The New York Times | Apr 17, 2019
Ryan Miller was a star lineman on a state championship team in high school and for the University of Colorado Buffaloes, where he set a team record for starts and minutes played. He was an Associated Press third-team all-American and played three years in the N.F.L. Yet the word that jumps most quickly to mind when talking to Ryan Miller is “fragile.” The brutality of the N.F.L. and its malefactions and lack of care for players’ bodies and minds are well known. But the time a player spends in college, including Miller’s tenure in the savage trenches of an offensive line, wreaks great damage, too, and that raises a pointed question: How can universities, places of higher learning that are devoted to the development of young minds and that in some cases spend millions of dollars researching the ill effects of brain injuries, justify running multimillion-dollar football machines that put those brains at risk of lifelong damage?
The Baltimore Sun | Apr 17, 2019
“After the injury, it became very difficult to move my body,” recalls Nirali Chauhan. “It kind of felt foreign to me. I felt very dizzy and nauseous when I did move. So that inactivity led to a lot of weakness in my body, and that’s something that I still struggle with today.” Chauhan then found yoga sessions operated by LoveYourBrainthat has helped Chauhan become physically active once again.
Military.com | Apr 16, 2019
The Department of Veterans Affairs' benefits evaluation system for service-connected head injuries ignores several symptoms associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and should reflect the most updated medical knowledge, according to a report released on April 10th. In a review of the VA's process for evaluating and awarding disability compensation for TBI, a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine panel said the overall process should be made clearer to patients and include input from providers trained in recognizing TBI.
Forbes | Apr 16, 2019
Studying cannabis is really, really, difficult in the United States. Just ask Dr. Sue Sisley, who has spent the last ten years trying to complete the first clinical trial of cannabis use for PTSD in veterans. The study finished its groundbreaking research earlier this year after it was approved by the FDA all the way back in 2011. Dr. Sisley overcame multiple obstacles to complete the study, including being fired from her job at the University of Arizona.
Evening Standard | Apr 16, 2019
"When I succumbed to post-traumatic stress disorder, I wasn’t a soldier or a war correspondent. My life has, on the surface, seemed very pedestrian. This immediately disqualifies me from the popular conception of a PTSD sufferer as someone endlessly recalling bullets and bombs." Post-traumatic stress disorder affects 5.1 percent of women in London. Isabel Hardman explains how she learned to cope.
Health Day | Apr 16, 2019
New treatments mean aneurysms are no longer an automatic death sentence, specialists say. Aneurysms used to carry a high probability of death, but many can now be treated before they pose a serious threat. "If detected early, there are new interventions like a minimally invasive catheter-based procedure to treat the condition," said Dr. Ali Azizzadeh. He is director of vascular surgery at Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Doctors used to have to fix a blood vessel by hand, which meant open surgery and the risks that go along with it. "Today, we can fix the problem from the inside, without always having to open up the patient," Azizzadeh said in a hospital news release.
The New York Times | Apr 15, 2019
More than 3 million Americans live with disabling brain injuries. The vast majority of these individuals are lost to the medical system soon after their initial treatment, to be cared for by family or to fend for themselves, managing fatigue, attention and concentration problems with little hope of improvement. On Saturday, a team of scientists reported a glimmer of hope. Using an implant that stimulates activity in key areas of the brain, they restored near-normal levels of brain function to a middle-aged woman who was severely injured in a car accident 18 years ago.
The New York Times | Apr 15, 2019
Experimental brain scans of more than two dozen former N.F.L. players found that the men had abnormal levels of the protein linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease associated with repeated hits to the head. Using positron emission tomography, or PET, scans, the researchers found “elevated amounts of abnormal tau protein” in the parts of the brain associated with the disease, known as C.T.E., compared to men of similar age who had not played football. The results of the study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, are considered preliminary, but constitute a first step toward developing a clinical test to determine the presence of C.T.E. in living players, as well as early signs and potential risk.
Popular Science | Apr 15, 2019
Concussions aren’t like broken bones: There’s no foolproof way to diagnose the common brain injuries. That’s a challenge for coaches and athletic trainers, who regularly decide whether a knock to the head means an athlete has to leave a game. That’s why tests that can offer quick answers are tempting. However, only a handful of devices and other tools are actually approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to assess head injuries. This week, the agency warned consumers against using phone or tablet applications that claim to identify suspected concussions.
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs | Apr 15, 2019
There was a time, following a series of brain surgeries for bleeding on the brain, that Army Veteran Cathy Davis had trouble talking in ways people could understand her. Walking and getting around in her wheelchair either at home or out in the community was a major challenge. Now through years of therapy, the Colorado native who lives in suburban Maryland leads a very full, active life.
Cohen Veterans Bioscience | Apr 9, 2019
Cohen Veterans Bioscience today announces findings from a study which identifies a critical brain imaging biomarker that may help guide people who suffer from PTSD towards the most effective treatment. The study, entitled “Using fMRI Connectivity to Define a Treatment-Resistant Form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” and funded in part by CVB, appears in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The study is the first to demonstrate that PTSD patients can be reproducibly stratified into distinct groups based only on their biological signature, or biotype.
Newsweek | Apr 9, 2019
Researchers at John Hopkins University have found that the psychedelic drug MDMA reawakens a critical period in brain development in mice—a finding that casts new light on why the substance may be helpful in treating some people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to a study published in the journal Nature, just a single dose of MDMA helps to re-open this critical period—think of it as a kind of window—in adult mice. During the window, the brain is more sensitive to environmental stimuli and social interaction is more rewarding.
The Conversation | Apr 9, 2019
Thrombectomy is a revolutionary stroke treatment where the offending clot is literally sucked out of the patient’s brain. This is the story of the first thrombectomy in Europe told by the surgeon who performed it.
GatesNotes | Apr 9, 2019
Bill Gates thinks we’re close to finding a reliable, affordable, and easy-to-use diagnostic for Alzheimer’s. Gates recently met a researcher Rhoda Au who is working on some seriously cool ways to detect Alzheimer’s. If her research proves successful, we might one day predict whether you will get the disease by simply listening to the sound of your voice or watching how you write with a pen.
Vocie of America | Apr 9, 2019
Venom from a dangerous spider could give stroke patients a better chance of survival, according to researchers at the University of Queensland. A bite from the Fraser Island funnel-web spider can kill a person in 15 minutes, but its venom could be used to develop a drug to prevent brain damage. Scientists say the toxins can shut off a pathway in the brain that triggers the widespread death of cells after a stroke. Clinical trials are some way off, but the team says that experiments with rodents have been successful.
Dallas News | Apr 8, 2019
"ConTex2," a data-collection program created in 2016 by the UIL and UT Southwestern Medical Center to track suspected concussions, is approaching a critical point, leaving more questions than answers about the future of the study. Some members of the UIL medical advisory committee voiced those questions during an update from UT Southwestern researchers at Sunday's biannual meeting. The project's researchers, led by Dr. Hunt Batjer, the chair of the department of neurological surgery at UT Southwestern, reported that 28 percent of UIL schools were enrolled in ConTex2, but only seven percent of schools had actually participated. In short: there wasn't enough data to make accurate interpretations.
Linn County Leader (MO) | Apr 8, 2019
Armed with more than $5.1 million in federal funds, researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology and Phelps Health are helping the U.S. Army tackle the persistent problem of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among soldiers and recruits. Funded by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory through the Leonard Wood Institute (LWI), the Army’s research arm at the nearby Fort Leonard Wood post, Missouri S&T scientists and engineers will take a variety of approaches to address the issue. They hope their efforts will help the Army detect TBIs sooner and more accurately, prevent TBIs during basic training, and help the military better understand the causes of brain trauma. Their research could lead to new TBI detection tools for use on the battlefield or in training.
KATU News (OR) | Apr 5, 2019
Researchers are studying the link between mental health and concussions. Doctors from across Oregon say studies are showing traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) do have an impact on mental health, but more research is necessary to figure out if there's any correlation between concussions and suicide. "I think it’s really important for everybody to realize that mental health issues are a very important aspect of concussions, particularly those that take a lot longer to recover," Dr. Jim Chesnutt, the medical director of the OHSU Concussion Program, said.
Vox | Apr 4, 2019
The science is clearer than ever: Exposure data shows children as young as 9 are getting hit in the head more than 500 times in one season of youth tackle football. That should not feel normal to us. Our society is committed to protecting children — that's why we ban smoking, remove children from homes with lead paint, and force parents to put their children in car seats. We should also protect children from unnecessary brain damage in youth sports.
The Spokesman-Review | Apr 4, 2019
Some people will shake off a mild concussion. They'll take it lightly or even ignore it. But research being done among military patients, with a lead researcher from the University of Washington, is showing that those mild brain injuries can have a lasting effect on mental health. A long-term study of brain injuries among military service members, along with advances in imaging technology, has helped researchers connect more dots between brain injury and mental health.
Stanford Medicine | Apr 4, 2019
Concussion researchers have long suggested that damage to the corpus callosum, a thick bundle of nerves that connects the brain's two halves, could result in some common side effects of concussion, like dizziness or vision problems. The assumption is straightforward — that damage to the corpus callosum could affect coordination between the two halves — but difficult to prove. Although still not proof, Stanford researchers have gathered evidence to support the idea by combining data from sensors worn by athletes, simulations of brain movement based on those measurements and brain images of people with and without concussions.
KBIA | Apr 4, 2019
On this edition of Let's Talk About It, from the ongoing series Making a Difference, we meet Anthony Charles Norris. While Norris was in Helmand Province Afghanistan on foot patrol with U.S. Marines, an Improvised Explosive Device, an IED blast, sent shrapnel into Norris' body, and concussive waves into his brain. "Memory loss, irritability, anger, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and the list continues. And so being in combat with a brain injury, I didn't know I had a brain injury", said Norris. "The deficiencies did not really kick in till I got home."
KSTP News | Apr 3, 2019
Former Minnesota Duluth men's hockey player Andrew Carroll was found to have Stage I CTE, according to a report released by Boston University on Monday. The neurodegenerative brain disease was found after Carroll took his own life in early 2018, according to family members.
HealthDay | Apr 3, 2019
A dementia study has led researchers to a brain region that processes spoken, not written, words. Northwestern University researchers worked with four patients who had a rare type of dementia called primary progressive aphasia (PPA), which destroys language. Although able to hear and speak, they could not understand what was said out loud. Through their tests with these patients, the researchers were able to identify an area in the left brain that appears specialized to process spoken words.
City (UK) | Apr 3, 2019
University of London researchers and people with aphasia have created the MakeWrite app to support users in producing creative writing, including poetry. Drawing on the themes of constrained creativity and ‘Blackout Poetry', MakeWrite enables users to choose a piece of text, redact or erase some of the text, arrange the remaining words, and then share the text with friends or via social media. The app is currently available for free download at the Apple Store.
Glamour | Apr 3, 2019
You never really imagine seeing your name and the words death, coma, and paralysis on the same page until you do—until you get a letter from your neurosurgeon that says all of those things alongside the words brain aneurysm. My first thought was that I had to give my aneurysm a name, a personality, some flare to make her exciting. I call her Annie. You may think this is an odd reaction to finding out you are a 23-year-old with a brain aneurysm.
TMC News | Apr 3, 2019
In an essay published last week in The New Yorker, actor Emilia Clarke—who stars in the HBO television series Game of Thrones—revealed that she has survived two brain aneurysms. "Just when all my childhood dreams seemed to have come true, I nearly lost my mind and then my life. I've never told this story publicly, but now it's time," she wrote. The first ruptured in 2011, just after she finished filming the pilot season of her soon-to-be hit show.
The Daily Bruin | Apr 2, 2019
UCLA researchers discovered that a gene could suppress stroke recovery and traumatic brain injury recovery. Stanley Carmichael, the chair of the neurology department, and Alcino Silva, a psychology professor, found that blocking the function of the CCR5 gene leads to better cognitive and motor skill recovery after a stroke or traumatic brain injury. “We have recognized for a long time that the process for recovery for stroke looks a lot like the process of forming new memories,” Carmichael said. Silva said CCR5 acts as a suppressor during the formation of new memories to stop the brain from remembering every detail.
The Daily Evergreen | Apr 2, 2019
A bill in the Washington State Legislature would raise awareness about the connection between domestic violence and a person’s increased risk of a TBI. SB 5573 would require health services and law enforcement to recognize probable TBIs in abuse victims. It also would educate people about TBIs through informational handouts. The handouts would include an explanation of the potential for domestic abuse to lead to a brain injury, a self-screening tool used for evaluating TBI symptoms and resources for people with a TBI, according to the Senate bill report.
The Union Times | Apr 2, 2019
It all started with a question: Should you be driving after a concussion? To find the answer, John Lucas, MD, began to study the driving reaction times of those who suffered a concussion. “We have intensive protocols for when student-athletes should return to play, or return to the classroom, but nothing for driving,” said Dr. Lucas, head of the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System’s Sports Medicine Institute. “They leave the office, get behind the wheel of a car, and drive home.” Dr. Lucas partnered with Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) in 2016 to study teens who had recently suffered from a concussion using a driving simulator. The simulator judged their reaction times when it came to hitting the brakes in different driving scenarios.
Yahoo! Sports | Apr 2, 2019
There were grave concerns for Fabian Schar as both sets of players rushed over to the motionless Switzerland defender during last month's Euro 2020 qualifier. Schar was knocked unconscious after clashing heads with Georgia's Jemal Tabidze – opponent Jano Ananidze using his fingers to prevent the Newcastle United star's tongue from obstructing his breathing. Napoli goalkeeper David Ospina also suffered a serious head injury and received on-field treatment during a Serie A match against Udinese. There was also the incident involving Anthony Lopes during Lyon's Champions League clash against Barcelona – the keeper injured as he dived at the feet of Philippe Coutinho. In all three scenarios, the player was cleared to return to the field by team doctors after a three-minute assessment as per FIFA and UEFA protocol – not before Ospina collapsed unconscious during the game and Lopes left Camp Nou clearly struggling – with Schar playing on, much to the dismay of brain injury charity Headway.
Image (UK) | Apr 1, 2019
Brain injuries can cause extensive physical impairment but the lesser known ‘hidden’ disabilities associated with Acquired Brain Injury can be harder to observe."For a year my husband was effectively a stranger to me." Amy and her husband were together for almost 16 years when he suffered a stroke while on holiday in France. Luckily he survived, but his subsequent brain injury had a profound impact on his personality. "My normally kind and patient husband became withdrawn, short-tempered and obsessive. Of course, I was so relieved he was still with us, but I couldn’t really recognise the person I fell in love with anymore."
U.S. News & World Report | Apr 1, 2019
It's a beautiful thing when we can bring together the world's most foremost sports medicine specialists and researchers to talk about and review the research on a particular topic. Such was the case in 2017 when we gathered for a head injury summit in New York. And now, The British Journal of Sports Medicine has released a 10-plus page article of the consensus findings of that important meeting. It's a fantastic read for us clinicians – our hard work, hours of research and clinical outcomes all distilled down to digestible stats and summaries. But I believe this is essential material for public consumption, as well. At each play level, from youth to high school, collegiate to professional, head injuries and concussions are an issue. But how these injuries manifest is worth a look.
Portland Tribune | Apr 1, 2019
Former Parkrose High School football star Jonathan Boland, whose concussion history and tailspin into crime were profiled in the "Rattled" concussion series, is suing the Parkrose School District, alleging that the district committed child abuse and negligence by failing to protect him under Oregon's concussion law. The former quarterback received an athletic scholarship to Portland State University but was unable to play due to the damage caused by his concussions.
The Post & Courier | Apr 1, 2019
The Concussion Legacy Foundation is doing great CTE research work, but needs more brain pledges from football players - the more college football players, the better. This is not just an NFL problem. “It’s clearly a problem for anybody that steps on a college football field,” Dr. Chris Nowinski, co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, said. “We’re just trying to understand why some people develop it and some people do not.” And not just old brains. Young brains harvested from tragic early deaths help in this race to understand such things as genetics and variations. “At this stage of our research,” Nowinski said, “we are interested in any brain of any college football player.”
CNN | Mar 26, 2019
lmost 2 million children and teens -- an average of 283,000 each year -- were seen in emergency rooms across the United States for traumatic brain injuries between 2010 and 2016, according to a new government report. Football, bicycling, basketball, playground activities and soccer were the sports and activities most likely to send children to emergency rooms for TBIs, according to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published earlier this month by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Medical Research Council | Mar 25, 2019
In a new study, researchers were able to detail the atomic structures of the abnormal tau filaments in CTE. The team found that while the tau structures from the patients with CTE were identical, they were also different from those seen in Alzheimer's. This could in future help doctors distinguish between various forms of dementia when diagnosing patients and also furthers understanding of how and why tau forms disease-specific clumps and folds.
Scientific America | Mar 25, 2019
Bryan A. Strange, founder of the Laboratory of Clinical Science at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, is among the researchers looking for leads to tamp down toxic memories. He and his colleagues reported in a Science Advances paper on March 20 that the anesthetic propofol can be used to alter such recollections, if administered in the right circumstances. Their study turned in part on findings that have shown that consolidated memories could be reactivated by asking people to recall them or go where a frightening incident occurred. Such memories can become sensitive to modification for about 24 hours before becoming reconsolidated—locked down again.
The Washington Post | Mar 25, 2019
Abby and TC Maslin had to rebuild their marriage after a 2012 attack left TC with severe brain damage. At the time, the 30-year-old could not conceive of all she had already lost. She and TC were young parents, three years married, with a clear vision of themselves, each other, the life they wanted to build together. Now, the man Abby fell in love with was gone, though his heart was still beating. When her husband finally woke up, he couldn’t speak or walk. Even after relearning those skills, he wouldn’t be the same. And neither would she.
San Francisco Chronicle | Mar 25, 2019
Cedrick Hardman, the 49ers’ unofficial career sack leader who died at 70 on March 8, left instructions to have his brain donated for research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain condition. “He wasn’t dramatically impacted, but he felt there was some change in his functionality over the years,” West said. “He wasn’t sure if it was just getting older, or if it had something to do with football. He felt it was serious enough that it should be figured out. To get to the bottom of it.”
Psychiatry Advisor | Mar 25, 2019
Ketamine was originally approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an anesthetic, but is increasingly being used to treat mood disorders, such as treatment-resistant depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Several studies have also found it to be effective for treating suicidal ideation.
Military Times | Mar 25, 2019
Former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb wants to spread the word about the physical and mental benefits of staying active, especially for veterans suffering from PTSD.“[It] is very much therapeutic,” Webb said. “It puts you in that meditative state. You’re just focused on that moment and … you just have this peace of mind. That’s what it did for me, and I thought, ‘I have a lot of friends who do this too.’” Webb isn’t the only believer in adrenaline as a method of combating the effects of PTSD. Other programs for thrill-seeking veterans help veterans simulate the feelings they experienced more regularly during their deployments.Both medical experts and those who have worked directly with veterans agree that the idea has some merit.
Bangore Daily News (ME) | Mar 25, 2019
A bill that would establish a commission to study and recommend a minimum age for participation in tackle football went through a public hearing last week before the Joint Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs. Brennan cited the presence of data and research linking repeated head blows to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a progressive, neurodegenerative disease that is incurable and discovered only through autopsy.
Computer World (UK) | Mar 25, 2019
The growing evidence of the long-term damage of sports-related brain injuries led World Rugby, the game’s global governing body, to search for a way to better identify and treat concussions. The result was the Head Injury Assessment (HIA), a series of checks to determine whether a player has had a concussion and needs further treatment.
60 Minutes | Mar 18, 2019
Since 2016, dozens of American officials have come home from Cuba and China with unexplained brain trauma. Evidence shows it may be the work of another government using a weapon that leaves no trace. A 2014 statement by the National Security Agency describes the weapon as a "high-powered microwave system weapon that may have the ability to weaken, intimidate, or kill an enemy over time without leaving evidence." The weapon, reports CBS "…is designed to bathe a target's living quarters in microwaves."
Medill Reports Chicago | Mar 18, 2019
Join Medill Newsmakers as we explore a ‘day in the life’ of former NFL running back and Northwestern All-American Mike Adamle and his wife Kim, and learn how a dementia diagnosis attributed to probable CTE changed their life. Hear how the Adamles, along with the Concussion Legacy Foundation and former Northwestern football player Quentin Williams, are influencing the world of post-concussion survivors.
USA Today | Mar 18, 2019
Amid growing research into the dangers of football and declining youth participation rates, former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland and other advocates want to start with what seems like a sensible change. Let's not talk about banning football altogether, they say. Let's just prevent children from playing tackle football until they're 14 years old, when their bodies are better equipped to handle the impact.
Chicago Parent | Mar 14, 2019
In October, the Illinois Bone & Joint Institute released the results of a survey that asked parents about their knowledge of concussions and what they should look for. Seventy-two percent of parents could not identify all of the symptoms of a concussion or chose unrelated symptoms, the survey found. "What I think is tricky about concussions is that no one concussion is the same, often times between individuals, or even the same individual, if they have more than one concussion. So, we really have to be able to recognize all the concussion symptoms," says Dr. Anthony Savino, sports neurologist at Illinois Bone & Joint Institute.
Inverse | Mar 14, 2019
Virginia has just passed a law requiring school athletics programs to put student-athletes’ health first by staying up-to-date on the latest concussion science. While other states have laws about how schools handle traumatic brain injuries, this law takes it a step further. In a move that puts Virginia ahead of most other US states, the law dictates that the Virginia Board of Education must update its guidelines and policies around concussions every two years.
The Washington Post | Mar 14, 2019
The news this week that Kelly Catlin took her own life is the latest tragedy amid a nationwide rise in suicide. Before her death, Catlin had apparently been open about her mental-health struggles and the overwhelming stress that she felt. Catlin had also suffered a concussion that left her struggling to continue to train at a high level. As they engage in the reflection and soul searching that another high-profile suicide rightly demands, Americans pondering what can be done to lower the national suicide rate would do well to consider lessons from what might, at first glance, seem an unlikely source: the U.S. Army.
The Washington Post | Mar 13, 2019
The family of Kelly Catlin, the Olympic cyclist who died by suicide last week at 23, has donated her brain to Veterans Affairs-Boston University-Concussion Legacy Foundation Brain Bank, seeking answers for a series of behavioral changes that they believe contributed to her death. “Our family decided to have a neuropathologic examination performed on Kelly’s brain to investigate any possible damage caused by her recent head injury and seek explanations for recent neurologic symptoms,” her father, Mark, said of the family’s decision.
NPR | Mar 12, 2019
The Department of Veterans Affairs is conducting the most comprehensive study to date of blast injuries on post-Sept. 11 veterans. Improved battlefield medical care in Iraq and Afghanistan means more troops have survived with traumatic brain injury, or TBI. Researchers are trying to understand the long-term effects of those injuries. And 800 veterans from around the country have enrolled to find out what blast exposure has done to them.
TODAY | Mar 12, 2019
Abby and TC Maslin's lives changed in 2012 when TC was violently beaten in a robbery. As TC relearned to breathe and walk, the couple rebuilt their love. The two join TODAY to share their story, which Abby also details in her memoir, “Love You Hard.”
ScienceDaily | Mar 12, 2019
New guidelines that reduce the amount of rest required for children recovering from a concussion have been developed by CanChild, a McMaster University research institute. "For children, recovering from a concussion is like a snakes and ladders game, as there are times where they may have rapid improvement and climb through the steps more quickly, and other times where returning symptoms mean they have to take a slide back," said author Carol DeMatteo, professor of rehabilitation science and a CanChild researcher.
NBC 4 News (DC) | Mar 12, 2019
If you saw the Maslin family walking down the street, you might think, "What a beautiful family." And you'd be right. But there is so much more to their story than that. Six and a half years ago, young father Thomas "TC" Maslin was robbed and brutally attacked as he walked home to Capitol Hill after a Washington Nationals game. His attackers shattered his skull with a baseball bat, leaving him with a severe traumatic brain injury that left him unable to talk, read or use the right side of his body.
The Washington Post | Mar 11, 2019
Two crashes, one in which she broke her arm in October and another in which she sustained a concussion in December, seemed to take away the control, the multitasking, that Catlin had always prized. In January, she attempted suicide for the first time and was clearly a different person to her family. “She was not the Kelly that we knew,” her father said. “She spoke like a robot. We could get her to talk, but we wondered, ‘what has happened to our Kelly?’
Neurology Advisor | Mar 11, 2019
Children who present to the emergency department (ED) >24 hours after injury are more likely to suffer from traumatic brain injury (TBI) compared with children who present to the ED within 24 hours, according to the results of a study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. Study findings showed that factors potentially predictive of TBI in children who present to the ED longer than 24 hours after injury include suspicion of depressed skull fracture and non-frontal scalp hematoma.
Wisconsin State Journal Jason Galloway Jason Galloway | Wisconsin State Journal | Mar 11, 2019
Concussions and head trauma have affected multiple generations of University of Wisconsin players. Many of them joined lawsuits against the NFL over this issue, and at least half a dozen cut their UW careers short due to head injuries this decade. Reporter Jason Galloway takes a look at the impact of head trauma throughout the football ranks in this award-winning series from the Wisconsin State Journal.
USA Today | Mar 11, 2019
These NFL draft prospects have grown up in an age of enlightenment with concussion protocols. Yet, they still dismiss concerns about long-term health. "It doesn’t impact me at all,” Notre Dame tight end Alize Mack declared during the NFL Scouting Combine last weekend in Indianapolis, asked if increasing awareness about long-term risks associated with head injuries affect his view of the football career he’s pursuing. "I think I speak for everyone in this room when I say this is a game most of us have been playing since we were seven years old,” added Mack, who suffered two concussions in college. “So, at the end of the day, that’s not going to change how I attack a defense or choose to go after a player. This is football. It’s a physical game. That’s what you sign up for.”
Sports Illustrated | Mar 11, 2019
The World's Strongest Man is looking to help make a difference in the world after he dies. On Thursday, while talking with former wrestler and Concussion Legacy Foundation co-founder Chris Nowinski on SiriusXM's Busted Open, the former World Heavyweight champion announced his plan to donate his brain for CTE research. "I definitely want to go on record that I'm donating my brain to the brain bank, and I hope that something good can come out of y'all having my brain," Henry said. "Maybe it will help with figuring out how things work in the future that will benefit my kids and everyone else's kids... We always want the future to be better for our families and your families, speaking of the fans out there that have kids playing sports. And some of you parents, you weekend warriors. Like, you get a ding, get some help."
The Altamont Enterprise | Mar 8, 2019
She wrote her memoir, “Love You Hard,” said Abby Maslin, because over the years that she has been helping her husband recover from a traumatic brain injury he sustained in a mugging, she was never able to find books that offered hope to survivors and their families. “I wanted some hope that our lives could be joyful again, and have purpose. I feel like I wrote the book that I needed,” she said of the memoir that is due out March 12 from Dutton.
Thrive Global | Mar 8, 2019
The sudden and tragic death of Beverly Hills 90210 star, Luke Perry, has hit my generation hard. However, it lends itself to an educational opportunity about brain injuries. At the age of 52, Perry suffered a massive stroke that he wasn’t able to recover from, causing a ripple of grief to wash through those who graduated in the 90’s. While tragic, his death is a prime example that brain injury can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
NewsWise | Feb 25, 2019
American football players develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, after only playing football at the high school level, with higher rates of CTE associated with higher levels of play, according to a new study presented this week at the Association of Academic Physiatrists Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico. Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine CTE Center conducted a study of the brains of deceased American football players to analyze the neuropathological and clinical features of the disease. “By focusing this study specifically on football players, we were able to ensure that all our donors had a similar type of exposure to repetitive head impacts. The goal of this study was not just characterizing the disease in individuals who passed away, but rather learning as much as possible from our donors in order to apply this knowledge to help the living,” said Daniel Daneshvar, MD, PhD, the study’s author.
Portland Tribune | Feb 21, 2019
To piece together a sequence of her son's return to play from a series of high school concussions, Renee and Jonathan Boland asked Parkrose High School on March 16, 2018, for video footage of the games and copies of the medical documentation in Jonathan's file. The reply from Parkrose administration stunned Renee. Karen Gray, superintendent at the time, wanted Renee to submit not only a request for Jonathan's records, but also give written assurance that she would not sue the district.
Portland Tribune | Feb 15, 2019
The Return-to-Play legislation, which has been adopted by almost every other state, has saved countless young Oregonians from the devasting effects of an injured brain getting rattled again before it heals. Four years later, lawmakers extended those requirements to some recreational sports outside of schools, through Jenna's Law. Since then, they've mostly hoped for the best. Our reporting over the past 18 months shows that such hope was not only misplaced, but also dangerous. For every young Oregonian whose health is protected by our concussion laws, there are multiple others who are not. Here's what our reporting, done in conjunction with InvestigateWest and Reveal, has found.
Portland Tribune | Feb 13, 2019
After Boland suffered that season-ending concussion his junior year, some nights he cried himself to sleep, unsure if his scholarship hopes were over. On Oct. 3, he called his mom and dictated a Facebook post announcing his retirement. "12 years of playing the sport I love has been a really hard journey," he said in the post. It continued, thanking Barnum for keeping him on scholarship. Boland initially received an outpouring of support on social media. But then there was a silence. And all was not right. Where once he was a star, a hometown kid who rose above, a gladiator who was cheered on, now he was an aimless young man navigating life.
ESPN | Feb 12, 2019
MMA legend Wanderlei Silva, who has competed in the sport for 29 years, said in an interview with Brazilian website PVT on Tuesday that he has experienced many CTE-like symptoms. "I was in a lecture about concussions and of the 10 symptoms the guy mentioned, I had eight," Silva, 42, said. "The symptoms would be, for example, mood swings, getting angry very fast, forgetting some things, having difficulty sleeping." Silva said he plans on donating his brain for chronic traumatic encephalopathy research. CTE is a diagnosis only made at autopsy.
Investigate West | Feb 12, 2019
In the next installment of our Rattled: Oregon's Concussion Discussion series, InvestigateWest's Sergio Olmos talks to Jonathan Boland, a once rising star in Oregon football. After suffering four concussions over the course of his career, Boland was left unable to continue on the field and with little motivation for his education. Boland now suspects that concussions played a role in his life’s unraveling. But he says that if you’d have asked him about the impact of brain injuries when he was in high school, “I would have said concussions aren’t real.”
Reveal | Feb 12, 2019
All 50 states and Washington, D.C., have youth concussion laws focused on letting young athletes heal. Most require that athletes be pulled from games or practice until they’re cleared by a health care professional. But important details differ state to state. Of note: No laws specifically address the long-term risk of repeated hits to the head, which currently is a major concern in contact sports, particularly football. Reveal aggregated state laws to create an easy way for you to compare yours with others in a series of graphics.
The Sydney Morning Herald | Feb 12, 2019
Sport Australia launched an updated concussion document today, which is designed to give guidelines to grassroots and professional sports to protect players from brain injuries. Concussion management has become a massive focus in all sports as implement return to play protocols in professional competitions. But Sport Australia wants to target amateur and junior competitions to ensure they have the appropriate tools and information to prioritize athlete health. More than 40 sport and medical organizations have endorsed the concussion position statement, including Rugby Australia, the FFA, Cycling Australia, Basketball Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee.
Sports Illustrated | Feb 11, 2019
A year after his conspicuous absence from the Super Bowl LII broadcast, NBC Sports veteran Bob Costas revealed he was removed from the network's coverage due to comments he made about the NFL's concussion problems. Three months before the Super Bowl, Costas appeared at a journalism symposium at the University of Maryland, where he told the crowd that "the issue [in sports] that is most substantial—the existential issue—is the nature of football itself." "The reality is that this game destroys people's brains—not everyone's, but a substantial number," Costas added during the symposium. "It's not a small number, it's a considerable number. It destroys their brains." Costas was told by NBC afterward that he had "crossed the line" with his commentary about the NFL and concussions.
USA Today | Feb 11, 2019
The Alliance of American Football debuted Saturday to a round of polite applause. The XFL is scheduled for a 2020 return, and other alternative leagues are in the works. In most sports, more opportunity for athletes to play and get paid is a good thing. But football is different. The barebones violence of the sport is enough to leave players damaged forever. Allowing the sort of big hits the NFL has eliminated may be a quick path to revenue for the AAF but would be disastrous for the game of football.
BBC News (UK) | Feb 11, 2019
Family and friends of a former soldier who took his own life while suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) say more support is needed. They're calling for a change in the law that would mean veterans deaths were better recorded when it was related to the time they had served. Danny Johnston went missing in May 2018 and his body was found three days later in woodland near Chichester. Now veteran Daniel Arnold from Portsmouth, who also has PTSD himself, has set up an online support group for other veterans and is calling for a change in the law.
Miami Herald | Feb 11, 2019
The Many Lives of Nick Buoniconti, an HBO documentary debuting at 10 p.m. Tuesday, offers an absorbing glimpse into a remarkable life packed with enormous professional success but devastating personal loss. Buoniconti, 78, was healthy enough to conduct the interview from his home and sounds generally cogent throughout, though clearly weakened physically. But he bemoans losing his train of thought at least once during the interview and said: “Everything is jumbled for me. It’s just not possible for me to do it without stumbling.” A Boston University physician who examined Buoniconti in 2017 said “the way Nick appeared, his history and MRI, everything was consistent with CTE,” though the disease cannot be definitively diagnosed until after death.
The Salt Lake Tribune | Feb 8, 2019
The NCAA is facing more than 300 lawsuits from former college football players who claim their concussions were mistreated, leading to medical problems spanning from headaches to depression and, in some cases, early onset Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease. The sheer volume of the cases seems daunting, but experts say those seeking damages akin to the NFL's billion-dollar settlement with its former players have a challenging argument to make. The concussion claims come as the NCAA awaits a federal judge's ruling in an antitrust case that challenges the association's right to cap compensation to football and basketball players at the value of an athletic scholarship.
Investigate West | Feb 8, 2019
A key finding of the yearlong investigation was that student-athletes in Oregon get more frequent and more thorough medical evaluations for concussions at schools that employ athletic trainers. Schools with athletic trainers reported twice as many possible concussions per student-athlete as did schools without a professional trainer. Football players at schools with trainers were more than three times as likely to be kept out of play until medically cleared.
The Washington Post | Feb 7, 2019
Veterans are taking their own lives on VA hospital campuses, a desperate form of protest against a system that they feel hasn’t helped them. Sixty-two percent of veterans, or 9 million people, depend on VA’s vast hospital system, but accessing it can require navigating a frustrating bureaucracy. Veterans who take their own lives on VA grounds often intend to send a message, said Eric Caine, director of the Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention at the University of Rochester. “These suicides are sentinel events,” Caine said. “It’s very important for the VA to recognize that the place of a suicide can have great meaning. There is a real moral imperative and invitation here to take a close inspection of the quality of services at the facility level.”
The Guardian | Feb 7, 2019
Nearly 65% of prisoners at a women’s jail may have suffered traumatic brain injuries at some point in their lives, a study has found. Research by the Disabilities Trust and Royal Holloway, University of London, found that of the 173 women screened at Drake Hall prison in Staffordshire answering questions about blows to the head, 64% gave answers consistent with having symptoms of a brain injury. The symptoms of 96% of the women suggested that these arose from physical trauma.
PsyPost | Feb 7, 2019
High blood pressure is more common among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But new research suggests that not all PTSD symptoms are associated with an increased risk hypertension. The study, which appears in the journal Psychological Medicine, indicates that fear-related symptoms are the primary driver of elevated cardiovascular risk.
Physics World | Feb 7, 2019
Unconsciousness is characterized by an inability to report subjective experience. For patients under anesthesia, or in a more enduring state of unconsciousness caused by brain injury, reliable markers that indicate the presence or absence of consciousness remain elusive. Now, an international team of scientists has reported fMRI-based evidence of distinct patterns of brain activity that could differentiate consciousness from unconsciousness.
WIRED | Feb 7, 2019
Activists, entrepreneurs, and doctors in the US and Canada are working to expand access to psilocybin for anyone with mental health issues. These groups hope to undo decades of psilocybin prohibition by removing criminal penalties for possession or cultivation, or by providing access to psilocybin in a therapist’s offices, or both. Studies suggest that psilocybin can alleviate obsessive-compulsive disorder, treatment-resistant depression, end-of-life anxiety, addiction, cluster headaches, and relieve pain. There’s also growing evidence that ingesting the drug can promote optimism and prosocial and mystical worldviews, and nurture well-being.
Futurity | Feb 5, 2019
Teen athletes who sustained concussions while playing sports recovered more quickly when they underwent a supervised, aerobic exercise regimen, according to a new study. The study is the first randomized clinical trial of a treatment in the acute phase after a sport-related concussion. "This research provides the strongest evidence yet that a prescribed, individualized aerobic exercise program that keeps the heart rate below the point where symptoms worsen is the best way to treat concussion in adolescents," says John J. Leddy, director of the Concussion Management Clinic at UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine.
Psychology Today | Feb 5, 2019
There is sound scientific findings that PTSD and other psychiatric consequences of battle have profound physical effects on brain structure and function. Yet, in 2009, the Pentagon decided not to award the Purple Heart to veterans with PTSD. This decision was supported by the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH). Denying the impact of PTSD is unfair to veterans and has no medical basis.
NPR | Feb 4, 2019
Fears of brain injuries has deterred many parents and their children from choosing to play football. After years of publicity about how dangerous football can be, football enrollment has declined 6.6 percent in the past decade, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations. Those who still play the sport are increasingly low-income students.
Los Angeles Times | Feb 4, 2019
It's long been clear that football has a brutal concussion problem. And if you've been following the breathless headlines about the new generation of high-tech helmets now on the market, you might think these expensive, tricked-out helmets are the solution. They're not. Some research has concluded that a well-designed and properly fitted helmet can reduce the risk of concussion, but no helmet can prevent concussion.
Vox | Feb 4, 2019
Football isn't just a contact sport — it's a dangerous game of massive bodies colliding into one another. And while it may seem obvious that this sport can do extraordinary damage to brains and bodies, it's taken far too long for the NFL, the medical community, and football fans to fully reckon with this. Football is still an immensely popular sport in the United States but all the evidence we now have about the very serious risk of brain injuries casts a dim light on the future of the sport. Here are six things to know about the NFL, concussions, and brain damage.
Sports Illustrated | Feb 4, 2019
Earlier this week, in the Southern District of Indiana, dozens of lawsuits were filed by people you've probably never heard of. But I bet you've heard of the central defendant: the NCAA, which is on the other end of what will eventually be more than 200 filings that represent a coordinated effort toward some kind of reckoning on head trauma in the college game.
The Boston Globe | Feb 4, 2019
Ten years ago this week, I wrote my first story about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the incurable brain disease linked to head blows in football. Since then, I've spent years examining the work of CTE researchers, the NFL's practices, and the heart-wrenching stories of former players who died with the disease and those who are living with its symptoms.
Men's Health | Feb 4, 2019
Heading the ball or knocking your head against the goalpost during a game of soccer might seem like NBD. But if you're dizzy and a bit disoriented and hope to just "shake it off" and carry on, you might be making a big mistake. Following a head injury, watch out for the symptoms of concussion, including headache, difficulty concentrating, and confusion. “That means it’s not healed yet,” says Edward Benzel, M.D., a neurosurgeon with the Cleveland Clinic. That goes even if you hit your head hard but didn’t think you had a concussion, because it’s possible to have brain injury and not know it.
ABC 11 News (GA) | Feb 4, 2019
Last week, the Concussion Legacy Foundation revealed Tommy Nobis had a severe form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. 11 Alive News sat down with his daughter, Devon, who is sharing her and her family's experience that had no explanation until now. "We only thought is was my Dad's personality."
Eastern Daily Press | Feb 4, 2019
Mike Palmer, 52, started to suffer with cluster headaches in 2010. But as they got more frequent and the pain worsened, more tests were carried out and it emerged Mr Palmer had a brain tumour. What would follow two years later would be hours of surgery and even now, more than three years on, he is suffering the effects. But last year he married his wife Debbie, and the pair wanted to show that even when an acquired brain injury can change someone completely, it did not have to change a relationship.
SB Nation | Feb 4, 2019
This week, SB Nation's Broad Street Hockey had the privilege of chatting with Former Flyer Daniel Carcillo about a variety of topics - including brain injury, substance use and CTE. "There's a lot of anxiety that goes with playing professional sports for some guys, they can operate but they need a little help to operate. During my career there was a lot. There was a lot of substance abuse, and substance abuse is a direct symptom of repetitive head trauma. You don't understand what's going on, you're not predisposed to these mental health complications and what do you do? You look for something to numb it out."
Minnesota Post | Feb 4, 2019
Even though we wish to remain healthy and fit for a long time, growing old comes along with its own health challenges that affect quality of life. Environmental hazards such as slippery and uneven floors greatly increase the risk of falls under such circumstances. A significant number of fall-related TBIs in older adults are associated with environmental hazards with about 35.7 percent of injuries occurring in the bathroom.
ARS Technica | Feb 4, 2019
Forty-percent of the injuries linked to electric scooter use involve knocks to the noggin while nearly 95 percent of riders don’t wear helmets, according to a first-of-its kind study published Friday, January 25. As electric scooters and bike shares zoom into cities across the country, health experts are chasing after the potential public health and safety issues circling the micromobility market. The new study, published in JAMA Network Open, is the first to try to track the pattern of injuries linked to electric scooters.
The Guardian | Feb 4, 2019
Too many sports do not have the right procedures in place to deal with concussion but work on pitchside diagnosis and technology to improve it is moving forward. "The Guardian's Sean Ingle weighs in. "Some might believe we should trust athletes to know enough about concussion these days to understand when they are OK to play on. New research, however, does not bear this out."
CBS 2 News (IA) | Feb 4, 2019
1. 6 million to nearly 4 million concussions in the United States each year are related to sports and recreation. Medical and research experts said state legislation and access to insurance have made positive strides in helping students get back on their feet after facing their own concussion experience. "Brain injury is the last thing on your mind until it is the only thing on your mind," said Geoffrey Lauer, CEO of the Brain Injury Alliance.
CNN | Jan 31, 2019
A mild traumatic brain injury -- such as from a car crash or violent assault -- may come with a higher risk of mental health problems, according to a new study. Specifically, the research ties mild traumatic brain injury to a higher risk of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression after the injury, compared with another type of traumatic injury not involving the head. The study, published Wednesday in the medical journal JAMA Psychiatry, found that among hospital patients, 21.2% of those with mild traumatic brain injuries experienced PTSD or depression up to six months after injury, compared with 12.1% of those with non-head injuries.
Daily Mail | Jan 31, 2019
The NFL's recent announcement that concussions fell 24 percent in 2018 may be encouraging, but Boston University associate professor Lee E. Goldstein (MD, PhD) told DailyMail.com that the findings are 'irrelevant' to the long-term consequences of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
The Post and Courier | Jan 31, 2019
In a Sports Illustrated roundtable discussion with six NFL writers, many of the journalists noted how NFL players don’t seem to be well-versed on concussions and CTE. You know who else doesn’t understand enough about these injuries? Young kids who play football. While education about traumatic brain injuries in sports has certainly improved in recent years, the CDC has shown that children from lower income families do not receive adequate concussion education.
The New York Times | Jan 31, 2019
If there is such a thing as the American dream, Jason Hairston, at 47, gave every indication that he was living it. He was a former college football star who played briefly with two N.F.L. teams, and he was the founder a top-end outfitter of hunting gear and apparel. Privately, though, the Hairstons struggled to hold it together. Jason routinely broke down and cried, Kirstyn Hairston said, scared of where his brain was headed. When a scan revealed deterioration in the frontal lobe that had not been present a year earlier, she said, Hairston made her promise she would never make him have another test, because he did not want to know the results. A slow decline over the past decade, she said, sped suddenly into a drop.
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