WCCO's Bill Hudson
Concussions are serious. And they can happen anytime to anyone at any age, just as it did with WCCO’s Bill Hudson.
The veteran reporter you see on air every afternoon was out of work for three weeks. And for the nearly 60-year-old man, his road to recovery has been slower than he’d like, at times downright frustrating. He is now back at work, but he’s not back to himself just yet.
On the ice is a place Hudson is at ease.
“I started on figure skates, then graduated to hockey skates and started playing hockey probably in elementary school,” Hudson said.
He skated in ice shows with his daughters, and later as part of Team Minnesota.
“You have this confidence in your ability to stay on the ice, stay on your feet,” Hudson said.
More recently, he went for a skate on a rink in his brother’s backyard. A new pair of lighter, faster, unfamiliar skates surprised him as he stepped on the ice.
“I remember taking a puck out of the net, taking a slap shot from center ice towards the net, and falling over backward. And I remember I hit really hard,” Hudson said.
He lost consciousness. He was rushed to the emergency room, where a doctor told him he suffered a concussion, his fourth.
“You hear that repetitive concussions, they’re cumulative, they build. And I wonder if that didn’t have something to do with the severity of this one. It was much more severe than any of the previous concussions,” Hudson said.
He experienced sensitivity to light. He couldn’t look at the computer or his phone. He was nauseous. His balance was off. Still, he expected to bounce back.
“I remember emailing our news director and assistant news director saying ‘I’ll see you in a few days,’ never thinking it could be three weeks before I could be back to work, be myself,” Hudson said.
Progress came when he saw a concussion specialist, TRIA neuropsychologist Dr. Aimee Custer.
“It’s a very scary injury. It’s an invisible injury. People can’t see it. Oftentimes people look normal and symptoms wax and wane throughout the day,” she said.
Custer said children and older individuals are more susceptible to a prolonged recovery. Some people can recover with rest. Others, like Hudson, require more time, patience, and outside help to get back on track.
“He fell back and hit the back portion of his head, and we often call that the ‘money shot,’ not because it’s a good thing, but we’ve got a lot of systems in our brain that function back there for how we coordinate our eyes, how we coordinate space and movement and motion,” Custer said.
Custer works in coordination with therapists, to restore balance and eye movement, and to eliminate symptoms like dizziness, imbalance and nausea.
“I really feel as though I’m making progress. But once they started stepping it up a little bit and really pushing me to force a little harder, to do it a little quicker, to do it a little faster, that’s when it starts to get to you. And you feel nauseous and you feel light headed and dizzy and you know that you’re not back to normal yet,” Hudson said.
Doctors cleared Hudson to return to work three weeks after his concussion.
“To be able to go out and actually do something, produce a story, was wonderful. I got a story on the air that first Friday I came back,” Hudson said.
The veteran reporter has been back at WCCO for two weeks now. Some days there are set backs, when he stares at the computer screen too long. But he’s getting there.
At home, he continues his therapy daily with the help of his wife. More than anything, he wants to feel like himself again. Doing the things he enjoys.
“I want people to know how quickly this happens and it can change your life like that, and how frustratingly difficult it is to bounce back to feel normal again,” Hudson said.
Hudson will likely continue physical therapy through the beginning of April. Doctors said he should be back to himself and feeling really good in another three weeks. And he will be able to get back on the ice, from now on, always wearing a helmet.
See the video at: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/02/2 ... -recovery/
concussions
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
"Study finds many concussion clinics offer services on internet that do not conform to expert consensus guidelines."
http://mobile.journals.lww.com/cjsports ... t.aspx#ath
http://mobile.journals.lww.com/cjsports ... t.aspx#ath
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
"Snitch Rule"
More than a dozen high-profile college sports programs require football players and other athletes to report teammates they suspect have sustained a concussion, a mandate that could boost detection of head injuries but that some deride as a snitch rule.
The requirement arises from the fact that at least half of college athletes’ concussions go undiagnosed — in some cases because they try to hide their condition to keep playing, according to several studies. Teammates spend more time with each other and are often more trusted than coaches or trainers, so they often know when someone is hurting from an unreported concussion.
“It is a good step forward,” said Zachary Kerr, an epidemiologist at the Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention in Indianapolis who has studied college concussion policies. “I think it will pick up some of the concussions that are not identified.”
At least 15 of the 65 colleges in the conferences that compete at the highest level of college sports have a teammate-reporting mandate, according to a STAT examination of the concussion policies of those institutions. In those cases, athletes are required to sign a form acknowledging their obligation to report teammates. None of the policies specifies a punishment for failure to report.
Typical of the forms is the one used by the University of Miami. “If I suspect a teammate has a concussion, I am responsible for reporting the injury to my team physician or athletic trainer,” it reads. The University of Kentucky puts its requirement in bold and underlines the word “responsibility.” North Carolina State University frames the obligation as a matter of an athlete promising to “help protect my teammates by reporting their signs and symptoms to the sports medicine staff immediately.”
At the University of North Carolina, the requirement has helped the medical staff discover concussions that went unreported by the injured athlete, said Dr. Mario Ciocca, the director of sports medicine at the school.
In one case, a football player suffered a concussion during a touchdown drive but the injury was not detected by coaches and medical staff, he said. It was another player who alerted Ciocca to the situation.
“One of the players came up to me and said you need to check him out, he doesn’t seem right,” Ciocca said. When the doctor spoke to the player, the athlete had no memory of the prior drive. “He asked me for the playbook so he could read it and go back out there,” the team doctor recalled.
“It was very helpful,” Ciocca said of the teammate summoning help for the concussed player. “At some point it would been discovered — he could have started running the wrong way — but he still would have been out there.”
Suffering a second concussion soon after a first can result in permanently disabling effects, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Colleges Require Athletes to Report Teammates' Concussions
Read more: http://www.statnews.com/2016/02/23/coll ... ncussions/
More than a dozen high-profile college sports programs require football players and other athletes to report teammates they suspect have sustained a concussion, a mandate that could boost detection of head injuries but that some deride as a snitch rule.
The requirement arises from the fact that at least half of college athletes’ concussions go undiagnosed — in some cases because they try to hide their condition to keep playing, according to several studies. Teammates spend more time with each other and are often more trusted than coaches or trainers, so they often know when someone is hurting from an unreported concussion.
“It is a good step forward,” said Zachary Kerr, an epidemiologist at the Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention in Indianapolis who has studied college concussion policies. “I think it will pick up some of the concussions that are not identified.”
At least 15 of the 65 colleges in the conferences that compete at the highest level of college sports have a teammate-reporting mandate, according to a STAT examination of the concussion policies of those institutions. In those cases, athletes are required to sign a form acknowledging their obligation to report teammates. None of the policies specifies a punishment for failure to report.
Typical of the forms is the one used by the University of Miami. “If I suspect a teammate has a concussion, I am responsible for reporting the injury to my team physician or athletic trainer,” it reads. The University of Kentucky puts its requirement in bold and underlines the word “responsibility.” North Carolina State University frames the obligation as a matter of an athlete promising to “help protect my teammates by reporting their signs and symptoms to the sports medicine staff immediately.”
At the University of North Carolina, the requirement has helped the medical staff discover concussions that went unreported by the injured athlete, said Dr. Mario Ciocca, the director of sports medicine at the school.
In one case, a football player suffered a concussion during a touchdown drive but the injury was not detected by coaches and medical staff, he said. It was another player who alerted Ciocca to the situation.
“One of the players came up to me and said you need to check him out, he doesn’t seem right,” Ciocca said. When the doctor spoke to the player, the athlete had no memory of the prior drive. “He asked me for the playbook so he could read it and go back out there,” the team doctor recalled.
“It was very helpful,” Ciocca said of the teammate summoning help for the concussed player. “At some point it would been discovered — he could have started running the wrong way — but he still would have been out there.”
Suffering a second concussion soon after a first can result in permanently disabling effects, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Colleges Require Athletes to Report Teammates' Concussions
Read more: http://www.statnews.com/2016/02/23/coll ... ncussions/
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
The impact of concussions on college and professional athletes has been a hot topic around Ohio State’s campus after the recent visit of Dr. Bennet Omalu, who discovered evidence of lasting damage in football players’ brains from multiple concussions.
The conversation usually begins in the professional ranks, but concerns about varsity collegiate athletes have begun trickling down. Yet the impact of these collision-related injuries on recreational athletes is often overlooked.
Jarrode Davis, the competitive sports coordinator at the university, said OSU is prepared to treat students who suffer concussions while participating in club and intramural sports on the field and in the classroom.
Davis said that research conducted over the past year by OSU determined that 11 out of the 62 club sports are labeled as “high risk” for concussions. The list included men’s and women’s ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby and soccer.
“We have hired athletic trainers from the Wexner Medical Center to be at all of their home games that are within the vicinity of the city,” Davis said. “In the past that’s been a cost that (club teams) had to endure; now we are taking on that cost for those 11 clubs because of the research we have been able to put forth.”
Although OSU does not bring in athletic trainers from the Wexner Medical Center for intramural games, the recreational sports staff is still prepared to deal with concussions.
“On the intramural side, we have enacted some concussion protocols and have trained our staff to recognize the symptoms,” Davis said.
If an athlete were to suffer an apparent head injury during a game, a staff member on site with a first-aid kit would provide the injured athlete with a card that displays the symptoms of a concussion, allowing the player to decide if he or she wants to visit the emergency room to be further evaluated.
“If they can’t remember their name, if they can’t remember the score, if they can’t (remember) the time of when the game started, any signs like that, the intramural supervisor has the full authority to remove that individual from the game,” Davis said.
Ethan Adams, a third-year in geographic information sciences, said he suffered a concussion while playing flag football the night before a physics exam.
“The refs saw what happened but couldn’t tell I had a concussion,” Adams said.
Adams left the game and was further evaluated at Riverside Methodist Hospital, where it was determined he sustained a concussion.
Scott Lissner, the Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, said a severe concussion that permanently limits a life activity, such as attention, memory, processing speed or thinking, would be classified as a disability. As a result, his office would contact the professors of students with these types of injuries in order to make sure proper accommodations are given in the classroom.
Lissner also said suffering a minor concussion would not qualify as a disability, and one would need proper documentation from a doctor in order to skip class or an exam.
“You would document that like you would the flu, twisting your ankle or anything else,” Lissner said.
That exemption can also happen retroactively, as was the case with Adams’ physics exam the day after his injury.
“They had me take it, but I was able to drop the exam after,” Adams said. “I needed a doctor note.”
Ohio State prepared to handle concussions in all levels of sport
http://thelantern.com/2016/02/ohio-stat ... -of-sport/
The conversation usually begins in the professional ranks, but concerns about varsity collegiate athletes have begun trickling down. Yet the impact of these collision-related injuries on recreational athletes is often overlooked.
Jarrode Davis, the competitive sports coordinator at the university, said OSU is prepared to treat students who suffer concussions while participating in club and intramural sports on the field and in the classroom.
Davis said that research conducted over the past year by OSU determined that 11 out of the 62 club sports are labeled as “high risk” for concussions. The list included men’s and women’s ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby and soccer.
“We have hired athletic trainers from the Wexner Medical Center to be at all of their home games that are within the vicinity of the city,” Davis said. “In the past that’s been a cost that (club teams) had to endure; now we are taking on that cost for those 11 clubs because of the research we have been able to put forth.”
Although OSU does not bring in athletic trainers from the Wexner Medical Center for intramural games, the recreational sports staff is still prepared to deal with concussions.
“On the intramural side, we have enacted some concussion protocols and have trained our staff to recognize the symptoms,” Davis said.
If an athlete were to suffer an apparent head injury during a game, a staff member on site with a first-aid kit would provide the injured athlete with a card that displays the symptoms of a concussion, allowing the player to decide if he or she wants to visit the emergency room to be further evaluated.
“If they can’t remember their name, if they can’t remember the score, if they can’t (remember) the time of when the game started, any signs like that, the intramural supervisor has the full authority to remove that individual from the game,” Davis said.
Ethan Adams, a third-year in geographic information sciences, said he suffered a concussion while playing flag football the night before a physics exam.
“The refs saw what happened but couldn’t tell I had a concussion,” Adams said.
Adams left the game and was further evaluated at Riverside Methodist Hospital, where it was determined he sustained a concussion.
Scott Lissner, the Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, said a severe concussion that permanently limits a life activity, such as attention, memory, processing speed or thinking, would be classified as a disability. As a result, his office would contact the professors of students with these types of injuries in order to make sure proper accommodations are given in the classroom.
Lissner also said suffering a minor concussion would not qualify as a disability, and one would need proper documentation from a doctor in order to skip class or an exam.
“You would document that like you would the flu, twisting your ankle or anything else,” Lissner said.
That exemption can also happen retroactively, as was the case with Adams’ physics exam the day after his injury.
“They had me take it, but I was able to drop the exam after,” Adams said. “I needed a doctor note.”
Ohio State prepared to handle concussions in all levels of sport
http://thelantern.com/2016/02/ohio-stat ... -of-sport/
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
2 Minnesota Mothers
2 Minnesota Mothers Share Stories of Kids and Concussions to Help Others | KSTP TV
http://kstp.com/article/stories/s4056727.shtml
http://kstp.com/article/stories/s4056727.shtml
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Paige Deckers blog #21
Part 21. A Promising New Concussion Program
http://www.theinvisibleinjury.net/blog/2016/3/6/21
http://www.theinvisibleinjury.net/blog/2016/3/6/21
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Daughter of award-winning columnist Caryn Sullivan
Daughter of award-winning columnist Caryn Sullivan
"...After a contentious fight, the NFL established new concussion protocols that are finding their way into youth leagues. At least two states are contemplating changes to youth sports. But Omalu insists we must do more.
With a biography and film (“Concussion”) chronicling his life, the squat man with a big smile has overcome the shyness that plagued him in childhood. Speaking at the Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park last month, Omalu, who says his surname (Onyemalukwube) means, “If you know, come forth and speak,” offered life lessons and a pointed message about the danger of contact sports.
He suggested that football is played differently in the 21st century than it was in the last century. He encouraged the audience to liberate itself from “conformational thinking” and to embrace “revolutionary thinking.” Insisting he does not object to the sport, he advocated a shift to “intelligent football.”
The man who described himself as the family weakling paced the stage, noting that while adults have free will and can make their own choices, the same is not true for our children. He posed probing questions, framed in disconcerting facts.
Once you have suffered a concussion the damage is done.
There is no cure.
The effects can manifest years later.
The younger you are when you experience the injury the greater the possibility of damage.
Helmets do not prevent the disease.
As I listened to his words, guilt parked itself in the empty seat beside me.
An estimated 3,000 Minnesota youth sustain concussions each year. Four years ago my daughter was among them. As a high school senior she sustained two concussions — first on the ice, later on the soccer field.
Though no one mentioned permanent brain damage I knew an insult to the head was serious. I wrestled with what to do. Bench her? She loved her sports. What was the likelihood of another insult? Her doctors said she’d recovered. …
Her energy-sapping back pain ended the mental pingpong match, relieving me of rendering a decision my mind accepted but my heart rejected. With her final hockey season looming she hung up her skates and decided to get a job.
In a society so enamored with contact sports I wonder if — or when — we will heed the message in a meaningful way. Will we change the way we suit up our kids to play football and hockey? Will we delay their entry into contact sports?
I’m skeptical of significant reform, for the sports that pose the greatest risk are the ones with the greatest draw. Adults delight in lacing up our kids’ skates, in huddling on bleachers on chilly fall nights to watch our kids battle over a pigskin. It’s social. It’s competitive. It’s fun. And for some athletes it’s a gateway to their future.
More than a week after his lecture, Omalu’s message lingers. The disquieting question he posed is lodged in my mind. Knowing what we now know, he challenged, why do we put helmets on children so they can bang heads with other children wearing helmets?"
Caryn Sullivan is an award-winning contributing columnist for the Pioneer Press and author of “Bitter or Better.” When she’s not writing, she motivates live audiences to find the “better” path into and out of life’s experiences. Her website is carynmsullivan.com.
Depression, Concussions and Wisdom
Read more: http://www.twincities.com/2016/03/07/ca ... nd-wisdom/
"...After a contentious fight, the NFL established new concussion protocols that are finding their way into youth leagues. At least two states are contemplating changes to youth sports. But Omalu insists we must do more.
With a biography and film (“Concussion”) chronicling his life, the squat man with a big smile has overcome the shyness that plagued him in childhood. Speaking at the Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park last month, Omalu, who says his surname (Onyemalukwube) means, “If you know, come forth and speak,” offered life lessons and a pointed message about the danger of contact sports.
He suggested that football is played differently in the 21st century than it was in the last century. He encouraged the audience to liberate itself from “conformational thinking” and to embrace “revolutionary thinking.” Insisting he does not object to the sport, he advocated a shift to “intelligent football.”
The man who described himself as the family weakling paced the stage, noting that while adults have free will and can make their own choices, the same is not true for our children. He posed probing questions, framed in disconcerting facts.
Once you have suffered a concussion the damage is done.
There is no cure.
The effects can manifest years later.
The younger you are when you experience the injury the greater the possibility of damage.
Helmets do not prevent the disease.
As I listened to his words, guilt parked itself in the empty seat beside me.
An estimated 3,000 Minnesota youth sustain concussions each year. Four years ago my daughter was among them. As a high school senior she sustained two concussions — first on the ice, later on the soccer field.
Though no one mentioned permanent brain damage I knew an insult to the head was serious. I wrestled with what to do. Bench her? She loved her sports. What was the likelihood of another insult? Her doctors said she’d recovered. …
Her energy-sapping back pain ended the mental pingpong match, relieving me of rendering a decision my mind accepted but my heart rejected. With her final hockey season looming she hung up her skates and decided to get a job.
In a society so enamored with contact sports I wonder if — or when — we will heed the message in a meaningful way. Will we change the way we suit up our kids to play football and hockey? Will we delay their entry into contact sports?
I’m skeptical of significant reform, for the sports that pose the greatest risk are the ones with the greatest draw. Adults delight in lacing up our kids’ skates, in huddling on bleachers on chilly fall nights to watch our kids battle over a pigskin. It’s social. It’s competitive. It’s fun. And for some athletes it’s a gateway to their future.
More than a week after his lecture, Omalu’s message lingers. The disquieting question he posed is lodged in my mind. Knowing what we now know, he challenged, why do we put helmets on children so they can bang heads with other children wearing helmets?"
Caryn Sullivan is an award-winning contributing columnist for the Pioneer Press and author of “Bitter or Better.” When she’s not writing, she motivates live audiences to find the “better” path into and out of life’s experiences. Her website is carynmsullivan.com.
Depression, Concussions and Wisdom
Read more: http://www.twincities.com/2016/03/07/ca ... nd-wisdom/
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Callie Wiley
"Girls hockey player Callie Wiley was hurt in Andover’s 2-0 playoff loss to Duxbury on Saturday. Early in the evening when he was heading to the hospital, Golden Warrior coach Kevin Drew was extremely concerned. But at 8:30 p.m. he called and said, “She is fine. She had a concussion. Her neck is sore but no breakage.”
The freshman went down in a heap in the third period and Drew said the game was stopped for an hour. Wiley was taken to the South Shore Hospital. Drew was hopeful she might be released Saturday night.
Drew said, “She said (on the ice), ‘Coach, don’t leave me.’ She was moving her extremities. She could squeeze my hand.”
Andover’s Wiley Hospitalized
Read more: http://www.eagletribune.com/sports/tour ... a9a8c.html
"Girls hockey player Callie Wiley was hurt in Andover’s 2-0 playoff loss to Duxbury on Saturday. Early in the evening when he was heading to the hospital, Golden Warrior coach Kevin Drew was extremely concerned. But at 8:30 p.m. he called and said, “She is fine. She had a concussion. Her neck is sore but no breakage.”
The freshman went down in a heap in the third period and Drew said the game was stopped for an hour. Wiley was taken to the South Shore Hospital. Drew was hopeful she might be released Saturday night.
Drew said, “She said (on the ice), ‘Coach, don’t leave me.’ She was moving her extremities. She could squeeze my hand.”
Andover’s Wiley Hospitalized
Read more: http://www.eagletribune.com/sports/tour ... a9a8c.html
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
New scanning technique
New scanning technique reveals how concussions damage the brains of female and male university hockey players
"An advanced brain scanning technique has shown for the first time in humans how concussion damages the brain and its wiring, findings that cast doubt on the effectiveness of conventional assessment tools used by doctors.
This new understanding of the physical damage to the brain and the time frame for recovery suggests athletes should not be cleared to play less than two weeks after a concussion and should probably be shelved much longer, said Alex Rauscher, an MRI scientist and Canada Research Chair in the department of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia.
“We can see that the myelin is still (damaged) at two weeks, so even if the athlete passes the neuropsychological exam, I would hold him out of play for at least three weeks,” he said. “Getting another concussion before the brain is healed can be extremely dangerous.”
High-level athletes are notorious for trying to return to action quickly after a mild traumatic brain injury. Only 31 per cent of NHL players took more than 10 days off after suffering a concussion, according to a separate study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Recovery time more than doubled with each successive concussion.
Raucher used specially tuned magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of hockey players — who are at a high risk of concussion — to detect damage to the myelin sheath that protects nerves in the brain.
Myelin, which acts like the insulation on a wire, is the substance that is damaged in patients with multiple sclerosis.
The researchers scanned the brains of male and female university hockey players before the start of the season and then did multiple followup scans on eleven players who suffered a concussion, three days, two weeks and two months after the injury.
“We didn’t really know what happened to the brain in a concussion, because until now we haven’t had data taken before the injury to compare,” said Rauscher.
Concussions damage myelin and appear to cause the insulator to separate from the nerve and then slowly recover over two months, he said.
The researchers also noticed that conventional concussion assessments conducted in parallel with the scanning program failed to reflect the persistence of myelin damage.
Doctors rely on observations of behaviour, patient reporting of symptoms and questionnaires to determine whether a player has recovered before returning to play after a concussion.
“There was no correlation between the questionnaire results and the imaging findings,” he said. “It couldn’t see the damage to the brain.”
That puts doctors in a position in which they could send players back to the ice who are not fully healed, he said.
Conventional MRIs also detected a reduction in brain volume — equivalent to three sugar cubes — both in players that suffered concussions and in players who had not suffered a concussion scanned after the grind of a normal hockey season.
The volume reduction, probably the result of a number of sub-concussive hits, is also found in extreme-long-distance runners, said Rauscher. The runners’ brains recover over time, but it is not known if hockey players fully recover brain volume in the break between seasons.
At UBC student athletes return to play in a graduated program that begins when the athlete is “essentially symptom free,” after which they return to classes, a gradual return to exercise, then return to sport, said Dr. Rob Lloyd-Smith, head physician to the UBC Thunderbirds sports teams. Doctors also conduct a computer-based neuropsychological test to compare with pre-season baseline testing.
“We rely on a number of clinical assessments and tools for diagnosis, but there is a significant overlap in symptoms between different conditions like concussion and whiplash, or even a viral illness that can make you feel lousy,” he said.
Doctors are waiting for a test that is both accurate and specific to concussion, a test that won’t be confused by other conditions, he said.
“Although there were changes in the myelin, it is uncertain what this represents and we are not ready to use the changes to determine return to play,” Lloyd-smith said.
While MRI provides a window into the kind of damage that concussion inflicts on the brain, it is not yet realized as a diagnostic tool.
“We don’t have ideal tools at present, but we do have access to a student athlete population that is ideal for this kind of research,” he said. “The tools that we have right now are not the tools that we will have 10 years from now, but they are better than the tools we used 10 years ago.”
Rauscher’s findings were published in the peer-reviewed open access journals PLOS One and Frontiers in Neurology."
New Scanning Technique Reveals How Concussion Damages The Brain
See the brain images at: http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/story ... d=11766648
"An advanced brain scanning technique has shown for the first time in humans how concussion damages the brain and its wiring, findings that cast doubt on the effectiveness of conventional assessment tools used by doctors.
This new understanding of the physical damage to the brain and the time frame for recovery suggests athletes should not be cleared to play less than two weeks after a concussion and should probably be shelved much longer, said Alex Rauscher, an MRI scientist and Canada Research Chair in the department of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia.
“We can see that the myelin is still (damaged) at two weeks, so even if the athlete passes the neuropsychological exam, I would hold him out of play for at least three weeks,” he said. “Getting another concussion before the brain is healed can be extremely dangerous.”
High-level athletes are notorious for trying to return to action quickly after a mild traumatic brain injury. Only 31 per cent of NHL players took more than 10 days off after suffering a concussion, according to a separate study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Recovery time more than doubled with each successive concussion.
Raucher used specially tuned magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of hockey players — who are at a high risk of concussion — to detect damage to the myelin sheath that protects nerves in the brain.
Myelin, which acts like the insulation on a wire, is the substance that is damaged in patients with multiple sclerosis.
The researchers scanned the brains of male and female university hockey players before the start of the season and then did multiple followup scans on eleven players who suffered a concussion, three days, two weeks and two months after the injury.
“We didn’t really know what happened to the brain in a concussion, because until now we haven’t had data taken before the injury to compare,” said Rauscher.
Concussions damage myelin and appear to cause the insulator to separate from the nerve and then slowly recover over two months, he said.
The researchers also noticed that conventional concussion assessments conducted in parallel with the scanning program failed to reflect the persistence of myelin damage.
Doctors rely on observations of behaviour, patient reporting of symptoms and questionnaires to determine whether a player has recovered before returning to play after a concussion.
“There was no correlation between the questionnaire results and the imaging findings,” he said. “It couldn’t see the damage to the brain.”
That puts doctors in a position in which they could send players back to the ice who are not fully healed, he said.
Conventional MRIs also detected a reduction in brain volume — equivalent to three sugar cubes — both in players that suffered concussions and in players who had not suffered a concussion scanned after the grind of a normal hockey season.
The volume reduction, probably the result of a number of sub-concussive hits, is also found in extreme-long-distance runners, said Rauscher. The runners’ brains recover over time, but it is not known if hockey players fully recover brain volume in the break between seasons.
At UBC student athletes return to play in a graduated program that begins when the athlete is “essentially symptom free,” after which they return to classes, a gradual return to exercise, then return to sport, said Dr. Rob Lloyd-Smith, head physician to the UBC Thunderbirds sports teams. Doctors also conduct a computer-based neuropsychological test to compare with pre-season baseline testing.
“We rely on a number of clinical assessments and tools for diagnosis, but there is a significant overlap in symptoms between different conditions like concussion and whiplash, or even a viral illness that can make you feel lousy,” he said.
Doctors are waiting for a test that is both accurate and specific to concussion, a test that won’t be confused by other conditions, he said.
“Although there were changes in the myelin, it is uncertain what this represents and we are not ready to use the changes to determine return to play,” Lloyd-smith said.
While MRI provides a window into the kind of damage that concussion inflicts on the brain, it is not yet realized as a diagnostic tool.
“We don’t have ideal tools at present, but we do have access to a student athlete population that is ideal for this kind of research,” he said. “The tools that we have right now are not the tools that we will have 10 years from now, but they are better than the tools we used 10 years ago.”
Rauscher’s findings were published in the peer-reviewed open access journals PLOS One and Frontiers in Neurology."
New Scanning Technique Reveals How Concussion Damages The Brain
See the brain images at: http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/story ... d=11766648
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
2 players and Erin McGroarty
"Although blessed with a deep roster, injuries took a toll on Stamford-Westhill-Staples down the stretch. SWS lost two players to concussions, forward Kyra DalBello to an injured shoulder and saw its best defensewoman — senior Erin McGroarty — leave injured in the first period Wednesday and not return.
The SWS seniors were McGroarty, Juliana Ferraro, Abby LaFleur, Lauren Mitchell and Rachel Stanford.
“It was hard not being at full strength tonight. But Claire Parry played with great character. I’m disappointed we didn’t keep the score close longer,” said SWS coach Phil Miolene. “Darien is the best team in the state for a reason. It hurts just missing the state playoffs. But I’m pleased we had another winning season. The girls have a constant belief that we are a winning program. I’m happy to have Claire Parry back for one more year. And we have a lot of youth that will improve in the off-season and take a big step forward.”
Darien, New Canaan Girls Will Meet Again for FCIAC Hockey Crown
http://m.stamfordadvocate.com/highschoo ... 852957.php
"Although blessed with a deep roster, injuries took a toll on Stamford-Westhill-Staples down the stretch. SWS lost two players to concussions, forward Kyra DalBello to an injured shoulder and saw its best defensewoman — senior Erin McGroarty — leave injured in the first period Wednesday and not return.
The SWS seniors were McGroarty, Juliana Ferraro, Abby LaFleur, Lauren Mitchell and Rachel Stanford.
“It was hard not being at full strength tonight. But Claire Parry played with great character. I’m disappointed we didn’t keep the score close longer,” said SWS coach Phil Miolene. “Darien is the best team in the state for a reason. It hurts just missing the state playoffs. But I’m pleased we had another winning season. The girls have a constant belief that we are a winning program. I’m happy to have Claire Parry back for one more year. And we have a lot of youth that will improve in the off-season and take a big step forward.”
Darien, New Canaan Girls Will Meet Again for FCIAC Hockey Crown
http://m.stamfordadvocate.com/highschoo ... 852957.php
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Maggie Straka
"The Bethel University women's hockey team wrapped up their first MIAC championship in program history by finishing off a dominant series sweep of Concordia with a 5-0 victory on February 20. The Royals posted another shutout, this one with Maggie Straka in net, and racked up three, second period goals to win the series by a combined 8-0 score with the Cobbers, who entered the weekend tied with Bethel in second place.
After a strong start to Friday night’s game the Royals once again set the tone early, scoring just 1:39 in and firing off nine shots to just one for Concordia in the first five minutes, forcing the Cobbers to take an early timeout. Kirsten Olson knocked in a rebound of Wendy Roberts shot for the Royals first score. Jill Larson also assisted on the goal. While Bethel did not score again in the first period, the Royals dominated the period. The second was much the same and this time the scoreboard reflected the Royals play as they totaled three goals in the period. Caroline Kivisto teamed up with Lauren Kolak and Briita Nelson for Bethel's second goal at 5:52 in the second. Briita Nelson then got a score of her own with Kivisto assisting at 13:34 to make it 3-0. At 18:30 in the second Kolak converted on a nice backhand goal to make it 4-0. Nelson and Kivisto were awarded assists. The Royals top line was not done scoring however as Kolak added an empty net goal just over two minutes remaining. Nelson and Karly Vohden assisted. Kolak, Kivisto, and Nelson all totaled three points on the day. Straka was outstanding in her first action since suffering a concussion on January 30 at Hamline in a 5-1 loss. Straka made 24 saves including 15 saves while on the penalty kill. Concordia had five power plays but was unable to convert on any of them. Bethel was 0-for-2.
The Royals finish the MIAC regular season with a 12-4-2 record and 26 total points, the same as the University of St. Thomas who will be the No. 1 seed for the MIAC playoffs based on their series win over Bethel back in November. Bethel will be the No. 2 seed and will host Augsburg on February 27 at 2 p.m. in the semifinals."
Women’s Hockey Claims First MIAC Championship
Read more: https://www.bethel.edu/news/articles/20 ... ens-hockey
"The Bethel University women's hockey team wrapped up their first MIAC championship in program history by finishing off a dominant series sweep of Concordia with a 5-0 victory on February 20. The Royals posted another shutout, this one with Maggie Straka in net, and racked up three, second period goals to win the series by a combined 8-0 score with the Cobbers, who entered the weekend tied with Bethel in second place.
After a strong start to Friday night’s game the Royals once again set the tone early, scoring just 1:39 in and firing off nine shots to just one for Concordia in the first five minutes, forcing the Cobbers to take an early timeout. Kirsten Olson knocked in a rebound of Wendy Roberts shot for the Royals first score. Jill Larson also assisted on the goal. While Bethel did not score again in the first period, the Royals dominated the period. The second was much the same and this time the scoreboard reflected the Royals play as they totaled three goals in the period. Caroline Kivisto teamed up with Lauren Kolak and Briita Nelson for Bethel's second goal at 5:52 in the second. Briita Nelson then got a score of her own with Kivisto assisting at 13:34 to make it 3-0. At 18:30 in the second Kolak converted on a nice backhand goal to make it 4-0. Nelson and Kivisto were awarded assists. The Royals top line was not done scoring however as Kolak added an empty net goal just over two minutes remaining. Nelson and Karly Vohden assisted. Kolak, Kivisto, and Nelson all totaled three points on the day. Straka was outstanding in her first action since suffering a concussion on January 30 at Hamline in a 5-1 loss. Straka made 24 saves including 15 saves while on the penalty kill. Concordia had five power plays but was unable to convert on any of them. Bethel was 0-for-2.
The Royals finish the MIAC regular season with a 12-4-2 record and 26 total points, the same as the University of St. Thomas who will be the No. 1 seed for the MIAC playoffs based on their series win over Bethel back in November. Bethel will be the No. 2 seed and will host Augsburg on February 27 at 2 p.m. in the semifinals."
Women’s Hockey Claims First MIAC Championship
Read more: https://www.bethel.edu/news/articles/20 ... ens-hockey
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
2 Polar Bear Concussions
"The women’s hockey team has struggled in the homestretch of its season, losing the last five games. The team now has an overall record of 8-13-2 and will face off against Amherst in the first round of the NESCAC tournament.
The Polar Bears have one win over Amherst and feel confident going into the first round this weekend, but staying healthy will be key for the team’s success.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries so we’ve had a really small bench,” said Mo Greason ’18. “Marne [Gallant ’17] was injured before the season even started. Now Julie [Dachille ’18] had to go home because she has mono, and one of our goalies, Beth [Findley ’16], has mono. We’ve had two concussions in the past month, and we already have a small roster so it just makes it more physically taxing for all of us because we all have to just play more and some of our best players have been hurt.”
Although some strong players have had to sit out several games, the team believes that they will ready to go this upcoming weekend. Not only will the Polar Bears need to be healthy but they will also need to be mentally tough. As their record shows, they have not been very consistent."
Women's Ice Hockey Faces Difficult Test
Read more: http://bowdoinorient.com/article/10973
"The women’s hockey team has struggled in the homestretch of its season, losing the last five games. The team now has an overall record of 8-13-2 and will face off against Amherst in the first round of the NESCAC tournament.
The Polar Bears have one win over Amherst and feel confident going into the first round this weekend, but staying healthy will be key for the team’s success.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries so we’ve had a really small bench,” said Mo Greason ’18. “Marne [Gallant ’17] was injured before the season even started. Now Julie [Dachille ’18] had to go home because she has mono, and one of our goalies, Beth [Findley ’16], has mono. We’ve had two concussions in the past month, and we already have a small roster so it just makes it more physically taxing for all of us because we all have to just play more and some of our best players have been hurt.”
Although some strong players have had to sit out several games, the team believes that they will ready to go this upcoming weekend. Not only will the Polar Bears need to be healthy but they will also need to be mentally tough. As their record shows, they have not been very consistent."
Women's Ice Hockey Faces Difficult Test
Read more: http://bowdoinorient.com/article/10973
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Lara Wentz
"As if West Fargo doesn’t have enough to worry about in Saturday’s championship game of the North Dakota State High School Girls Hockey Tournament, the top-seeded Bismarck Blizzard added more credibility to their favorite status with Friday’s resurgence of forward Lara Wentz.
Wentz, quiet for most of the season, had a hat trick while leading the top-seeded, buzz-sawed Blizzard to a convincing 7-0 win over Fargo North-South on Friday in the other semifinal.
The key was reuniting the line of Wentz, Alysha Hasche and Felicity Blair, a successful unit for most of last season.
“We had some bumps at first when we back together as the original line, but it worked like a well-oiled machine tonight,” Wentz said.
Coach Tim Meyer said Wentz had to battle through a back injury and concussion and work herself back into shape. “We were looking for some chemistry, so we made the switch right before state tournament time with her old linemates,” he said.
After a scoreless first period, Wentz scored the game’s first goal on a rebound, which seemed to ignite the Blizzards. Later that period, within a five-minute span, Bismarck had three more goals.
“We had some bumps when we went back together as the original line, but it worked like a well-oiled machine tonight,” Wentz said.
Before its impressive showings Thursday and Friday, Bismarck already was the odds-on favorite, having won 36 straight games against North Dakota opponents and with only one loss to an in-state team over the last three years. The Blizzard also have won two state titles over the last three years."
Bismarck Downs Fargo North-South in Semifinals
Read more: http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/ ... semifianls
"As if West Fargo doesn’t have enough to worry about in Saturday’s championship game of the North Dakota State High School Girls Hockey Tournament, the top-seeded Bismarck Blizzard added more credibility to their favorite status with Friday’s resurgence of forward Lara Wentz.
Wentz, quiet for most of the season, had a hat trick while leading the top-seeded, buzz-sawed Blizzard to a convincing 7-0 win over Fargo North-South on Friday in the other semifinal.
The key was reuniting the line of Wentz, Alysha Hasche and Felicity Blair, a successful unit for most of last season.
“We had some bumps at first when we back together as the original line, but it worked like a well-oiled machine tonight,” Wentz said.
Coach Tim Meyer said Wentz had to battle through a back injury and concussion and work herself back into shape. “We were looking for some chemistry, so we made the switch right before state tournament time with her old linemates,” he said.
After a scoreless first period, Wentz scored the game’s first goal on a rebound, which seemed to ignite the Blizzards. Later that period, within a five-minute span, Bismarck had three more goals.
“We had some bumps when we went back together as the original line, but it worked like a well-oiled machine tonight,” Wentz said.
Before its impressive showings Thursday and Friday, Bismarck already was the odds-on favorite, having won 36 straight games against North Dakota opponents and with only one loss to an in-state team over the last three years. The Blizzard also have won two state titles over the last three years."
Bismarck Downs Fargo North-South in Semifinals
Read more: http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/ ... semifianls
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
change culture
When college athletes break a leg, they get a cast. Sometimes there’s surgery. There’s always rehab and recovery time.
But if a college athlete gets a concussion, there’s a good chance it goes unreported. Athletes often hide their headaches and dizziness from their teammates and coaches. Keeping silent could lead to more serious health problems down the road.
...The NCAA estimates that collegiate athletes receive about 10,500 concussions per year. Football is responsible for about a third of them. But athletes in three other college sports — wrestling and men’s and women’s hockey — have higher rates of brain injury.
Milroy, an assistant professor and the associate director of UNCG’s athlete health institute, said head-to-head contact in games isn’t always the culprit. Injuries can happen when athletes hit their heads on the ground, and concussions often happen in practice, when there are fewer eyes — no fans, no refs — on the athletes.
Worse, perhaps, are the reporting rates. Wyrick and Milroy say half to three-quarters of concussions go unreported.
Why is that?
“There are a variety of reasons,” Milroy said, “and they’re very complex.”
Some college athletes, Milroy said, aren’t aware of concussion symptoms. Others don’t want to miss practice or games or don’t want to risk disappointing their teammates, coaches or parents. Some worry that they could lose their spot on the team and the scholarship that pays for their education.
If concussions go unreported, they go untreated. UNCG’s professors say that’s a serious problem, too: Athletes are often more vulnerable to additional — and more serious — head injuries shortly after they suffer a concussion.
“In a lot of cases … it’s not a conscious decision to report or not,” Milroy said. “They might think it’s not the culture.”
UNC Greensboro Researchers Hope to Change Culture Around Concussions
Read more: http://m.greensboro.com/news/schools/un ... l?mode=jqm
But if a college athlete gets a concussion, there’s a good chance it goes unreported. Athletes often hide their headaches and dizziness from their teammates and coaches. Keeping silent could lead to more serious health problems down the road.
...The NCAA estimates that collegiate athletes receive about 10,500 concussions per year. Football is responsible for about a third of them. But athletes in three other college sports — wrestling and men’s and women’s hockey — have higher rates of brain injury.
Milroy, an assistant professor and the associate director of UNCG’s athlete health institute, said head-to-head contact in games isn’t always the culprit. Injuries can happen when athletes hit their heads on the ground, and concussions often happen in practice, when there are fewer eyes — no fans, no refs — on the athletes.
Worse, perhaps, are the reporting rates. Wyrick and Milroy say half to three-quarters of concussions go unreported.
Why is that?
“There are a variety of reasons,” Milroy said, “and they’re very complex.”
Some college athletes, Milroy said, aren’t aware of concussion symptoms. Others don’t want to miss practice or games or don’t want to risk disappointing their teammates, coaches or parents. Some worry that they could lose their spot on the team and the scholarship that pays for their education.
If concussions go unreported, they go untreated. UNCG’s professors say that’s a serious problem, too: Athletes are often more vulnerable to additional — and more serious — head injuries shortly after they suffer a concussion.
“In a lot of cases … it’s not a conscious decision to report or not,” Milroy said. “They might think it’s not the culture.”
UNC Greensboro Researchers Hope to Change Culture Around Concussions
Read more: http://m.greensboro.com/news/schools/un ... l?mode=jqm
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Common Women's Sports Injuries You Should Know
"Recent studies, for example, have shown that high school and college women athletes are experiencing concussions at rate that is often much higher than their male counterparts. Female softball players are suffering from concussions at a rate that’s double that of males playing baseball and female hockey players have three times the incidence of concussions compared to male football players."
The Most Common Women's Sports Injuries You Should Know
Read more: http://www.coastalpoint.com/content/mos ... 03_03_2016
The Most Common Women's Sports Injuries You Should Know
Read more: http://www.coastalpoint.com/content/mos ... 03_03_2016
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Bookmark and Share
Change text size for the story
Print
Report an error
The Cobourg Collegiate Wolves beat the St. Peter Saints in overtime Monday to become the COSSA AAA girls hockey champions.
Rachel Cole
"It was a bittersweet win for the Wolves, however, as forward Rachel Cole was stretchered off the ice and brought to hospital after going head first into the boards early in the third period.
The game was stopped for 30 minutes after the injury, as the teams waited for an ambulance to arrive. Cole was in quite a bit of pain, according to coach Jennifer Ashley.
"She was in pretty rough shape, but I think she'll be alright. Definitely a good concussion, so we wanted to really be careful," she said.
Prior to the injury the game was tied 2-2. Cobourg captain Karissa Hoskin potted the first two goals of the game, but St. Peter was able to crawl back and tie things up after goals from Danielle Pearcy and captain Jennifer Young.
Following Cole being stretchered off the ice, the two teams were given a brief warmup and resumed play.
St. Peter quickly took the lead after the long delay, when Chelsea Campbell scored to make it 3-2. About five minutes later, however, Hoskin completed the hat trick after batting a loose puck by St. Peter's goalie Tori Proulx.
Nobody scored for the remainder of regulation, which sent the game to 3-on-3 overtime with the teams tied at 3-3. With just under a minute left, Hoskin scored her fourth goal of the game, leading Cobourg to a 4-3 win over St. Peter.
She was overwhelmed after the getting the overtime winner, Hoskin said.
Scoring that goal "felt so good. I didn't even realize it went in at first," she said.
It was hard seeing a teammate go down, but it helped rally the team together and get the win, said Hoskin.
"It's unfortunate for her and we hope she'll be OK. It feels good to do it for her," she said.
St. Peter coach Wayne Clark praised Hoskin after the game.
"(Hoskin) is probably the best player we have faced all season. She's prolific. We tried all we could to stop her, but she was excellent today as you could see on the scoresheet," he said.
When it came down to it, St. Peter was just not able to finish, Clark said.
"We had our chances, we had our opportunities and we didn't bury on those, but overall I'm very proud of the girls," he said.
Clark added that it was disappointing the team did not reach OFSAA, but wished the best for Cobourg in the tournament.
After 13 years of coaching at Cobourg, this is one of the most special wins of Ashley's coaching career.
"This is my last year of teaching and I've never been to OFSAA before," she said. "This is pretty special with this group."
Cobourg will be representing COSSA at OFSAA, which begins next Monday in Stratford."
Saints Girls Lose COSSA Girls High School Championship in Overtime
http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ ... ate-wolves
Change text size for the story
Report an error
The Cobourg Collegiate Wolves beat the St. Peter Saints in overtime Monday to become the COSSA AAA girls hockey champions.
Rachel Cole
"It was a bittersweet win for the Wolves, however, as forward Rachel Cole was stretchered off the ice and brought to hospital after going head first into the boards early in the third period.
The game was stopped for 30 minutes after the injury, as the teams waited for an ambulance to arrive. Cole was in quite a bit of pain, according to coach Jennifer Ashley.
"She was in pretty rough shape, but I think she'll be alright. Definitely a good concussion, so we wanted to really be careful," she said.
Prior to the injury the game was tied 2-2. Cobourg captain Karissa Hoskin potted the first two goals of the game, but St. Peter was able to crawl back and tie things up after goals from Danielle Pearcy and captain Jennifer Young.
Following Cole being stretchered off the ice, the two teams were given a brief warmup and resumed play.
St. Peter quickly took the lead after the long delay, when Chelsea Campbell scored to make it 3-2. About five minutes later, however, Hoskin completed the hat trick after batting a loose puck by St. Peter's goalie Tori Proulx.
Nobody scored for the remainder of regulation, which sent the game to 3-on-3 overtime with the teams tied at 3-3. With just under a minute left, Hoskin scored her fourth goal of the game, leading Cobourg to a 4-3 win over St. Peter.
She was overwhelmed after the getting the overtime winner, Hoskin said.
Scoring that goal "felt so good. I didn't even realize it went in at first," she said.
It was hard seeing a teammate go down, but it helped rally the team together and get the win, said Hoskin.
"It's unfortunate for her and we hope she'll be OK. It feels good to do it for her," she said.
St. Peter coach Wayne Clark praised Hoskin after the game.
"(Hoskin) is probably the best player we have faced all season. She's prolific. We tried all we could to stop her, but she was excellent today as you could see on the scoresheet," he said.
When it came down to it, St. Peter was just not able to finish, Clark said.
"We had our chances, we had our opportunities and we didn't bury on those, but overall I'm very proud of the girls," he said.
Clark added that it was disappointing the team did not reach OFSAA, but wished the best for Cobourg in the tournament.
After 13 years of coaching at Cobourg, this is one of the most special wins of Ashley's coaching career.
"This is my last year of teaching and I've never been to OFSAA before," she said. "This is pretty special with this group."
Cobourg will be representing COSSA at OFSAA, which begins next Monday in Stratford."
Saints Girls Lose COSSA Girls High School Championship in Overtime
http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ ... ate-wolves
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
concussion-doctor-speaks
The pathologist who blinded the NFL with science cuts a diminutive figure on stage, his high-pitched Nigerian accent preaching empowerment without the gravitas of someone who ignited a global debate about head injuries and sports.
Dr. Bennet Omalu captivated a congregation of 1,000 on Thursday night at Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park. Some paid upwards of $500 to meet the man and hear the story of the 47-year-old refugee who exposed the human cost of our insatiable addiction to pro football.
He was the unlikely pioneer who linked dead NFL players to the degenerative brain disease Omalu named chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. His research helped revolutionize the way head injuries are diagnosed and treated among youth, amateur and professional athletes.
After staring down the most powerful sports league in the world, Omalu is challenging Americans to confront hard truths about our cultural identities and public health standards.
As year-round consumers of the greatest show on turf, we have only begun to accept and rationalize the neurological risks our entertainment fix rewards, plus how much we will tolerate from the cradle to the grave.
Hollywood made Omalu a folk hero last year when Will Smith portrayed him in “Concussion,” an adaptation of Omalu’s eponymous biography that chronicled the seismic discovery he made in 2002 after autopsying Pittsburgh Steelers hall-of-fame center Mike Webster.
Omalu withstood the NFL’s ham-fisted efforts to discredit his findings by painting him as a voodoo doctor, a professional naïf and interloper hell bent on destroying the great American pastime and $10 billion industry.
“Truth is good. Truth brings out light,” he told this audience. “Only good comes out of light. Any doctor or human being who denies it is denying the truth of our humanity.”
Wearing a wrap-around microphone, Omalu paced the stage with the strident energy of a motivational speaker, identifying people in the audience as “my brothers and sisters.”
Addressing the predominantly white crowd in a Jewish house of worship, the Catholic from Africa punctuated professions of faith with a clarion call for a public health reckoning about the risks amateur athletes face in boxing, football, hockey, mixed martial arts and rugby.
“Knowing what we know today, there is no intelligent justification for allowing children to receive repeated blows to the head in sports,” Omalu said. “That is not anti-football. If you’re an adult, you are free to do whatever you want to do. If you want to put a helmet on and bang your head against another man’s head, that is your liberty.”
Omalu is the outlier holding up a mirror to our conventions.
Born the youngest of seven children during the Nigerian civil war, Omalu’s growth was stunted because of malnutrition. His siblings mocked him as the “weakling of the family.” An introvert, Omalu thrived academically.
He completed kindergarten at age 3, entered medical school at 15, became a physician at 21 and immigrated to the United States in 1994, eventually securing a job as a pathologist in Pittsburgh.
Among the 8,000 autopsies Omalu has performed the one on Sept. 28, 2002, changed his life forever.
He discovered lesions on Webster’s brain and linked them to the former player’s dementia and sharp mental decline after he retired in 1990. Omalu spent his own money to pay for more extensive testing that identified CTE, findings he published in 2005.
“I said to Mike Webster that morning, ‘I don’t think you’re a bad person that they’re saying you are on TV. I think there’s something wrong,’ ” Omalu said. “ ‘Walk with me. Guide me to the truth.’ And he did that, as laughable as that may sound.
“I don’t talk to the dead. When I met Mike Webster in death, he to me was not dead,” Omalu added. “His body was in front of me but his spirit was alive.”
Omalu is working the lecture circuit after handing off CTE to researchers at Boston University, who have linked the disease to autopsied brains of 91 NFL players in the past decade.
Media and congressional scrutiny ultimately forced the NFL to acknowledge CTE. The league has implemented health and safety rules designed to protect players from head injuries and punish offenders.
Team doctors and trainers have been trained to identify and treat concussions. Return-to-play protocols have trickled down to youth leagues.
Omalu’s research and the concussion debate in sports have broadened awareness about all brain injuries and the long-term challenges facing families and caregivers.
“We don’t take a stand about whether kids should or shouldn’t be playing contact sports. That’s not our role,” said David King, executive director of the Minnesota Brain Alliance, which lobbies for access to care and services.
“Our role is to meet them wherever they are and begin their journey right there. But we believe the key to this is education and awareness. You give people information, science, symptoms and seriousness. I hope people hear Dr. Omalu, elevate their awareness and realize we need as many champions as we can get out there.”
Omalu said state lawmakers in New York and California have consulted with him about legislation that would outlaw tackle football and other “high-impact, contact sports” in high schools.
“It is up to the public and physicians to say, ‘This is dangerous for your child,’ ” he said.
Wounded professionally, though not mortally, by the NFL, Omalu insists he is not crusading to abolish the sport but says the league has a moral obligation to treat its players more humanely and evolve how it markets its enormously popular and violent product.
“I’m a capitalist. I want the NFL to make tons of money,” Omalu said. “The NFL is not in the public health business. But we as consumers are complicit. We act like zombies in search of some conformational lifestyle.
“I refused to be guided by the conformations of society. That is what I’m about. That is why I’m here today.”
The synagogue gave Omalu a standing ovation.
‘Concussion’ doctor speaks hard football truths
Read more: http://www.twincities.com/2016/02/26/br ... ll-truths/
Dr. Bennet Omalu captivated a congregation of 1,000 on Thursday night at Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park. Some paid upwards of $500 to meet the man and hear the story of the 47-year-old refugee who exposed the human cost of our insatiable addiction to pro football.
He was the unlikely pioneer who linked dead NFL players to the degenerative brain disease Omalu named chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. His research helped revolutionize the way head injuries are diagnosed and treated among youth, amateur and professional athletes.
After staring down the most powerful sports league in the world, Omalu is challenging Americans to confront hard truths about our cultural identities and public health standards.
As year-round consumers of the greatest show on turf, we have only begun to accept and rationalize the neurological risks our entertainment fix rewards, plus how much we will tolerate from the cradle to the grave.
Hollywood made Omalu a folk hero last year when Will Smith portrayed him in “Concussion,” an adaptation of Omalu’s eponymous biography that chronicled the seismic discovery he made in 2002 after autopsying Pittsburgh Steelers hall-of-fame center Mike Webster.
Omalu withstood the NFL’s ham-fisted efforts to discredit his findings by painting him as a voodoo doctor, a professional naïf and interloper hell bent on destroying the great American pastime and $10 billion industry.
“Truth is good. Truth brings out light,” he told this audience. “Only good comes out of light. Any doctor or human being who denies it is denying the truth of our humanity.”
Wearing a wrap-around microphone, Omalu paced the stage with the strident energy of a motivational speaker, identifying people in the audience as “my brothers and sisters.”
Addressing the predominantly white crowd in a Jewish house of worship, the Catholic from Africa punctuated professions of faith with a clarion call for a public health reckoning about the risks amateur athletes face in boxing, football, hockey, mixed martial arts and rugby.
“Knowing what we know today, there is no intelligent justification for allowing children to receive repeated blows to the head in sports,” Omalu said. “That is not anti-football. If you’re an adult, you are free to do whatever you want to do. If you want to put a helmet on and bang your head against another man’s head, that is your liberty.”
Omalu is the outlier holding up a mirror to our conventions.
Born the youngest of seven children during the Nigerian civil war, Omalu’s growth was stunted because of malnutrition. His siblings mocked him as the “weakling of the family.” An introvert, Omalu thrived academically.
He completed kindergarten at age 3, entered medical school at 15, became a physician at 21 and immigrated to the United States in 1994, eventually securing a job as a pathologist in Pittsburgh.
Among the 8,000 autopsies Omalu has performed the one on Sept. 28, 2002, changed his life forever.
He discovered lesions on Webster’s brain and linked them to the former player’s dementia and sharp mental decline after he retired in 1990. Omalu spent his own money to pay for more extensive testing that identified CTE, findings he published in 2005.
“I said to Mike Webster that morning, ‘I don’t think you’re a bad person that they’re saying you are on TV. I think there’s something wrong,’ ” Omalu said. “ ‘Walk with me. Guide me to the truth.’ And he did that, as laughable as that may sound.
“I don’t talk to the dead. When I met Mike Webster in death, he to me was not dead,” Omalu added. “His body was in front of me but his spirit was alive.”
Omalu is working the lecture circuit after handing off CTE to researchers at Boston University, who have linked the disease to autopsied brains of 91 NFL players in the past decade.
Media and congressional scrutiny ultimately forced the NFL to acknowledge CTE. The league has implemented health and safety rules designed to protect players from head injuries and punish offenders.
Team doctors and trainers have been trained to identify and treat concussions. Return-to-play protocols have trickled down to youth leagues.
Omalu’s research and the concussion debate in sports have broadened awareness about all brain injuries and the long-term challenges facing families and caregivers.
“We don’t take a stand about whether kids should or shouldn’t be playing contact sports. That’s not our role,” said David King, executive director of the Minnesota Brain Alliance, which lobbies for access to care and services.
“Our role is to meet them wherever they are and begin their journey right there. But we believe the key to this is education and awareness. You give people information, science, symptoms and seriousness. I hope people hear Dr. Omalu, elevate their awareness and realize we need as many champions as we can get out there.”
Omalu said state lawmakers in New York and California have consulted with him about legislation that would outlaw tackle football and other “high-impact, contact sports” in high schools.
“It is up to the public and physicians to say, ‘This is dangerous for your child,’ ” he said.
Wounded professionally, though not mortally, by the NFL, Omalu insists he is not crusading to abolish the sport but says the league has a moral obligation to treat its players more humanely and evolve how it markets its enormously popular and violent product.
“I’m a capitalist. I want the NFL to make tons of money,” Omalu said. “The NFL is not in the public health business. But we as consumers are complicit. We act like zombies in search of some conformational lifestyle.
“I refused to be guided by the conformations of society. That is what I’m about. That is why I’m here today.”
The synagogue gave Omalu a standing ovation.
‘Concussion’ doctor speaks hard football truths
Read more: http://www.twincities.com/2016/02/26/br ... ll-truths/
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Brain disease from contact sports more common
"Although many questions remain unanswered, the research appears not only to reinforce the connection between repetitive head trauma and CTE, but also suggests that the disease may be prevalent among people in the general population who played contact sports, not just former NFL players, whose diagnoses with CTE often dominate headlines.
"That's what keeps me up at night," Dr. Walter Koroshetz, director of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said in a recent interview. "At least at this early stage, it seems to be much more common than anybody imagined. That's kind of what we've been afraid of for a while, and now we have data that it is more widespread. ... I think we have a significant problem that's getting bigger as we see how this pathology is more common."
Latest studies: Brain disease from contact sports more common
Watch the video at: http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/ ... ore-common
"That's what keeps me up at night," Dr. Walter Koroshetz, director of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said in a recent interview. "At least at this early stage, it seems to be much more common than anybody imagined. That's kind of what we've been afraid of for a while, and now we have data that it is more widespread. ... I think we have a significant problem that's getting bigger as we see how this pathology is more common."
Latest studies: Brain disease from contact sports more common
Watch the video at: http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/ ... ore-common
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
"Conclusions: Competing at the Division I
"Conclusions: Competing at the Division I level can be strenuous on an athlete's physical, mental, and social dimensions, which can affect the athlete later in life."
National Athletic Trainers' Association - Current Health-Related Quality of Life in Former National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Collision Athletes Compared With Contact and Limited-Contact Athletes
Read more: http://natajournals.org/doi/abs/10.4085 ... 50-51.4.05
National Athletic Trainers' Association - Current Health-Related Quality of Life in Former National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Collision Athletes Compared With Contact and Limited-Contact Athletes
Read more: http://natajournals.org/doi/abs/10.4085 ... 50-51.4.05
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Obsessing Over Concussions
"The good news: Most patients experience a full recovery following a concussion. The bad news: Some don't. For parents of children that suffer these injuries, obsess over how they are functioning, not on the playing field but in the classroom. Pay attention to their ability to return to learn. Find the right doctor to evaluate and care for your child. Your child's future could depend on it. And that might be more important than the next big play."
Michael M. Shea Jr.: The Value of Obsessing Over Concussions
Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_2 ... oncussions
Michael M. Shea Jr.: The Value of Obsessing Over Concussions
Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_2 ... oncussions
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Jenna Downey
"After five years of playing at the CIS level, four major concussions, three years wearing a letter, two major injuries and one final year as coaching, I can finally say that I have given everything to hockey. It is as inherent to me as breathing or walking.
To hang up my skates at the end of the season knowing it will be my last seems impossible. Life without hockey is uncharted territory. I find myself unable to set clear and reasonable goals without a timeline.
I don’t have a championship to worry about, so going to the gym feels empty. I no longer have to be the toughest girl in the corners, or the first to cross the line after the 12-minute run, so how do I push myself?
Every aspect of my life used to be tied to being a better hockey player. Now that hockey is no longer a factor, I am unsure how to go about my day."
Athletes Out and About
Read more: http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/20 ... isa-downey
"After five years of playing at the CIS level, four major concussions, three years wearing a letter, two major injuries and one final year as coaching, I can finally say that I have given everything to hockey. It is as inherent to me as breathing or walking.
To hang up my skates at the end of the season knowing it will be my last seems impossible. Life without hockey is uncharted territory. I find myself unable to set clear and reasonable goals without a timeline.
I don’t have a championship to worry about, so going to the gym feels empty. I no longer have to be the toughest girl in the corners, or the first to cross the line after the 12-minute run, so how do I push myself?
Every aspect of my life used to be tied to being a better hockey player. Now that hockey is no longer a factor, I am unsure how to go about my day."
Athletes Out and About
Read more: http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/20 ... isa-downey
-
greybeard58
- Posts: 2569
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm
Possible Brain Damage in Female Hockey Players
Study Shows Possible Brain Damage in Female Hockey Players Caused By Subconcussive Blows
"A hockey concussion study published Friday in the journal Neurosurgical Focus includes in its findings an intriguing element – possible radiological evidence of brain trauma caused by subconcussive blows.
The effect of subconcussive blows on the brain is in many ways the Planet X of concussion science. Researchers say that small blows have a cumulative effect and can lead to damage in the brain similar to that caused by diagnosed concussions. They say that if small blows, like the ones in hockey that result from checks into the boards or routine collisions and falls to the ice, are repeated often enough, they can even lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., a degenerative brain disease.
The problem is that the effect of subconcussive blows had not been measured comprehensively until now — if researchers from Harvard, the University of Montreal and elsewhere are correct about what they are seeing in the new hockey study and in a recently published study of soccer players in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers caution that the results in this area of the study are preliminary and inconclusive, but they use words like “striking” and “surprising” when talking about them.
The new hockey concussion study followed two unnamed Canadian university teams – one men’s, one women’s – through the 2011-12 season. Researchers scanned every player’s brain before and after the season, using advanced magnetic resonance imaging like diffusion tensor imaging and MR spectroscopy.
When the scans were analyzed, researchers found substantive metabolic changes among the majority of players, including those who were not diagnosed with concussions.
“It was pretty compelling,” said Dr. Martha E. Shenton, a researcher who analyzed pre- and postseason diffusion tensor imaging of white matter in the brains of 17 players on the men’s team.
Only 3 of the 17 players had sustained diagnosed concussions during the season, and two of those three showed the most pronounced white-matter changes in the study. But most of the 14 non-concussed players displayed a lesser degree of the same kind of changes – and that was what surprised Shenton.
“To see changes in such a short period of time, I was surprised,” she said. “I was betting, quite frankly, that we wouldn’t see any changes between pre- and postseason.”
Shenton, who works at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the Neuroscience Division of the V.A. Hospital in Brockton, Mass, added: “When you see brain chemistry changes like this, it’s clear something’s going on. Are some of these people are going to end up with more serious kind of brain injury damage? How sensitive is the brain? How resilient? These are all things we don’t know the answer to these questions.”
Dr. Inga K. Koerte, a researcher who worked alongside Shenton in this part of the study, noted that the changes observed might have been affected by concussions the hockey players sustained earlier in their careers, or evidence of something else altogether. But she, too, suspected that the scans were showing the effects of subconcussive blows sustained during the 2011-12 season.
“You may not need to have a diagnosed concussion to actually have changes in your white matter,” said Koerte, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard and the University of Munich. “It may be that subconcussive blows to your head accumulate over time, so that you develop changes that are similar to those that you get when you have one clinical concussion.”
...In hockey study published Friday, researchers analyzed MR spectroscopy imaging of the brains of the male and female players involved, again using scans taken before and after the season. Those scans showed evidence of neural damage in the brains of the female players not diagnosed with concussions over the course of the season.
“It is very interesting that the damage was found primarily in the women rather than the men,” said Dr. Hugo Théoret of the University of Montreal, who analyzed the MR spectroscopy scans.
Théoret stressed that these findings, too, are preliminary. But he said the evidence of greater damage in the brains of the female players might point to greater susceptibility to concussion among women. (The study published Friday, and other hockey studies, showed higher concussion rates for female players, believed to be a product of women’s smaller necks and lesser ability to withstand whiplash in collisions when compared with men.)
The MR spectroscopy may also show evidence of damage caused by subconcussive blows, Théoret said. He looked at the scans of the 14 female players who had not sustained a diagnosed concussion, and found that most showed a marker for damage in the tissue connecting the two brain hemispheres and is particularly vulnerable to blows to the head.
“Most of those players had a concussion previously in their careers,” Théoret said. “What we could be seeing is damage caused by hits to the head that are subconcussive, but on a concussed brain that is not normal to begin with. If so, it’s very alarming.”
Study Shows Possible Brain Damage Caused by Subconcussive Blows
Read more: http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/ ... lows/?_r=1
"A hockey concussion study published Friday in the journal Neurosurgical Focus includes in its findings an intriguing element – possible radiological evidence of brain trauma caused by subconcussive blows.
The effect of subconcussive blows on the brain is in many ways the Planet X of concussion science. Researchers say that small blows have a cumulative effect and can lead to damage in the brain similar to that caused by diagnosed concussions. They say that if small blows, like the ones in hockey that result from checks into the boards or routine collisions and falls to the ice, are repeated often enough, they can even lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., a degenerative brain disease.
The problem is that the effect of subconcussive blows had not been measured comprehensively until now — if researchers from Harvard, the University of Montreal and elsewhere are correct about what they are seeing in the new hockey study and in a recently published study of soccer players in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers caution that the results in this area of the study are preliminary and inconclusive, but they use words like “striking” and “surprising” when talking about them.
The new hockey concussion study followed two unnamed Canadian university teams – one men’s, one women’s – through the 2011-12 season. Researchers scanned every player’s brain before and after the season, using advanced magnetic resonance imaging like diffusion tensor imaging and MR spectroscopy.
When the scans were analyzed, researchers found substantive metabolic changes among the majority of players, including those who were not diagnosed with concussions.
“It was pretty compelling,” said Dr. Martha E. Shenton, a researcher who analyzed pre- and postseason diffusion tensor imaging of white matter in the brains of 17 players on the men’s team.
Only 3 of the 17 players had sustained diagnosed concussions during the season, and two of those three showed the most pronounced white-matter changes in the study. But most of the 14 non-concussed players displayed a lesser degree of the same kind of changes – and that was what surprised Shenton.
“To see changes in such a short period of time, I was surprised,” she said. “I was betting, quite frankly, that we wouldn’t see any changes between pre- and postseason.”
Shenton, who works at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the Neuroscience Division of the V.A. Hospital in Brockton, Mass, added: “When you see brain chemistry changes like this, it’s clear something’s going on. Are some of these people are going to end up with more serious kind of brain injury damage? How sensitive is the brain? How resilient? These are all things we don’t know the answer to these questions.”
Dr. Inga K. Koerte, a researcher who worked alongside Shenton in this part of the study, noted that the changes observed might have been affected by concussions the hockey players sustained earlier in their careers, or evidence of something else altogether. But she, too, suspected that the scans were showing the effects of subconcussive blows sustained during the 2011-12 season.
“You may not need to have a diagnosed concussion to actually have changes in your white matter,” said Koerte, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard and the University of Munich. “It may be that subconcussive blows to your head accumulate over time, so that you develop changes that are similar to those that you get when you have one clinical concussion.”
...In hockey study published Friday, researchers analyzed MR spectroscopy imaging of the brains of the male and female players involved, again using scans taken before and after the season. Those scans showed evidence of neural damage in the brains of the female players not diagnosed with concussions over the course of the season.
“It is very interesting that the damage was found primarily in the women rather than the men,” said Dr. Hugo Théoret of the University of Montreal, who analyzed the MR spectroscopy scans.
Théoret stressed that these findings, too, are preliminary. But he said the evidence of greater damage in the brains of the female players might point to greater susceptibility to concussion among women. (The study published Friday, and other hockey studies, showed higher concussion rates for female players, believed to be a product of women’s smaller necks and lesser ability to withstand whiplash in collisions when compared with men.)
The MR spectroscopy may also show evidence of damage caused by subconcussive blows, Théoret said. He looked at the scans of the 14 female players who had not sustained a diagnosed concussion, and found that most showed a marker for damage in the tissue connecting the two brain hemispheres and is particularly vulnerable to blows to the head.
“Most of those players had a concussion previously in their careers,” Théoret said. “What we could be seeing is damage caused by hits to the head that are subconcussive, but on a concussed brain that is not normal to begin with. If so, it’s very alarming.”
Study Shows Possible Brain Damage Caused by Subconcussive Blows
Read more: http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/ ... lows/?_r=1