Brain Injuries in Sports

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Sarah Burke, Canadian freestyle skier, four-time Winter X Games Gold Medalist and Olympic gold-medal contender, died yesterday at the age of 29 after complications from an accident at the Park City, Utah halfpipe January 10th. Burke was considered a pioneer in her sport as she successfully lobbied to add superpipe skiing to the Olympic Winter Games.
Continue Reading Sarah Burke, Four-Time Winter X Games Gold Medalist and Olympic Hopeful, Dies at 29

A team of Canadian concussion specialists created an online concussion library full of information and resources for both the public and research and medical professionals. The Sport Concussion Library includes more than 2,300 peer-reviewed journal articles, 61 book chapters, entries on thesis research, concussion legislation on the federal, state and provincial levels, filmed documentaries, and a downloadable SCAT2 test, the standard sideline concussion assessment tool.
Continue Reading Sport Concussion Library: New website offers a wealth of information for the public, as well as medical professionals

A report conducted by ItsMyHealth.com states that researchers recently found that when soccer players “head” the ball, they tend to suffer the same side effects as those who have sustained a concussion. Additionally, if a player repeatedly “heads” the ball, this can result in a concussion like injury and impaired cognitive functioning.
Continue Reading New Research Shows That Soccer Can Cause Concussions and Other Brain Injuries

A new study reports that girls are 68% more likely to suffer a concussion during sports-related activity than boys. A study released by the Journal of Athletic Training showed that girls, during high school and college who played basketball or soccer, suffered significantly more concussions than their male counterparts. The report also stated that boys returned to play sooner than girls did after having suffered a concussion.
Continue Reading Are concussions more dangerous for girls?

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been shown to prove the existence of brain damage which other techniques, such as MRIs, CT scans and x-rays were unable to detect. DTI has the ability to show microscopic damage to the pathways, which messages use when traveling inside the brain.
For the past 10 years, the National Football League and the US military have been using DTI technologies to detect brain injuries, most commonly, concussions.
Continue Reading Defense Attorneys Question the Validity of Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Thanks to support from Senator Robert Menendez and Congressman Bill Pascrell, both of New Jersey, the United States Center for Disease Control & Prevention will launch a new study into sports-related concussions and with those findings, will develop national guidelines for managing sports-related concussions in youth athletes.
Continue Reading Center for Disease Control & Prevention to Conduct Study on Sports-Related Concussions in Youth Athletes

Over the past eight years, the number of emergency room visits by children suffering from brain injuries has increased by more than 60%. According to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, this increased is believed to be a result of increased awareness of the severe effects associated with concussions and other brain injuries.
Continue Reading New Report Indicates an Increase in Concussion Awareness

A new book, The Concussion Crisis: Anatomy of a Silent Epidemic, by Linda Carroll and David Rosner explains a constant theme in our society: protect the sport, not the players. The truth is, for a long time, people just didn’t want to believe that sports-related concussions were an actual danger posing life-threatening injuries to players. However, in recent years, the amount of new information being released highlighting the devastating effects concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries could have on players has brought this long-hidden trend to the forefront of not only the medical community, but also the nation as a whole.
Continue Reading The Concussion Crisis: A new book highlights dangers associated with sports-related concussions

I recently read an interesting article that will be published in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine. The article is entitled “Which On-Field Signs/Symptoms Predict Protracted Recovery from Sport-Related Concussion Among High School Football Players?” The article is by Lau, Kontos, Collins, Mucha and Lovell who are affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Continue Reading New Study Examines Which On-Field Symptoms Predict Protracted Recover from Sport-Related Concussions in High School Football Players