Monday, August 11, 2014

Concussions Can Be Serious-- Ya' Think?




     After my traumatic brain injury, I used to think frequently that "Not so many people give a crap about concussions or about t.b.i." That changed. First there was some news about our veterans returning from the battlefields with brain injuries. [I do have several relatives involved with the Wounded Warrior Project]. Then people decided to get excited about concussions in professional sports and in high school football.

     Attention can be a good thing. Awareness gets raised that way and suddenly one community passes a law about bicycle helmets. Another implements guidelines for high school athletes who get their heads banged in the field. 

     But attention can also be not so good. When the populace is not exposed to original research-- and don't know how to interpret it if the data was made available-- articles written for common folks can be mystifying and contradictory. In the references below, articles have maintained that either location of impact has little to no impact upon outcome or that top of the head impact is worse than other areas and is more likely to cause unconsciousness. Or that high school football players are most at risk for permanent cognitive effects. 

     Do you want to believe the professional athlete who has had three concussions and is not fazed by the idea that a fourth can end his career? Or do you want to believe those folks who are no longer able to work after what was initially diagnosed as a "brain bruise," "a concussion," "post-concussive syndrome," or nothing? Or the guy in the sailboat race who was hit hard by the boon in an accident, gets hospitalized for several weeks and almost dies, can return to work but is told he cannot ever sail again? Another injury to his head like the last one may well be his last one.

     The thing is, every head injury looks different. Whether it is a concussion-- a brain injury with no lasting effects-- or a brain injury that is judged to be a traumatic brain injury (which has lasting effects), or an acquired brain injury (from stroke or brain tumor removal etc.), every single head injury looks different. The t.b.i. survivor who did not lose consciousness at all may in fact be more permanently disabled than the survivor who arrived to the emergency room unconscious. Add to that, the reluctance of the adolescent to admit to having cognitive symptoms or how badly his or her head hurts and the denial of the professional athlete who figures the glory of the game is of higher priority than the integrity of the brain.

sapphoq healing traumatic brain injury says: Those of us who have had brain damage know how serious any injury to the head can be. We also know that repeated concussions can alter brain functioning permanently. 

     

References:

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/


http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/2014/aug/10/monday-medical-concussion-tools-help-recovery/
        The article that I liked the best.



http://www.empr.com/for-concussion-outcomes-impact-location-has-limited-effect/article/365564/

http://www.designntrend.com/articles/17823/20140811/football-concussions.htm

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/11/us-concussions-football-high-school-idUSKBN0GB07C20140811

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/280869.php



http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/HeadsUp/index.html

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/blasting-away-at-concussions-270711161.html?cx_navSource=d-tiles-2



http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/135137/lowery-no-reservations-after-concussion

http://www.thefalcoholic.com/2014/8/9/5987021/dwight-lowery-returns-to-practice-saturday



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concussion_grading_systems

http://post-concussion-syndrome.com/
         From an attorney website, sorry.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/clinical-updates/general-medical/diagnosing-treating-sports-related-concussion
         Guidelines from the Mayo Clinic re: sports-related concussions in schools.

No comments: