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Diary of a concussion: what I learned about head injuries by having one - The Verge


https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/27/1608 ... y-symptoms

Tilda Antonsson
"In the course of a year, Tilda Antonsson suffered from three concussions. The SDHL D now tells hockeysverige.se about the tough road back after the bangs that changed her life - and the risks she had taken by continuing her career in Gothenburg HC. "I do not want to think so much about it. Then I'll be afraid of the ice instead, and then I can get a bang because I'm afraid, says Antonsson.

…There will be only 10 matches in Färjestad season 2014/15. The reason for that was damage. Yes, I was hurt a lot, two concussions. The first brainshake I received on September 27th. I rested for a week, made comeback against the same team and got a new concussion in the same period and minute as the first. Then it stayed for six weeks. I came back, but gave me the beginning of the qualification because of the brain shakes."

"At the beginning, I still thought I was feeling pretty good. Then I and my best friend, Caroline Siik, were at Summerburst here in Gothenburg. I had not felt anything more than I became a bit tired than usual. At the festival I fainted. It was probably too much noise, light and people, everything made it too much for the brain. I said to "Carro", because everything began to flicker, that I now fade. She still got hold of me and let me down.

Although Tilda Antonsson fainted at the festival, she continued to live a fairly ordinary life. "I thought it was a coincidence that I had fainted. Then we were at a festival in Karlstad. The same thing happened, too, that I fainted when we were going home. I hit the head in the asphalt and got a new concussion. In other words, I received three brain shakes in less than a year.

After the last of those three, there were some mornings I did not even get out of bed and sometimes I walked around like a foolish cave man. I could lay on the couch, take it easy and then just said "bang" I got the world's headache. Then just lay down and I slept very much during this time.

Could you work?
For the first time, I was 50 percent sick But I had no permanent employment but just worked extra at different places. I think I did not do that better because I was so stressed that I might not get out of bed and need to call the boss and say that it was a bit of a struggle just that day.

"Actually, I would probably have been 100 percent sick and 100 times, and I did not even know what my name was when I left my job or I did not get up the stairs to the lunch room and stuff. I'm such a freaky skull and really did not want such things to take over.

How did the family take this?
"Just then, I lived with my former boyfriend in Karlstad, but I was able to fully enjoy myself sometimes. At the same time, I do not think he understood how it was. He just thought I was lazy when I was sleeping. I also do not really think Mom and Dad understood at the beginning.

HAD SAME LIGHTS AS SANNY LINDSTRÖM
There was hardly any game at all for Tilda Antonsson last season, just a few live matches with BIK Karlskoga / Filipstad in Division 2.

"I had the same doctor as Sanny Lindström and those who have had the same problem as me. I did the microwave x-ray, did all the tests and went to a psychologist. At this time last year, I was able to do a lot of tests because I had problems with my close-up. I forgot things all the time.

"The doctor I had told her I could not play hockey any more so I was condemned. Then this contest person started running in me "I'll prove I can come back”.

"It took a year before I could start training properly. I started training a little light and thought I felt good even though I had brain fatigue according to the psychologist. He then talked with my manager at Intersport "She may need to walk in five minutes if she feels tired" so he was aware of why I did, that I had to sit in a dark room and then come back. Now it was only once or twice that I needed to sit at the manager's office, shut the door and turn the lamp off to try and get back to life.

"Last year I played with the amateurs at Kristinehamn. It was everything from those who never played hockey before to old hockey players. It still felt pretty good and it was great fun. Then I got up again and when I saw that Gothenburg took the place from Sundsvall, I thought "I might try.” That said, it was an attempt to take place in SDHL for Antonsson.

"Göteborg has a good layout where you can play in Division 1 if you are not in SDHL. We contacted Gothenburg so I started training properly in June, more serious training more than just walking around and "lajja" for an hour once or twice a week.

How are you today?
"I'm actually good," says Göteborgsbacken with a big smile. "I know that I have brain fatigue and how to handle it properly.

Are you not afraid to get more bangs in your head, can you close your career and give you even tougher suites to live with the rest of your life?

Clearly, that might be so, but I do not want to think so much about it. Then I'm instead afraid of the ice, and then I can be scared because I'm afraid.

"Of course I think for once or twice, so I do not come in low against the sarge, because someone can come from behind and push to. Should I have thought that I'm afraid, it can be more dangerous.

You started training in June, how long after are you the others in the team?
"I feel stressed as a fan, but at the same time, I'm not shocking the body either. Then I can break up instead so I can take it step by step.

Clearly, I'm in a hurry with fitness and strength, but the brain is not 100 percent because of fatigue. Maybe that's where I lose the most plus I do not have the strength a hundred or so either. In any case, I'm pretty cool today.

"Then I'm ten kilos lower than what I did in Sundsvall. Then I weighed about 67 kilos, but today I'm happy if I'm 60 kilos.

SDHL-backen tillbaka efter huvudskadorna: ”Det var vissa gånger som jag inte ens visste vad jag hette”
SDHL D back after main injuries: "It was sometimes I did not even know what I was called”
Translated from the original article. Read more http://www.hockeysverige.se/2017/09/29/ ... udskadorna

concussion fears blur state championship week buzz

More dangerous than football? Girls' soccer concussion fears blur state championship week buzz
Girls are being knocked out of games — and classrooms — more often. Reasons and solutions are elusive.
http://www.startribune.com/more-dangero ... 4514113/#1

Study finds concussed brains take longer, must work harder to tackle memory tasks

Scientists from the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior at Nebraska used high-density electroencephalography, or EEG, to map and time electrical activity in the brain among two groups of male athletes – those with a history of concussions, and those without. They discovered that athletes who had suffered concussions at least a year earlier displayed cognitive responses one-tenth to two-tenths of a second slower than those who were concussion-free. In cognitive terms, that gap is "a really big deficit," said Dennis Molfese, professor of psychology at Nebraska and an author of the study.

They also found the post-concussive athletes had to engage larger areas of their brains to complete memory tasks.

"For those with a concussion, at least a year post-injury, their brains haven't figured it out yet," Molfese said.

Because the athletes had, on average, suffered concussions years before the study, and because the results are similar to work Molfese and colleagues published in 2013 to test athletes immediately after a suspected concussion, the new study's results suggest that while noticeable symptoms may subside, cognitive delays may never go away post-concussion.

The findings are another reason concussions should be taken seriously by coaches, trainers, parents and doctors, Molfese said.

"A concussion is brain damage," he said. "The brain's design is incredible; up to a certain point it is able to compensate. But if you keep piling on the injuries, it loses that ability."

Study finds concussed brains take longer, must work harder to tackle memory tasks
Read more: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-11- ... ackle.html

Today's NRP Female Athletes Are Closing The Gender Gap When It Comes To Concussions

"You can detect changes in brain structure even over a year's period," he says. "The question really is in the long run, are those changes predictors of somebody who is going to have a neurodegenerative disease later in life."

Female Athletes Are Closing The Gender Gap When It Comes To Concussions
Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shot ... oncussions

Grace Lee
"But it was actually in 2015 that Lee wanted to approach Murray about playing for South Korea. Lee's school, Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Faribault, Minnesota, hosted the South Korean national team for friendlies in 2015. But Lee wasn't available for action because she was sidelined with a concussion.”

Korean-American hockey player enjoying 'incredible ride' with S. Korean women's team
Read more: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/20 ... 00315.html

Forbes Parts 1 & 2

"But I consider concussions to be a ticking time bomb and an under-reported health epidemic that should raise flags of caution for participants in football, hockey, field hockey and even youth soccer."

How to Defuse Football’s Ticking Time Bomb, Concussions Part 1:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/leighstein ... 4cd42e6934

"The chilling prospect of brain damage occurring because of concussions in collision sports needs to be lessened by concrete action."

Action Points to Combat the Specter of Athletic Concussions Part 2: https://www.forbes.com/sites/leighstein ... 6bb0f01d8b

Kerry Manahi

"As a result of the concussions Manahi now wears tinted glasses as brightness causes her pain. She expects to wear them for life.

She feels anxious and depressed a lot, crowds frustrate her and she struggles with her short term memory.

Her favourite stress relief - sport - was taken away too.

"That was a way of distressing myself and all of a sudden it was taken away from me very abruptly."

On skates since she was a toddler, Manahi was an aggressive player and used to playing against men.

"I've been told I a play like a boy, but I say 'no, I play like me'."

Athlete Kerry Manahi talks recovery after two concussions
Read more: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health ... oncussions

Ashtyn Gooselaw update

Ashtyn Gooselaw

In February Gooslaw packed up and went to a month long pain rehab program at the Mayo Clinic where she learned she had to retrain her brain to deal with the POTS symptoms.
"I can't constantly focus on that and I have to move on with my life," stated Gooselaw.

Gooselaw can't talk about her symptoms even when she doesn't feel well and even got off the medicines.

"There was a box full but we are down to three," said Ashtyn's mom, Lindsey Gooselaw.

Lindsey says her daughter still has bad days but they're significantly less. She says she does have to treat her daughter differently than before and encourage her to do things and not mope around.

"She is a typical teenager for one now, and she is happy," said Lindsey.

Lindsey says she finally got her family back and they celebrated with vacation to Florida. Although it took years, Lindsey says parents should not be afraid to seek a second opinion.

"Keep fighting for answers and the pain is always real," explained Lindsey.


West Fargo teen says she wants others to learn from her concussion journey
Watch video and read more: http://www.valleynewslive.com/content/n ... 10503.html

I am not going to name the school......

I was officiating a varsity high school football game this year when a Winona Health Athetic Trainer signaled us she needed to evaluate a player for a potential concussion based on what she saw as a hit. She recommended he sit....he came back in the next play. I talked to him and he was clearly incoherent. I sent him off, only to have the coach send him back out the next play. Under MSHSL rules we had to let him play.....the MSHSL does lip service, at best, for concussions. Monitor your kids and err on the side of safety. Your coach may not.

Olivia Bizal

CONCUSSIONS FORCE BLAKE’S OLIVIA BIZAL TO HANG UP HER SKATES
One of the top goalies in Minnesota made the tough decision to forgo hockey for health
Read more: http://www.stateofhockey.com/news_article/show/854872

CONCUSSIONS IN GIRLS’ HOCKEY
Female hockey players are two times more like to suffer a concussion than male hockey players.

11/10/2017, 10:15am CST By Kim McCullough, M.Sc, YCS

The topic of concussions and “head shots” in hockey has become a very hot topic as of late, especially in the world of men’s hockey. And while “head shots” aren’t as much of a concern in the female game, concussions are the most common serious injury in women’s hockey. In fact, the NCAA sport with the highest concussion rate (by far) is women’s hockey. Not men’s hockey. Not football.

At the university level, female hockey players suffer one concussion for every 1,000 “exposures” to the game – with each practice and game counting as one exposure. On a team of 20 players, that means one concussion every 50 exposures. With three concussions in my four years at the university, I represented my team well in this area.

The reality is that female hockey players are two times more likely to suffer a concussion than male hockey players and almost three times more likely than football players. Which is pretty amazing for a sport that doesn’t allow full body-checking.

Although statistics on younger players are harder to come by, I would guess that their concussion rate would be just as high (and maybe even higher) than with the women. Girls are having more exposures than ever to the sport – they compete on school teams, club teams, travel teams, Olympic development teams and weekend tournament teams. Girls’ hockey players are playing just as much as the boys – but are getting hurt twice as often.

One injury researcher said, “If the numbers in women’s hockey are even close to correct, they should just stop playing until they figure out how to lower them.” I definitely wouldn’t go that far, but we have to find a way to prevent these potentially devastating injuries from happening.

So what’s the solution? Some companies have come out with new “concussion-proof” helmets – although the research doesn’t fully support their claims. Some people believe that mouthguards will solve the problem, but again, the research doesn’t support the claim that mouthguards help to prevent concussions. I believe there are two critical things that girls’ hockey players and coaches must actively do to prevent concussions:



1. Girls have to be better prepared physically. A lack of strength and conditioning is a big reason for the alarmingly high incidence of concussions in girls’ hockey. The stronger a player is, the better she will be able to hold her ground when she is hit unexpectedly (which is how a large number of concussions happen in girls’ hockey). By building better core stability, balance and overall strength, players are better able to control their bodies in space and withstand the force of impact.

Another important prevention strategy is making sure that players warm up prior to hitting the ice. A proper 10 minute off-ice warm-up will ensure that a player’s mind and muscles are ready for the intensity of the on-ice session – and will go a long way towards preventing all injuries (not just concussions).



2. Girls need to be taught how to take a hit. In every girls’ or women’s game I have ever watched or played, there is always at least one instance where I think, “Good thing we don’t have full body-checking because that player would have been run over.” The female game may not have full body-checking, but girls are going to get hit.

We are doing our players a great disservice by not teaching them how they can protect themselves if (and when) they do get hit. If more coaches, teams and associations start showing girls how to take a hit properly, it will go a long way towards preventing concussions, as well as a whole slew of other injuries.

It is our responsibility to make sure that our players are prepared, both physically and mentally, each and every time they step out on the ice. This is the key to solving the concussion problem in girls’ hockey.



To get complete access to articles, videos and secrets that addresses the specific needs of female hockey players, visit: www.totalfemalehockey.com. Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS, is an expert in the development of aspiring female hockey players. She is a former NCAA Division I captain at Dartmouth and played in the National Women’s Hockey League for six years. She is the Founder of Total Female Hockey and the Head Coach of the Toronto-Leaside Jr. Wildcats in the Provincial Women’s Hockey League.

Photo: Nick Wosika
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Haley Irwin Concussions

Irwin has dealt with numerous injuries in her quest to continue an otherwise decorated career. She suffered her first concussion just prior to the Sochi Olympics while playing against a boys' midget AAA team in Calgary.

"In one of our last midget series games I got hit from behind awkwardly," Irwin said. "The guy who hit me felt terrible. He helped me get up and I was able to skate off the ice fine, but he felt so bad in that moment. It was a fluke play. It was unfortunate."

Consequently, Irwin was limited to just two games in Sochi, but managed to pick up an assist.

"I tried to come back earlier and it just wasn't there," Irwin said. "There is a timeline we have to deal with and at that point and there were discussions on whether or not I'd be able to play a game. If I couldn't, they needed to bring in an alternate. It was crushing and there's not much you can do. If I'm not 100 per cent, it's not fair to the rest of the team."

The decision was to place her on the roster in hopes she could get into the Games.

Irwin believes she could have played in Canada's third game, but team officials wanted to be sure she was 100 per cent healthy so they held her out until the semifinal. Irwin played that game and in the gold medal game.

"One extra game off meant a couple of days and a couple of days in that kind of a recovery can truly make a difference," Irwin said.

..."After Sochi, I come home and I am feeling healthy," Irwin said. "I was having a good first half with the Inferno and then I suffered a concussion. I have never hit my head so hard and it put me out for nine months.”

Irwin said she could have soldiered on and dealt with her hip issue after the season. But following discussions with the folks that run Hockey Canada, it was in everybody's best interest, especially hers, that she got healthy from head-to-toe.

Serious injuries take a toll on the mind, Irwin said.


Canada's Haley Irwin will play key role in pursuit of Olympic gold
Veteran forward missed almost 2 full seasons due to injuries
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/bro ... -1.4394005

Concussion Tool created by Wayzata junior Stephanie Garvis

“I don’t think people realize the seriousness of a brain injury,” said Garvis. “I think it’s really important to educate the community about how to address concussions.”

After investigating concussions and giving a presentation to coaches and managers of the Wayzata Youth Hockey Association (WYHA), Garvis and her dad developed the idea of creating a bag tag that would put the most important signs and symptoms of concussions in the hands of all players and coaches.

Most concussions in youth sports occur without a medical professional nearby. In some cases, such as skating outdoors, riding bikes or other kids’ activities, there aren’t even adults around when kids incur concussions. Therefore, it’s critical that both coaches and players are able recognize the signs and symptoms of concussions so they can be identified immediately. The bag tags provide a cost-effective way to deliver a simple and highly visible reminder on concussions to all participants.

“It’s really important that each individual player knows how to identify a concussion to get them the help they need as soon as possible,” said Garvis. “It’s about getting help so you can get back into the game as soon as possible.”

Golden Effort Leads to Clever Concussion Tool
Read more: http://www.minnesotahockey.org/news_art ... =hootsuite

link 477 student athletes

477 student-athletes died from suicide between 2003-2013, according to a University of Washington study

Few student-athletes with mental illness seek help
http://college.usatoday.com/2017/07/21/ ... seek-help/

Annabel Sangree Concussion

Annabel Sangree
A team of researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy that studied concussions among high-school athletes concluded in a 2014 report that the rise in diagnoses resulted from greater awareness among coaches, parents and athletes and not “an overdiagnosis of insignificant hits to the head.” Some of those hits may be the by-product of year-round, single-sport play that many young athletes engage in, generating more bodily hurts of all kinds. “If you’re seeing more overuse injuries, you’ll probably see more concussions,” Nowinski said. And research suggests that concussions are still underreported. An exhaustive 2013 study by the Institute of Medicine on concussions in youth sports summarized the cultural barriers to reporting like this: “Youth profess that the game and the team are more important than their individual health and that they may play through a concussion to avoid letting down their teammates, coaches, schools, and parents.”

...Some parents of concussed kids go on, like Coyne, to become activists. The majority who don’t are left on their own to manage the uncertain aftermath, including their own fears. Sarah Sangree remembers when her sixth-grade daughter, Annabel, clanged helmets with another ice-hockey player and damaged her head. That evening Sangree panicked, checking on Annabel every few hours to make sure she didn’t die in her sleep. The injury turned out to be mild, and Annabel missed just three days of school. “As concussions go, we were incredibly lucky,” Sangree said.

One mother whose three children all suffered from concussions in high school stressed how terrifying it can be for parents to think about the damage they can cause to the brain. She also expressed some regret that she was so willing to put her kids at risk of such a serious injury just so they could play sports.

Coyne believes that states and schools will get serious about preventing concussions in high-school sports when more parents and players start to sue. She thinks that insurance companies also might start to balk at the concussion risk in some sports, and require schools to implement stricter protocols in exchange for coverage. And as the science of brain injuries in adolescents advances, the damage caused by sports-related concussions and lesser hits to the head among the young will become too incontrovertible to ignore. Nowinski thinks that much depends on what people will accept from the federal government. “It might seem odd for the federal government to be regulating sports, but they do regulate children’s-health issues,” he said. “I expect we’ll eventually see something if sports don’t put the health of the player first.”


How Students' Brains Are in Danger on the Field
Recent research makes clear the drastic effects of head injuries on young athletes, and advocates are asking states and schools to do more.

Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/a ... ld/536604/

Kalley Armstrong Concussion


Western University Women’s Hockey Assistant Coach Kalley Armstrong

The research push is long overdue, said Armstrong, who was sidelined from school and the ice for a year after a concussion.

“I wouldn’t want to see anyone else go through that. I couldn’t even be outside when the sun was out,” she said.

“It’s an invisible injury.”

After years on the ice, and plenty of hits, Wickenheiser is glad concussions are finally getting the attention they deserve. She wants to change the culture around concussions in sport, specifically women’s hockey.

“It’s important for young female athletes to pay attention,” she said.

“Even a mild hit can be a severe one.”

Western University’s annual symposium on sports concussions, See The Line, is underway for the fifth year
Read more: http://www.lfpress.com/2017/08/16/weste ... fifth-year

Mackenzie Stone

Even now, 7 months from when I got cleared, I can’t say I’m the same as I was before. Just being in the same place, the same school is a constant reminder of what I had to live with. I feel like I am living a never ending loop of my concussion. I have to use a special blue light screen on my laptop. If I do too much school work in a day, I will feel it. I can’t cram before tests or I will get a migraine. Maybe it will be better when I take time off school and really let my body rest but then again, no one can guarantee that for me. I can’t say that I personally will ever be the same person that I was before my concussion either. I’m still not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. I think it’s just different.

Concussions : What they are Like, not just What they are
https://birthmarked.blog/2017/05/10/con ... -they-are/

Katie Weatherson

My name is Katie Weatherston. I won a Gold Medal in the 2006 Olympics in Turin Italy with the women’s hockey team. Shortly after the Olympics, I went to a Team Canada training camp where I got cross checked from behind and went head first into the boards. I shook the hit off and kept playing, but I had the Team Canada doctor access me in between periods to be safe. I passed the few tests and was put back into the game. I then collided with a player at centre ice for blow #2 to the head and kept playing. The third blow to my head happened at a face off. My head grazed the other centre’s head and it felt like I hit a brick wall.

Two days later, I felt the full effects of the concussion and ended up in the ER with neck pain and nausea. I missed the next 3 months of hockey. I woke up daily feeling like I had a weight in my brain. When I walked up stairs I would get a head rush and when I tried to ease back into working out I would get head pressure and my ears would pop. I missed 1 month of university as I could not focus and read and study. Unfortunately, my head would never be the same. In December of 2008, I had a minor fall on the ice. I caught an edge and fell to my side. My head didn’t even hit the ice, but I felt my brain move side to side inside my head. I knew I had another concussion. This was the last time I played hockey as I wouldn’t recover from this concussion.

My brain feels like it is a soft egg and I am susceptible to concussions. For 2 years, I could not wear thin sandals as on heel strike my brain would rattle. I didn’t wear hats as this hurt my head. Hair ties too tight would agitate me. I avoid walking on concrete sidewalks as concrete is hard and it agitates my brain. I walk on asphalt and grass as much as possible. Recently, I fell to my knee and I felt my brain move again ‘splish splash’. It’s so frustrating to have to be cautious and conscientious of everything you do and always be thinking about your head. When I am in a boat, I have to stand up to absorb the waves or my brain rattles.

Every day, for the last 8 years, I have had headaches, jaw, neck and head tension and pain. This has led me to have many dark days. I have battled depression, anxiety and chronic pain. I have taken courses on coping with a disability. I feel trapped in an athletic and young body. Some days I feel hopeless and sad. I miss being an athlete and miss being able to lift things and do simple house chores and yard work like shoveling snow. I also had to give up my career as an elementary school teacher and I cannot work full time. This is hard to accept at the young age of 25 or now even at 34.

This is Katie, here is her Story.
https://birthmarked.blog/2017/09/13/thi ... her-story/

"It takes a toll on your body," Packer admitted after watching her teammates battle Team Russia from the stands in the preseason. "I'll be back at the start of December hopefully. It takes that toll and maybe you adjust the way you play to take care of yourself, but I don't think I'm going to change anything about the way I play because it's part of what makes me successful.”

You could say that Packer's style of play is a snow shower in the face of naysayers who claim that the women's game is inferior to men's hockey because there's no hitting. Make no mistake, women's hockey is a contact sport filled with net-front battles, chaos in the corners, scrums after the whistle and hitting.

Yes, hitting.

"If you watch a U.S. versus Canada game they hit," Packer explained. "You can't open ice body check, but they get into fights and rip people's helmets off. If you watch a game at that level, and some of the games at our level, there's very little difference in the men's game and the women's game except that you can't line somebody up at center ice.

"Playing the body and pinching somebody off are part of the game."

..."You learn to play that way because if you're not physical in college, you won't be successful," Packer explained. "You have to learn how to protect the puck and use your body. (The officials) recognize that you're an athlete, female or not, and hockey involves body contact.”

Inside the NWHL: Madison Packer and the Physical Toll of Women’s Hockey
http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/news/ma ... fhsk56hrvb

Began taking painkillers for a hockey injury to his shoulder

Bowing under the weight of Utah opioid deaths, Salt Lake County officials on Monday announced plans to sue the pharmaceutical industry over the havoc the drugs have wreaked on people and public services.

The lawsuit would seek financial damages — possibly tens of millions of dollars — sufficient to repay the county for criminal justice, drug treatment and social service costs incurred by addressing the widespread damage that comes with opioid addiction.

The systems are overwhelmed, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams said, and the toll on families is heartbreaking.

...CDC data show that 91 Americans die every day from opioid overdoses.

Salt Lake County residents Dennis and Celeste Cecchini stood alongside McAdams and cheered the effort to go after pharmaceutical companies, who knew about the risks of their drugs, the mayor said, but failed to protect the public.

Tennyson Cecchini, his father said, began taking painkillers for an injury to his shoulder while playing hockey and could never break free from the drugs.

“He was in a death spiral for 10 years,” Dennis Cecchini said. “It’s time for Big Pharma to start paying for the treatment that is necessary to save our children.”

Salt Lake County to sue Big Pharma over the toll of opioid addiction
Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/201 ... addiction/

Important legal case regarding NCAA concussion settlement which has no medical monitoring provisions specific to female athletes

A little-noticed but unprecedented court ruling could rip the lid off the NCAA's concussion settlement by putting a fundamental question back on the legal table: Does the organization that covers collegiate sports have a duty to care for its athletes?

Until now, courts have essentially said no and held schools, rather than the NCAA itself, responsible for athletes' care. But a legal challenge by a former Hofstra lacrosse player got a green light in court in September, and that might affect the NCAA's $75 million concussion settlement, which has been awaiting final approval since July 2016.

The NCAA first agreed in 2014 to settle concussion litigation filed by its athletes when it agreed to create a $70 million, 50-year fund to test current and former players for neurological problems and dedicate $5 million to brain injury research. As part of the settlement, the NCAA assented to major changes in its injury protocols: It would begin preseason baseline testing for all athletes, require schools to have concussion-trained medical personnel at all contact-sport games and ban athletes with concussions from returning to play on the day of their injuries.

After questioning by U.S. District Judge John Lee, lawyers for both sides in the settlement revised the deal to make it clear that athletes who play the same sport can still take legal action against individual colleges. (Football players at a particular university, in other words, can still sue that school.) Lee allowed that new version of the agreement to go forward nearly 18 months ago. But about 4.1 million current or former players will be eligible for the settlement, and it has taken longer than expected to contact them all. One reason: The NCAA had to send more than 400 subpoenas to schools to get contact information for their students. As a result, Lee has pushed back the settlement's ultimate approval date. He recently rescheduled its final fairness hearing from Nov. 28 to March 1.

In the meantime, 22 athletes have filed objections to the settlement. Many want the deal to pay for medical expenses, which the settlement does not compensate, or the athletes claim that plaintiffs' lawyers are asking for too much money. But three objectors say the settlement doesn't address their particular circumstances: lacrosse players Samantha Greiber, who played at Hofstra; Marissa Spinazzola, now at Division II Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York; and Lacey Donlon, formerly at St. Joseph's College, a Division III school in Patchogue, New York.

To date, those arguments have been very successful: Nearly all would-be plaintiffs have either backed off or folded their lawsuits into the massive class-action suit the NCAA is now settling.

The NCAA moved earlier this year to dismiss Greiber's case. But in a legal shocker, New York Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Brown denied the NCAA's request. On Sept. 5, he wrote: "The court finds that the defendant NCAA owed a duty of reasonable care to the plaintiff." Brown held that because the NCAA has significant control over sports rules and equipment at its member schools and requires them to have concussion protocols, it is "charged with carrying out these functions with reasonable care."

...While Brown's decision to let Greiber's case go forward hasn't made many headlines, his ruling that the NCAA owed her a "duty of reasonable care" could be highly potent. Once it is established that the NCAA owes reasonable care to athletes, legal cases such as Greiber's will be about facts on the ground: whether the NCAA discharged that duty in specific circumstances. That could be dangerous for the NCAA, which didn't have any concussion guidelines until 2010, instituted its new rules only because of the litigation it was facing and has never disciplined a school for returning an injured athlete to play. Greiber's affidavit states: "The NCAA did not effectively research, monitor, assess or review the available data, nor did it implement or enforce any ... guidelines, protocols or requirement that would have prevented my severe concussive injuries."

That's why some of the parties involved in the NCAA settlement think their negotiations will have to take note of the Greiber group objections. The current version of the deal contains no requirements or guidelines particular to women, basically because the experts consulted by the lead plaintiffs' attorneys didn't say any were necessary. As Robert Cantu, professor of neurosurgery at Boston University and a leading concussions expert, puts it: "We did not include provisions specific to female athletes in the medical monitoring program. Maybe we should have."

...Undecided will be whether the NCAA is inoculated and whether the message delivered by the New York court means the pending settlement might have to include more protections for women's lacrosse players or all female athletes.

...More broadly, the concussion settlement can change in any way the NCAA, the plaintiffs and Judge Lee agree to. Some advocates are sensing a chance to leverage a new sense of the NCAA's responsibilities into more thorough guarantees about research, equipment design and return-to-play protocols for all female athletes.

"The NCAA has an incredible opportunity at this moment to lead the way in female-specific education, coaching and care for brain injury," said Katherine Snedaker, founder of Pink Concussions in Norwalk, Connecticut. "Female athletes are not small men. As the military has had to adjust standards and safety gear as women's roles have changed, so should sports."

Legal ruling adds intrigue to NCAA concussion settlement
Read more: http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id ... settlement

Bizal isn't the only one nor is she the last one who will retire due to concussions

NDSU Alum and athletic trainer
"I pulled a female hockey player for a concussion (as the sub. ATC). She caught up with me last year and told me that she had to retire after that due to concussions. She will be grateful later."
https://mobile.twitter.com/lookatthefish1

Catie Skaja Concussion & Katie Calliguri back injury

New Prague was forced to carry on without its star players, but the Faribault High School girls hockey team was unable to capitalize on the road.

The host Trojans (1-2) were without Division 1 collegiate prospects University of Minnesota commit forward Catie Skaja and lost Sacred Heart University commit Katie Calliguri to a back injury in the second period. Despite it, New Prague downed Faribault (0-2) 5-2 at the New Prague Community Center.

…Lang scored again to cut FHS’ deficit to 4-2 with 2:53 remaining in the game, but it was too little, too late. Blair poured in two more goals to complete a hat trick, filling the void left behind by Skaja who expects to return to New Prague soon after sustaining a concussion in recent weeks.

FHS girls hockey downed by shorthanded New Prague
http://www.southernminn.com/faribault_d ... 4b5d1.html

Evidence For Higher Concussion Vulnerability In Women

Study results from in vitro rat and human cells, examined using transmission electron microscopy, revealed that women have leaner and more breakable nerve fibers than men. Their axons also possess fewer and more fragile microtubules, the "train tracks" that guide intracellular transport of molecules.

“The paper shows us that there is a fundamental, anatomical difference between male and female axons,” Smith said. “In the male axon, there are a great number of microtubules, which make the entire structure stronger, whereas in female axons, it’s more of a leaner type of architecture, so it’s not as strong.”

Following a traumatic impact to the head, axons are rapidly stretched to the point of rupturing microtubules. The resulting molecular imbalance is believed to produce the dizziness, confusion, headache and loss of consciousness associated with concussions.

Anatomical differences appear to be a key factor in the greater destabilization found in women.

“You can imagine that if something goes wrong with that transport system, the cargos get dumped out and start to pile up and that will create a huge problem,” Smith said.

Twenty-four hours after the test trauma, researchers found that female axons had a greater number of swellings and loss of calcium-signaling function than male axons. A buildup of proteins may be responsible for setting in motion a destructive enzyme function that degrades axons and compromises nerve fibers.

The study carries added significance because women who play the same sports as men often suffer worse concussion outcomes in the short- and long-term.


Penn Study Spots Evidence For Higher Concussion Vulnerability In Women
Read more: http://www.phillyvoice.com/penn-study-f ... ity-women/