Very Important Study About Concussions in Hockey
 

This entire article should be read by anybody playing hockey, football, rugby, or soccer. The pressure to continue playing can be very dangerous.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/sp...medium=Twitter

An important paragraph says:

"That study found concussion rates seven times higher than previously reported. In the study to be published Friday, the male players sustained concussions at three times the rate reported in most previous studies, and the female players at five times the rate reported in most studies. The women also sustained concussions almost twice as frequently as the men, despite rules in women’s hockey designed to curb body checking. The brain scans taken after the season also showed substantive metabolic changes among the majority of players, including those who were not diagnosed with concussions. Researchers said the changes in the brains might be evidence of trauma caused by subconcussive blows. "

Rugby is taking head impacts very seriously now - I posted an article on the forum recently http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread179533.html

Although the injuries are still happening

Welsh rugby player 2 day memory loss after "tackle"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/20541952

Unfortunately, you can't stop dirty playing, even though you see less of it at a professional level. Dirty playing gave me my concussion; I was pretty much spear tackled by a prop twice my size.

Hore's hit was particularly unnecessary. I definitely cringed when I was watching the game.

Often, the injured party has no control over the overly aggressive party but to avoid being near them. Even then, they can chase you down.

Once injured, twice warned.

Thanks for that link, Mark. I have a HUGE amount of anxiety about my little girl's love of hockey. She is nine and I see it getting rougher. It is hard to know what to do. Make her stop something she loves and excels at or let her play and risk getting hurt. Knowing how bad it can be makes it worse. tough to deal with. Tough to know what to do.
What would a good parent do!???

The medical science says to take 2 precautions.

1. Make her wear the best helmet, including face mask, that you can find. The helmet is to reduce impact forces from a fall to the ice or impact with the boards.
2. Do not let her play in a league that allows any body checking at all until she is 14 years old.

14 years old is when the brain tissue is finally properly protected with myelin. Unfortunately, girls in the young teens have the most struggles with prolonged concussion symptoms. If you can convince a girls league to ban all body checks even during the older ages, it will make for some exciting skating and stick skill hockey.

There are rugby leagues that are becoming "Touch rugby" leagues.

There are some who are trying to stop heading the ball in soccer, especially younger than 14.

Hopefully, as she gets older, the leagues will become more concerned about head injuries.

I wince now about all the times my head got hit in sports - rugby, football cricket - let alone alone all the other rough and tumble stuff that kids get up to and the daft things adults do with their toys

:Noooo: ...

interesting article, thanks for sharing

Very Important Study About Concussions in Hockey
 

Thanks for the post Mark. Unfortunately, we continue to see the "suck it up" mentality in sports today. All that we see in the media today are stories asking "when is player X returning to action". No one asks what player X's life will be like 20+ years down the road. I played hockey at a high level and experienced 8 to 10 blows to the head resulting in me blacking out for a short time. The trainer gave me smelling salts and I continued to play. I missed a shift or two but always finished the game. I never missed a game or practice. Fast forward 25 years and I am now challenged in every aspect of my life. My lifestyle has changed dramatically and I am not the same person I once was.

I'm new to this website and have found some great postings which I hope will assist me and my family.

Interesting.

Im wondering what kind of "brain scan" they used to show the metabolic changes.

The scan is usually a Diffusion Tensor Image type of MRI. They look at the changes in white and grey matter. There are some other experimental imaging techniques also being studied.

Mabert,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. You have found a great place to meet others who understand what you are going through.

Please feel free to introduce yourself and tell us about your struggles. There are many tips and techniques that help us live day to day that we can share with you.

My best to you.

Thanks for Sharing Mark. As a former Canadian university hockey player I find that article of particular interest to me. I also find it alarming how female hockey players were observed to have a rate of concussions twice that of men, despite there being no body checking! What's up with that?

Its good to see research like that being done, and hopefully there's lots more to come. I can't help but think when I read about studies like that, that I really wish I was able to participate in a research study. I fully realize there's not much they could do with the results in terms of treatment, but I really wish I knew what was going on. Why is my head taking 1.5+ yrs to recover from one concussion while majority of the population is back within weeks? I know its not cost-effective or practical to offer those tests and advanced scans, etc. clinically but I would love to have answers!

This article is a bit older, but it talks about the tough call of pulling out of contact sports (football) when the concussions start to add up.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/footba...ussion-crusade