC is strengthening my leadership skills by giving me necessary tools to be put in situations of power and to succeed in these positions," Miller said. "The military is making me not only physically tough, but also mentally."

Signing on to ROTC means an eight-year commitment for Miller, who wants to be assigned to active duty and work in one of the eight major hospitals on bases around the world. Honolulu, Germany or Alaska are her first choices. As of right now, she plans to stay in the military for the full 20 years, retire at 45 and work part-time.

Twenty years might seem like a lot to some people, but after the obstacles she's already overcome, Miller knows she's up for it. She's building an uncommon level of confidence.

"Because of the growth I'm going through in handling these three parts of my life [nursing, hockey and ROTC], I know that I can accomplish anything," she says. "I can tell you that I will probably fail a million and one times after college. But every time I will get back up and try again.

"All the struggles that I have been through to get where I am today were completely worth it. As much as I wish I didn't get hit, and as much as I wish money wasn't an issue, I honestly wouldn't change it. The mentality and drive I have right now is worth the pain, fatigue and tears it took to get me here."

NCAA Women’s Hockey Saint Benedict’s Kaitlyn Miller Perfects
http://www.ncaa.com/news/icehockey-wome ... r-perfects

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“A conference in the US later this month will tackle an underappreciated medical issue: brain concussions in girls and women.

Concussions in male athletes, such as football players and boxers, appear to get the most research attention, but in a 2012 position statement, the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine said that in sports that are played the same way, female athletes sustain more concussions, have symptoms that are more severe and take longer to recover than their male counterparts.

When physicians, researchers and scientists gather at Georgetown University later this month, they will tackle what they say is an underappreciated medical issue: brain concussions in girls and women.

The International Summit on Female Concussion and TBI on February 27 at Georgetown University in Washington DC is the first known scientific meeting to discuss concussions in girls and women. It will feature presentations and workshops with at least three dozen researchers, and will also host panels of sports reporters and female athletes who have had multiple concussions. The event is co-hosted by Georgetown University Medical Center and the non-profit advocacy group PINKconcussions.

Researchers aim to understand what is known and what isn’t in the clinical presentation and outcomes of concussions in girls and women, not only through athletics, but as a result of domestic violence, military combat and accidents.

Their goal is to develop a “white” paper on what gender-specific clinical practices and safety protocols should be researched as well as possible new strategies to treat females with concussions.

“The concussion research conducted to date on sex differences shows females on average have different injury rates, symptoms and rates of recovery than men.” says Katherine Snedaker, a Connecticut clinical social worker who founded PINKconcussions, the first organization in the world to focus on solely on females with concussions from sports, abuse, accidents and military service.

“Yet the medical community does not yet have any sex-specific guidelines, protocols or resources for females with concussions.”

Snedaker says that because females appear to need longer time to recover than males, they should be educated about this possibility in order to reset their expectations, and line up medical and social support if needed for a longer recovery.

Snedaker became interested in the issue of concussion recovery not only because she says she has had a “double digit” number of concussions — from field hockey, car accidents and other accidents that each resulted in 6-8 weeks of headaches — but because her son was concussed when he was in the sixth grade and experienced post concussion syndrome for two years.

Her son’s experience led Snedaker to lead a city-wide concussion plan which tracks concussions across all 11,000 school children; she also helped get concussion guidelines enacted for all youth sports in her hometown of Norwalk, Connecticutt. Data she and school nurses have collected demonstrates a high prevalence of concussions in girls. “While we have found that fewer girls play sports compared with boys, for the last year-and-a-half of collection, the girl athletes have concussed at twice the rate as the boys,” she says.

Snedaker says the Georgetown summit will “be an educational event for those who attend,” and she hopes the researchers will develop “recommendations on what gender-specific clinical practices and safety protocols should be researched and/or implemented to best treat females with concussions.”

The scientific chair of the summit, David Milzman, MD, is associate dean and professor of emergency medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine and an emergency physician at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

“There is very little solid data now about sex in concussion presentation or outcomes. It is not clear there is a difference — and that is why we need to investigate it,” he said.

If differences do exist, it may be due to a number of reasons, he says, including fluctuations in the estrogen cycle and lower body mass and musculature supporting the neck and head.

“Underappreciated” Issue of Female Concussion in Spotlight
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2016/02/13/summi ... z3zzXaQvuA



The International Summit on Female Concussion and TBI
Exploring the Gender Differences in Injury, Symptoms and Recovery to Develop a Better Model of Prevention, Treatment and Care

The Athlete Panel: Can We Improve Care for Females?

Dr. Catherine McGill Children's National
Samantha Rapoport USA Football Director of Development
Melissa Coyne US Lacrosse Director of Games Admin
Josephine Pucci Harvard & US Women's National Hockey
Paige Decker Yale Women's Ice Hockey
Emilie Bydwell Professional Rugby, All-American
Cara Griffin College Student
Christina Aldeanueva High School Student


The Press Panel - Can The Press Change Sports Culture?

TJ Quinn ESPN
Bonnie Ford ESPN
Stefan Fatsis SLATE
Tom Macleod Sky Sports
Patrick Hruby VICE Sports
Stanley Kay Sports Illustrated
Timothy Bella Al Jazeera America


The International Summit on Female Concussion and TBI
http://www.pinkconcussions.com/programs



“Underappreciated” issue of female concussion in spotlight

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"Minimizing checking would not eliminate head injuries. NCAA women hockey players do not body check, yet they suffer higher rates of concussions than the men. The women’s concussion rates even exceed those of football players."

Concussions Affect Hockey Players, Too
Read more: http://www.thegazette.com/subject/opini ... o-20160209

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http://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/Ex ... 04221.html

Hope, Hype or Shaky Science? Experts Fault $2.2 Million Veterans Study Involving Spinning Chair
By Scott Gordon and Sue Ambrose with The Dallas Morning News
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An Irving chiropractic clinic known for treating former Dallas Cowboys and ex-Navy SEALS received $2.2 million in Texas taxpayer money last year for what experts say was an "essentially useless" research project which involved spinning traumatized veterans in a rotating chair, according to a five-month investigation by NBC 5 Investigates and The Dallas Morning News. (Published Wednesday, Sep 23, 2015)

Editor's Note: On October 1, Carrick Brain Centers changed its name to Cerebrum Health Centers.

An Irving chiropractic clinic known for treating former Dallas Cowboys and ex-Navy SEALS received $2.2 million in Texas taxpayer money last year for what experts say was an "essentially useless" research project which involved spinning traumatized veterans in a rotating chair, according to a five-month investigation by NBC 5 Investigates and The Dallas Morning News

See The Dallas Morning News' report here.

The clinic, Carrick Brain Centers, defends its treatment and some of the vets who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder swear by the results.

But experts who reviewed the study for NBC 5 Investigates and The Dallas Morning News said no evidence exists that spinning someone in a chair could help symptoms of PTSD and the study was so flawed it didn't prove anything.

INVESTIGATIVEE-Cig Battery Explodes in Man’s Pocket

"I think this study is essentially useless," said Dr. Paul Appelbaum, a nationally-respected professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. "If the taxpayers of Texas are out $2 million, I feel badly for them."

Former Gov. Rick Perry and his office helped arrange the contract. Perry personally visited Carrick three times, according to state records obtained through the Texas Public Information Act. Perry made veterans issues a cornerstone of his failed presidential campaign this year.

More dollars flowed to the clinic — even after an outside review found the unorthodox treatment was less effective and 15 times more expensive than established procedures.

Carrick Brain Center's owner, Ken Beam, agreed to an interview but later declined, referring questions to a public relations company which only responded to written inquiries.

INVESTIGATIVEDFW HS Concussion Numbers Much Higher Than UIL State Sample

NBC 5 Investigates and The Dallas Morning News teamed up to investigate the study in April and filed more than two dozen open record requests with state agencies for emails, budget documents and public officials' calendars, including Perry's, to piece together the timeline. They reveal the project had problems from start to finish.

This is the story of desperate war veterans seeking help to battle the horrors of combat, a state-funded study that experts consider flawed, a chiropractic clinic plagued by infighting and legal battles, and a spinning chair that some said works wonders but others said is of limited use.

A Brain Center is Born

Carrick Brain Centers was formed in early 2012 by North Texas businessmen Ken Beam, who owns a shipping company near Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport; Michael Budagher, a Dallas investor known for making money in the early days of the cellular phone business; and Gary Cagan Randall, a chiropractor.

Carrick Brain Center, entrance.Photo credit: Scott Gordon, NBC 5 News

A video of the grand opening posted on YouTube showed a smiling Beam introducing the company's namesake, Frederick "Ted" Carrick, a Canadian-born chiropractor who lives in Florida.

"We are blessed that he is here tonight," Beam said of Carrick at the ceremony. "He is the guy who came up with everything we are doing."

INVESTIGATIVETarrant County to Permanently Close Passport Offices

The device, which looks like an amusement-park ride or a NASA gadget, spins strapped-in patients around and even upside down. The idea, simply put, is to increase blood flow to stimulate damaged parts of the brain to cure a number of ailments.

At the kickoff ceremony at the clinic's offices on the first floor of an office tower in Las Colinas, Carrick also was full of praise.

"This facility has just been open a very short period of time and already patients are coming from across the globe," Carrick said. "We are just so very, very proud."

Carrick worked at a second Carrick Brain Centers clinic near Atlanta, which opened about the same time as the one in Irving. He earned $350,000 a year and became the face of Carrick Brain Centers in news reports and in promotional videos.

Celebrity Patients

Former Dallas Cowboys defensive back Darren Woodson in the spinning chair.Photo credit: NBC 5 News
Some of the earliest patients were Dallas Cowboys.

"I would say nothing but the best for them," said former Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett, who sought treatment for memory issues. "If the Carrick Center was closer, I'd go there every day if I could."

Former Cowboys defensive back Darren Woodson appeared in a promotional video.

"It's hard to explain how good I feel," Woodson said. "It's almost emotional knowing where I've been to where I am now and it's been a great experience."

Psychiatrist Shortage in U.S., Especially Texas

Another early fan was retired Texas State Guard Lt. Gen. Leroy Sisco, a longtime friend of Perry's.

Sisco said he took a spin in the chair himself and it cured a vision problem.

"I walked out and I could see like an eagle," he said.

Sisco said a friend told him about the clinic. Sisco said he then told the governor and ex-Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell about the work Carrick Brain Centers was doing.

That's when Perry and Luttrell got on board.

Luttrell, who had lived with Perry in the governor's mansion for two years and whom Perry called his "second son," became a patient.

INVESTIGATIVESoldiers Waited Days, Weeks for Counseling at Fort Hood

"I went through the program," Luttrell said in a promotional video. "Once my head got fixed, everything else falls into line."

Taya Kyle, the widow of slain Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, appealed online for donations for another former SEAL to receive treatment at Carrick Brain Centers.

Luttrell did not return emails seeking comment. Taya Kyle declined to comment.

Foreground: Ex-Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, left, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right.Photo credit: NBC 5 News

Perry Visits, Money Flows

Perry paid a visit to the clinic early on — barely a week after the facility received its certificate of occupancy from the City of Irving and before it had registered with the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

It was June 3, 2013.

According to the governor's calendar, he and former state representative Suzanna Hupp, who was working for the Health and Human Services Commission, met with Beam and his team.

Hupp, also a chiropractor, declined to talk about the meeting when contacted by NBC 5 Investigates and The Dallas Morning News.

In the coming months, Perry's office would help arrange a state contract to study the unproven treatment: Did it really work?

Perry's interest seemed personal.

In September 2013, veteran Jeff Broaddus wrote to Perry at a private email address, "I'm looking forward to starting the treatment protocol at Carrick tomorrow … I promise you an honest assessment of what I find up here."

By then, the wheels were already in motion for the state contract.

Word about Carrick's treatment and apparent success was spreading among veterans across the country.

Broaddus did not respond to calls seeking comment and no other emails between he and the governor were released.

Fight Over the Spinning Chair

The spinning chair — the signature treatment at Carrick Brain Centers — is the focus of a heated legal dispute.

Woman in Carrick Brain Centers' spinning chair.Photo credit: NBC 5 News
At the time clinic owners were hosting the governor, they were just days away from filing a lawsuit over who owns the patent.

Carrick Brain Centers had purchased a rotational chair from a Colorado company, UltraThera Technologies, which calls its chair the GyroStim.

UltraThera's owner Kevin Maher said he invented the device to help his daughter who was born three months prematurely and had cerebral palsy.

"I know this chair has a purpose," he said. "This is God's way of answering my prayers for my daughter and the prayers of so many other people who have nowhere to turn."

Carrick owners Beam and Budagher tried to buy the patent, Maher said.

"They were saying this is a multi-billion-dollar industry," Maher said. "I was interested in doing business with them at first (but) as we went down that path together, it wasn't the right move for my company or the GyroStim."

Beam and Budagher bought a similar patent involving an older technology.

And just four days after Perry's first visit, they sued Maher, accusing him of infringing on their patent.

The suit, filed in federal court in Colorado, is still pending.

Through his attorney, Budagher said he believed Maher was infringing on Carrick's patent and "that if something could not be worked out amicably, BSI would be forced to take (legal) action." BSI is Carrick Brain Center's parent company, Brain Synergy Institute.

Meanwhile, Maher accuses the clinic of stealing his invention.

Carrick's website shows a picture of a rotating chair under the headline "Patented OVARD" -- for Off Vertical Axis Rotational Device.

Maher said it's his Gyrostim — with his label ripped off.

To complicate the dispute even further, Budagher filed another lawsuit two weeks ago against Carrick Brain Center's parent company over a rotational device he claims he invented.

Budagher alleges in the suit, filed in Dallas County District Court, that Brain Synergy Institute has applied for a patent for his device.

Carrick Brain Centers said it could not comment on pending litigation.

Contract Awarded

Dr. Kyle Janek, appointed by Perry to be executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, supervised the agency when the no-bid contract was awarded.

Janek signed off on the first round of funding — which ended up being about $800,000. He declined to be interviewed but did respond to written questions.

He said the unusual treatment seemed promising and deserved to be studied.

"As a physician trained in traditional medicine, I am naturally skeptical of any new treatment," he wrote. "But to a small segment of veterans at the end of their rope — it appeared it could be a lifesaver."

"We Can Only Commit $750K"

The Health and Human Services Commission — already under fire over a series of other noncompetitive contracts — agreed to fund the research at Perry's urging, a department spokeswoman said.

Emails from a Perry aide confirmed the governor's involvement.

There were no bids and no public discussion.

The $800,000 was already slightly more than what had been discussed, according to other emails.

"We need to let Ken (Beam) know we can only commit $750K," a state official wrote to then-HHSC Director Kyle Janek on Dec. 16, 2013.

The first 50 veterans took part in the study in the first four months of 2014 at a cost of $16,250 per person.

The veterans were tested for PTSD, treated for two weeks and tested again to see if their symptoms improved.

Experts: Study Flawed

Experts who reviewed the study for NBC 5 Investigates and The Dallas Morning News said it failed to follow basic rules of scientific research because there was no control group and the treatments varied among patients.

"They say explicitly there was no standard treatment," said Columbia's Appelbaum, past president of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. "They did different things for each person. So exactly what worked is not clear here if, in fact, anything worked."

Colorado engineer Kevin Maher, who invented a rotational chair he named Gyrostim, is involved in a legal battle with Carrick Brain Center over patent rights.Photo credit: Kevin Maher

Retired Army Col. Carl Castro, a Ph.D. psychologist at the University of Southern California who heads research at the USC Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families, also faulted the work.

"It's not a rigorous study," he said. "It has all of the shortcomings of a study that lacks all of the proper controls."

As for why vets might report feeling better, Castro noted that 40 percent of PTSD patients report getting better on their own — without treatment.

Experts also wonder if being pampered and treated well for two weeks might have skewed the results.

For example, a former Marine, Nicholas Koumalatsos, said he took part in the study. He wrote in a blog that he spent two weeks at the clinic. He said participants were invited to spend time in a "relaxation room," work out in a nearby gym, and fish and hunt.

"Everything, from their emails to phone calls, you get the feeling they genuinely care," he wrote.

Some vets came from out of state.

"Putting them up two weeks in a hotel is like a vacation," Castro said. "So in some sense they proved that sending someone on vacation makes them feel better."

Appelbaum agreed.

"If you treat people nicely, they will feel better," he said. "It's true for you, it's true for me and I'm sure it's true for those vets with PTSD as well."

"Pseudoscientific Babble"

Asked how their treatment works, Carrick Brain Centers explained in a written statement:

In terms of the science behind our treatments, the vestibular system activates the entire cortex and ascending reticular system, activating neurons that make neurotransmitters, increasing vagal activation of the brain and blood flow, increasing function of the orbitofrontal lobe (where PTSD lives) and reducing inflammatory cytokines that can hurt the brain, increasing liver function that can create inflammation and increasing digestion of food that helps reduce inflammation. In addition, "repetitive peripheral somatosensory stimulation" activates the brain with a peripheral stimulus, triggering second and third order neurons and increasing function in a specific fashion, depending on where the stimulus is needed.

Former Dallas Cowboys defensive back Darren Woodson in the spinning chair.Photo credit: NBC 5 News
NBC 5 Investigatesand The Dallas Morning News shared the explanation with Appelbaum.

"This is pseudoscientific babble that would be uninterpretable to any neuroscientist," he said.

Appelbaum said no evidence exists that spinning someone could cure PTSD. The rotational chair could help people who suffer from dizziness and balance issues, he said.

USC's Castro, formerly chief of the Department of Military Psychiatry at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, said research is being done to determine if the spinning chair might help people with some forms of traumatic brain injuries.

Infighting at the Clinic

Behind the scenes at the Carrick Brain Centers, there has been infighting.

Budagher's lawsuit against the clinic this month was his second since he was forced out in November 2014.

He filed the first lawsuit against his former partners when they allegedly missed a payment. Carrick Brain Centers paid up the next day and the suit was dropped.

In a statement through his lawyer, Budagher said he had been voicing objections about how the business was being managed.

The clinic's owners did not respond to a question about why they removed Budagher.

Who Ran the Study?

In an emailed statement, Carrick Brain Centers said that Carrick "was solely responsible for designing the research plan for the state-funded study."

But Carrick, in his own written comments to NBC 5 Investigates and The Dallas Morning News, said that the clinic "proceeded with a different study design without my knowledge" and that the study he designed had included a control group and other scientific safeguards.

Carrick, who said he had only visited the Irving center twice, claimed he discovered that some medical documents were backdated.

"We found a major problem with creation of documents that were dated before their creation date," he told NBC 5 Investigatesand The Dallas Morning News.

Carrick Brain Centers declined to respond to the allegation.

Carrick said in March 2014, "I suggested that it was not in my best interest to offer assistance and direction in this study."

But he continued his work and ultimately signed off on the research, which was published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health.

The study claimed success.

"After treatment, we observed a large reduction in (PTSD symptoms) with both statistical and substantive significance," it said.

More Visits, More Money

As governor, Perry visited the clinic two more times — in August 2014 and in November 2014, and more taxpayer money followed.

The contract was amended twice, the number of vets in the project grew to about 140, and the cost nearly tripled to $2.2 million.

The increase in funding came despite an outside review in September 2014 by the nonprofit Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute for Texas in Dallas questioning the results.

"While the Carrick patients showed improvements and involved populations that may be less likely to respond to established treatment … the effects observed were only one-half to one-third of the magnitude of established treatment and the costs were many times higher," the review said.

The health agency contracted with the Texas Workforce Commission, which usually handles unemployment issues, to give the final batch of money to the clinic.

A TWC spokeswoman said the spending was justified because many veterans with PTSD have trouble finding jobs.

Janek said he alone decided to amend the contracts and spend more money.

But the connection between Perry, his veteran friends and the clinic is strong.

In fact, three of the vets who visited the clinic — Luttrell, Sisco and Dan Moran — stood on stage with Perry when he announced in June that he was running for president. Taya Kyle was there too.

Perry's Mission

Perry declined to answer specific questions about his support of the center but he did issue a short statement through his spokeswoman Lucy Nashed.

"Gov. Perry has made it his personal and professional mission to help our veterans receive the care and services they need," Nashed said. "As governor of a state with one of the largest veteran populations in the country, Gov. Perry did everything he could to address the staggering gaps in veterans' care left by the federal government."

Public records show Beam and his wife Darla each gave $2,700 — the maximum allowed — to Perry's presidential campaign.

"Donating to former governor Perry's presidential campaign was a personal decision, which is an option for anyone," Ken Beam said. "Carrick Brain Centers has been fortunate to receive support from various citizens and organizations."

Carrick Fired

In June, just as Perry was standing alongside the well-known former patients to announce his presidential bid, there was more trouble at the clinic.

Owners fired the company's namesake, Carrick, and several other staffers in the Georgia office.

"I was dismissed via an email with no call or message," Carrick said.

The clinic's spokeswoman only said he was fired "for cause."

Carrick said he was terminated after he objected to questionable billing procedures.

"Ken Beam advised me and others that if we did not participate in their billing practices then we would be terminated," Carrick said. "I refused to be part of a fraud so the termination was not a surprise."

Carrick said in a demand for arbitration that the fraud involved mislabeling treatments and claiming a medical doctor did procedures when the work was really done by chiropractors.

Carrick Brain Centers called Carrick "a disgruntled former executive" but declined to respond specifically to his allegations.

Beam wrote, "We regret your collective news outlets are being used by a disgruntled former executive (Carrick) to further the personal interests of others who seek to damage the reputation of our practice and care providers."

Beam said the clinic would answer no further questions.

"I Have to Get My Name Back"

Carrick said he wants his name removed from the clinic's name.

"I can tell you now that I'm just so glad that I'm not involved with them," he said. "There's a whole lot of things there that just make me crawl."

Carrick said the company registered his name as a trademark — without his approval or knowledge.

"I've been after them for over a year to get that trademark and my name back," he said recently. "I never authorized that. They just went and did it — trademarked my family name. It's unethical, unprofessional, but they did it."

A search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office database confirms the name "Carrick" was registered by Carrick Brain Centers' parent company in May 2013. The address used in the trademark application was Beam's shipping company.

"Now I have to get my name back from these people," Carrick said.

Carrick Brain Centers said it plans to change names by the end of the year.

NBC 5 investigative editor Don Peritz Jr. contributed to this report.
Published at 10:13 PM CDT on Sep 23, 2015

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Mara Roberts

"When Mara Roberts' head went back toward the boards like a slingshot during a hockey game, she didn't think much of it.

The 16-year-old varsity hockey player and Brainerd High School junior lost an edge as she was backchecking, obstructing an opposing player's push toward her team's goal. Mara and the opposing player became tangled. Mara slid behind the net, first hitting the boards with her body, before her head snapped back.

"I've run into the board a million times," she said. "It just felt like a hard hit. ... I was a little confused."

She got back up, sat on the bench for a few minutes. She felt fine and then played the rest of the away game.

"Mara is one tough cookie," her mother Lisa Roberts said. "I mean when she went into the boards—as a parent—you watch and it was kind of like a car spinning on black ice."

Her mother said it looked like her daughter may have gotten the wind knocked out of her from the collision.

"She kind of got up slow, which is not typical for her," Lisa Roberts said.

On the ride home, Mara's head, neck and back hurt. When she got home, she went straight to her room to sleep. But the next day, as she went to her classes, she realized something was more seriously wrong than the regular bumps and bruises of a fast-moving sport on hard ice.

"I went to school, but it was like really hard to focus during the day," Mara said.

She couldn't concentrate. She texted her mom that she was going to see the trainer after school. For her daughter, known for a high pain tolerance, to take it upon herself to see the trainer, was highly unusual, Lisa Roberts said. Mara's been playing hockey since age 4. The multi-sport athlete plays soccer in the fall and lacrosse in the spring. She may have hit the boards a million times in the hockey rink, but this time it was different.

The diagnosis of a concussion would take her off the ice and give her first-hand experience with a topic that has been the subject of NFL documentaries and a high-profile movie released earlier this year, aptly named "Concussion." Today, concussions and the now common phrase of a concussion protocol, will be part of a day that brings millions of viewers to their TV sets for the 50th Super Bowl.

Mara's mild concussion from that December hockey game was her first. About 3,000 Minnesota high school student athletes suffered sports-related concussions in 2015, based on data collected by the Minnesota Department of Health.

An injured brain

A concussion is a traumatic injury to the brain. Symptoms may include headaches, inability to concentrate, difficulty with balance, coordination and memory—all of which are usually temporary. Because of that, and because concussions can occur without a blow to the head, the Mayo Clinic reports some people have concussions without even realizing it. "But every concussion injures your brain to some extent," Mayo Clinic reported. "This injury needs time and rest to heal properly."

Ashley Palmer, Essentia Health athletic trainer for Brainerd High School, evaluates athletes for concussions. She looks at cognitive effects, bi-lateral strength and personality changes.

"A lot of kids that come in aren't themselves," Palmer said noting a student with a concussion from football presented a dramatic personality change. And, Palmer said it doesn't take a direct hit to the head.

"People always think you have to hit your head to have a concussion—you don't," Palmer said, noting the injury is created as the brain moves inside the skull and not necessarily from a blow. Once Mara was diagnosed, she was put into the school's concussion protocol. It entails removing the student from all activity and modifying, if needed, the regular classroom studies. One of the keys is removing all stimulus from electronics. No smartphones. No tablets. No computers. No TV. This can be more than difficult for an adult, let alone a teenager. Lisa Roberts said her daughter wasn't sure at first how she'd stay in touch with friends. Her mother relayed messages. Mara eventually had to use a phone for the old-school reason—to talk.

Mara embraced the moratorium on electronics. She wanted to get back on the ice.

Recovering from the concussion creates a changed atmosphere on multiple levels. Homework is broken into five or 10 minute intervals. Going longer can take headache pain from a three on the pain scale to a seven. A student may only be able to make it through a half-day or be unable to participate in classes utilizing technology.

"Teachers are understanding of what's going on and how we can safely get kids back, not just to sports but to school and life in general," Palmer said. "That brain is trying to heal and the only way it can heal is with rest."

Mara couldn't even watch hockey games from the stands. Palmer said the movement is so fast-paced that it really makes the brain work to watch the action.

..."Our return to play protocol is the same as all the professional sports, the Minnesota High School League, colleges—everybody follows the same one," Palmer said. "You have to go 72 hours or three days completely symptom free before you can move on."

That's without any painkillers for headaches, which can be challenging.

...Charlie Campbell, Brainerd School District athletic director, said that was the first real mandate of "when in doubt, sit them out."

Palmer said once someone has a concussion, it is easier to get another one. That cumulative effect is one that can end sports participation early. Some athletes decided they didn't want to take the chance they would have longer effects and suffer academically. Palmer said the cognitive consequences do exist with people frustratingly unable to remember even small things.

"I draw the line at three (concussions) and then I say you need to see a physician and have a physician's clearance," Palmer said. "I believe in a lot of places if you have five, you are done."

Palmer said she's had an athlete with three concussions who was medically evaluated and no longer is able to be involved in contact sports. A couple of other players with severe concussion left sports entirely.

Lisa Roberts now holds her breath and worries. She said she was never that parent before. She said a broken arm is easy to see that it needs time to heal but the brain doesn't provide that easy cue to show people it needs time to heal.

"Once you see that happen to your kid it's hard not to think it can't happen again," she said. "You just think don't go in there with your head."
Concussion's Impact
Read more: http://www.brainerddispatch.com/news/39 ... ons-impact

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Lydia Cosgrove

"This season is definitely taking a toll on the Lakers. Sarah Grupp, who played an excellent game today and was originally credited with an assist until it was changed to Bailee Goodon, was dressed as the extra forward and had to fill in for Lydia Cosgrove. Cosgrove fell awkwardly into the boards and left the game and did not return. Possibly could be a concussion but her neck is bothering her and most likely will not play tomorrow.

Brianna McFall has been missing from the Laker defense who played with five girls tonight. She has been dealing with a knee injury that has kept her out since Jan. 15.

Mariah Madrigal was seen on crutches during the game. She was injured during practice this week and it is uncertain when she will be able to return."

Late Collapse Stuns Lakers

Read more: http://www.oswegonian.com/2016/02/07/la ... ns-lakers/

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Kaylee Lemere

"Along with VanHouten, Minnix decided to give players like Kaylee Lemere some time.

“It’s important for those younger guys to get some in-game opportunities. At a Division II level it’s good for them to see some ice-time. They work hard in practice, so in a game like this it’s nice to reward them with that time.

Lemere has seen time this season in numerous games, but not against competition like Branford. The Hornets (4-7-1) are a stronger, faster-paced team than what the Trojans (7-4-2) are used to seeing in Division III.

“I wasn’t so nervous about me actually playing as much as I am about getting hit in the head and getting a concussion, especially when you are playing with the boys, who get physical,” said Lemere."
ILH/HK Unbeaten Run Halted By Division II Branford
Read more: http://www.myrecordjournal.com/sports/l ... nford.html

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Avery Lutraykowski
"The dream of an undefeated season and state championship ended with three seconds remaining in the regional final Wednesday night.

Avery Lutraykowski one-timed a perfect pass from Isabelle Frenette to give St. Dominic a 5-4 win over previously unbeaten Greely in the North girls’ hockey championship game at the Colisee.

Greely (19-1) had given St. Dom’s (18-2) its only two losses.

The Saints will play Scarborough (18-1-1) for the state championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Colisee.

The Red Storm and St. Dom’s, who didn’t meet in the regular season, will each seek a second state championship. Scarborough has reached the final twice before, winning in 2014. The Saints’ one appearance in 2011 was a winner.

Greely, which won in 2012 and 2013, was seeking an unprecedented third state title. The Rangers looked like they might have a chance, especially after grabbing momentum in the final minute. Greely had pulled its goalie and Emilee McGillicuddy tied the game with 43 seconds left.

But Frenette, who already had scored twice, came around the Rangers’ net and found Lutraykowski in the left circle.

“It was a team effort,” Lutraykowski said. “The defense passed it up to (Frenette) and she came down and passed it over, and I just hit it in.

“It was coming down to the last few seconds. All I thought about was getting it in.”

The goal sent the partisan St. Dom’s crowd into hysterics while the Greely helmets dropped.

“We had a great season,” Greely Coach Nate Guerin said. “It’s very painful to lose this game in this manner.”

Greely beat St. Dom’s twice in January, 2-1 in Falmouth and then 8-4 in Auburn two weeks ago.

When Danita Storey’s two goals gave Greely a 2-0 first-period lead, the Rangers looked on their way to a third win.

But this was a different Saints team, which had dominated other opponents until facing Greely. In a way, those regular-season losses helped St. Dom’s mature.

“We knew what it felt like to be down,” said Lutraykowski, one of the eight freshmen on this 15-player roster, which which includes four sophomores.

Lutraykowki, who had two goals and two assists, missed the last Greely game because of a concussion. But it wasn’t just her return that made the difference, but a better team effort."
St. Dom's Stuns Greely in North Final
Read more: http://www.pressherald.com/2016/02/10/g ... rth-final/

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http://mashable.com/2016/02/09/virtual- ... n_rfmwimqM

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“On closer inspection, though, the whole thing begins to fall apart. “It’s a huge scam,” says physician Robert Sallis, past president of the American College of Sports Medicine. “They’ve done incredible marketing, and they’ve managed to establish this test as the standard of care with no evidence that it has any benefit.”

ImPACT was developed by neuropsychologist Mark Lovell, the CEO of ImPACT Applications Inc., along with University of Pittsburgh neurosurgeon Joseph Maroon.”

Check Your Head: Does Testing Athletes For Concussion With Fancy Software Do Any Good?
Read more: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_an ... work_.html



“As Mayers found, the vast majority of the studies evaluating ImPACT have been written by the very researchers who developed it. On the "Reliability & Validity" section of ImPACT's website, for example, 21 of the 22 research papers listed are authored or co-authored by ImPACT's inventors.”

ESPN: Concussion Test May Not Be Panacea
Read more: http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/ ... ot-panacea



It's been a while since we heard from Pittsburgh Steelers team neurosurgeon and CTE naysayer Dr. Joseph Maroon. In a March appearance on the NFL Network, he was doing his best to convince viewers that the well established fact of long-term neurological damage among football players was "over-exaggerated." Maroon is back in the news this week after a study he co-authored failed to mention that he has a long-time, paid relationship with the Steelers and the NFL.

... He and another colleague at the University of Pittsburgh developed the ImPACT system for assessing concussions in players, software they sell to NFL teams and other sports leagues and got called out for it in 2007.

The Doctor Who Says CTE is ‘Exaggerated’ Hid NFL Affiliation in Published Study
Read more: http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/7/24/9 ... f-interest

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Michael W. Collins, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist, State of Pennsylvania
“Consultant to many groups including Major League Baseball, National Football League-Europe, Pittsburg Steelers Football Club, USA Lacrosse, and USA Rugby.”

Curriculum Vitae: http://www.thebrainproject.org/advisory ... ins/CV.pdf