concussions

[greybeard58]

Channel 11 feature on girls hockey concussions

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- There's growing research suggesting female athletes are more likely to get concussions than male athletes.

Dr. Aimee Custer, a neuropsychologist at TRIA Orthopaedic Center in Bloomington, says TRIA has seen an increase in female athletes with concussions over the past several years.

According to Dr. Custer, female hockey players are two times more likely to sustain a concussion than male players and three times more likely than football players.

"Unfortunately, we don't know why females are a little bit more susceptible to it. We see researchers looking at head and neck size. So is there a weakness in the female neck or the musculature so we see a greater whiplash motion, movement of the head and neck, movement of the brain inside the skull," Dr. Custer said.

Dr. Custer also mentioned hormones may play a role, as well as girls may be more likely to report their symptoms.

Katelyn Svaren, a hockey player at Eastview High School, said, "I haven't had one but when I get even the slightest headache I'm like, 'Coach, I need to get off' because I don't want to risk it getting worse." Svaren's brother has recovered from two concussions due to hockey.

While there's a lot of talk about concussions in hockey, football and soccer, Dr. Custer says she sees athletes who have sustained concussions in gymnastics, cheerleading and dance. She says more research needs to be done.

"This is a serious injury. It's something that we need to address but at the same time it's not something to be feared. We can treat it, if we manage it properly," Dr. Custer said.

Signs and symptoms of a concussion include headaches, confusion, dizziness, nausea and fatigue.

Doctor sees concussion increase in female athletes
Watch the video at: http://www.kare11.com/news/doctor-sees- ... /413727998

[greybeard58]

Lisa Marvin Injuries & Concussion

A great article about the amazing recovery of Lisa Marvin who returned to competition 22 months after a life-altering crash.

"She spoke without emotion. Marvin has never been much of a crier, according to her mother, Kallie, who fed, dressed and bathed her during the three months she spent in a wheelchair. But Marvin’s devastating injuries tested both her pain tolerance and her resolve.

A shattered right humerus that cut through her upper arm — doctors found a three-inch piece of the bone in her clothing — damaged her nerves so badly that her hand was paralyzed for months. Her right knee required major reconstructive surgery. And a concussion, diagnosed later, most likely contributed to the nausea that wracked her body for two months.

“I couldn’t do anything,” Marvin said before a recent series at Minnesota. “I had a wheelchair I could kind of run with one hand, but our house isn’t handicapped accessible by any means. I couldn’t go into my own room or get anything to drink. I pretty much needed help with everything.”

But on Sept. 30, after three operations and more than a year of rehabilitation, Marvin skated out to take the opening face-off in North Dakota’s season opener at Mercyhurst."

A Hockey Player, Once Shattered, Returns to the Ice
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/spor ... .html?_r=0

[greybeard58]

Follow up article to Death of teen hockey player

"Could they have done anything to prevent his death? And could this happen to them?

Bond, an 18-year-old senior at Springfield Township High School in Montgomery County, died Monday, a day after he unexpectedly collapsed at the Wissahickon Skating Club after leaving the ice during a game. In the days since, his friends and family have struggled to make sense of what happened.

The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office ruled Bond's death accidental and said the teen died from complications from blunt-impact head trauma.

But no one saw Bond hit his head while he was on the ice last weekend, and without all the medical information, it was too soon to speculate about what happened, said Matthew Grady, a sports medicine pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who spoke with Bond's teammates earlier in the week."

Questions remain in death of teen hockey player from Montco
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Quest ... ontco.html

[greybeard58]

Head injuries can alter hundreds of genes and lead to serious brain diseases


“Head injuries can harm hundreds of genes in the brain in a way that increases people’s risk for a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders, UCLA life scientists report.

The researchers identified for the first time master genes that they believe control hundreds of other genes which are linked to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, stroke, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, depression, schizophrenia and other disorders.

Knowing what the master genes are could give scientists targets for new pharmaceuticals to treat brain diseases. Eventually, scientists might even be able to learn how to re-modify damaged genes to reduce the risk for diseases, and the finding could help researchers identify chemical compounds and foods that fight disease by repairing those genes.

“We believe these master genes are responsible for traumatic brain injury adversely triggering changes in many other genes,” said Xia Yang, a senior author of the study and a UCLA associate professor of integrative biology and physiology.

Genes have the potential to become any of several types of proteins, and traumatic brain injury can damage the master genes, which can then lead to damage of other genes.

That process can happen in a couple of ways, said Yang, who is a member of UCLA’s Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences. One is that the injury can ultimately lead the genes to produce proteins of irregular forms. Another is to change the number of expressed copies of a gene in each cell. Either change can prevent a gene from working properly. If a gene turns into the wrong form of protein, it could lead to Alzheimer’s disease, for example.

“Very little is known about how people with brain trauma — like football players and soldiers — develop neurological disorders later in life,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a UCLA professor of neurosurgery and of integrative biology and physiology, and co-senior author of the new study. “We hope to learn much more about how this occurs.”

Head injuries can alter hundreds of genes and lead to serious brain diseases, UCLA biologists report
Read more: http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/head- ... sts-report

[greybeard58]

Concussion Put Teen Athlete on Path to Addiction

"As a high-school football player, John Haskell was used to getting banged around. But his fourth concussion was a game-changer — because a doctor prescribed a powerful painkiller for his throbbing head.

"He looked in my ears, checked my hearing, checked my eyes. And the next thing I know, I'm at CVS getting Vicodin," the teen said.

At just 15 years old, Haskell joined a different kind of club: student athletes who get hooked on opioids, and sometimes graduate to street drugs, after getting hurt on the field.”

Injuries Can Put Teen Athletes on Path to Addiction
Watch the video at: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/inj ... on-n672741

[greybeard58]

The Concussion Diaries: One High School Football Player’s Secret Struggle with CTE

A 4.0 GPA college grad and Army National Guard soldier wrote about what it's like to live with CTE before he was dead at age 24.

The Concussion Diaries: One High School Football Player’s Secret Struggle with CTE
http://www.gq.com/story/the-concussion- ... otball-cte

[greybeard58]

Concussions in Northern MN

"Gilderman said his team has been healthy for only four games this year, around Christmas, and they were all wins. The Mirage have dealt with concussions and shoulder and knee injuries but should benefit from the bye, albeit brief.”

Prep girls hockey playoff preview: Area teams take their best shot at state
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports ... shot-state

[greybeard58]

5 Concussions

5 Concussed Girls High School Players

"Molly McKenna stopped 20 shots, but the shorthanded Furies fell to the Spartans in SEMGHL Southeast action at the Hetland Memorial Arena in New Bedford.

The Furies (3-2-1), who have five players out with concussions, kept Bishop Stang scoreless in the first but allowed three goals in the third period, including two from Abby Arguin."
Read more: http://www.capecodtimes.com/sports/2017 ... le-at-home

[greybeard58]

Elise Curren concussion

Elise Curren

"Cumberland senior Giana Ritchie, Cumberland sophomore Holly Pashnik, and MSC sophomore Katie Mastroianni are also reliable defensemen, as is Cumberland sophomore Elise Curren, who is currently out with a concussion."

Mount/Cumberland girls take the ice
Read more: http://www.valleybreeze.com/2016-12-14/ ... GrWPLGZNhA

[greybeard58]

Sarah Plourde

"Sarah Plourde did not expect to be the starting goaltender for the Salem State University women's hockey team as a freshman. That does not mean the Hooksett native believes she has not earned that role over the course of the Vikings' season.

Plourde missed time earlier this season due to a concussion but she started seven of Salem State's first 11 games. The Bishop Brady of Concord graduate owned a 3.65 goals against average and .895 save percentage over her first seven starts for Salem State. -

Hooksett's Plourde seizes Salem State opportunity
Read more: http://www.unionleader.com/article/2017 ... 003/SPORTS

[greybeard58]

The Concussion Diaries: One High School Football Player’s Secret Struggle with CTE | GQ

Honest and heartbreaking
http://www.gq.com/story/the-concussion- ... otball-cte

[greybeard58]

Olympic skater Rachael Flatt calls for standard concussion protocols

This applies to open skate and open hockey as well:

“There are as many different protocols as there are rinks,” Jody Flatt said.

Olympic skater Rachael Flatt calls for standard concussion protocols
Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/19/c ... ing-rinks/

[greybeard58]

Time demands, concussion policies to be focus of NCAA meeting this week

Independent Medical Care
Division II members will vote this week on proposed legislation that would require its members to give “unchallengeable authority on medical management and return-to-play decisions” to team physicians and athletic trainers. Division III will also vote on adopting such a policy.
In a white paper published last year, the NCAA’s Sport Science Institute urged both divisions to adopt the rule, citing a 2015 survey, published by the Journal of Athletic Training, that found athletic trainers and team physicians felt “high levels of pressure” from coaches to prematurely return athletes to the field after they experienced a concussion.
“Independent medical care is important, because in recent years, the public has grown more aware of, and more concerned with, conflicts of interest in the medical decisions made for student-athletes,” the NCAA Sport Science Institute stated. “Conflict arises when influence is exerted by nonmedical professionals on the medical decisions of primary athletics health care providers.”
Division I and the Power Five conferences approved identical rules at last year’s meeting. At the time, Brian Hainline, the NCAA’s chief medical officer, said he hoped other NCAA members would move to adopt similar policies.
"I believe it's the most important piece of legislation in the history of the NCAA,” Hainline said.

Time demands, concussion policies to be focus of NCAA meeting this week
Read more: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/201 ... eting-week

[greybeard58]

Addressing Gender Differences in Concussion Diagnosis and Treatment

"Recent findings indicate that it can take longer for female athletes to achieve symptom resolution, and that they experience more severe academic dysfunction after concussion.

They may also require more treatment interventions than males; for instance, research conducted at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center found that female athletes were more likely to require academic accommodations, vestibular therapy, and medication during recovery."

Addressing Gender Differences in Concussion Diagnosis and Treatment
Read more: http://www.neurologyadvisor.com/traumat ... le/636005/

[greybeard58]

Kyla J Lane's 5th Concussion
"Shoutout to the hockey gods & the dude who thought his stick was a bat and my mask was a baseball for the hospital visit & 5th concussion."
https://mobile.twitter.com/TheNationKyla

[greybeard58]

Central and peripheral vision reaction times substantially slowed post-concussion

"Disturbances to peripheral vision can have major implications not only on performance, but also safety, including sports-related return-to-play decisions," says Clark. "Peripheral vision in particular plays an important role in protecting athletes from impending impacts because they must see and react to events in their periphery."

Similarly, peripheral vision is important in day-to-day activities of the general population, namely balance and driving."
Central and peripheral vision reaction times substantially slowed post-concussion, study shows.
Read more: http://www.news-medical.net/news/201701 ... shows.aspx

[greybeard58]

Boston researchers find CTE risk increases longer athletes play

The three-time U.S. champion has revealed in the past year she has suffered from cognitive dysfunction after hitting her head on the ice numerous times in the past decade. Wagner challenges herself daily to improve brain function. But the Olympian doesn’t focus on long-term health because so much is unknown.

“It’s a scary thing to keep up with especially when you think about it, ‘Oh my gosh, this could be me.’ ” she said.

Wagner, 25, is hopeful about her long-term health because “I’m not slamming into other people daily, I’m not taking pucks to the head and I’m not getting slammed to the boards,” she said.

Boston researchers find CTE risk increases longer athletes play
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/19/b ... etes-play/

[greybeard58]

Crying foul | Mayo head injuries

"Dr. Savica had strong words for those who miscast his recent findings after he dipped his toe into the emotionally-charged, multi-billion dollar debate involving America's most popular sport.

"I think it's wrong," said Savica, the Rochester-based neurologist. "We have to be careful. People can interpret it any way they want, but we are not saying football is good for you. We're not saying banging your head is good for you. You can see why some people are reading the study the way they want to read it, but that's not my intent.

"You have to remember that head trauma is still the strongest link to Parkinson's disease and dementia."

Crying Foul
Read more: http://www.postbulletin.com/life/health ... bf1eb.html

[greybeard58]

Paulina Jakarsezian
The Ryerson women’s hockey team was facing Guelph University at the end of January 2012. When the puck dropped, the fifth game of their season began. As Paulena Jakarsezian skated across the ice, she quickly glanced back to survey her surroundings. A second later, she collided with a teammate. The feeling of impact came hard and fast. Her teeth cracked together; she wasn’t wearing a mouthguard. The incident left her with her first (and her worst) head injury to date.

After that concussion—one of eight throughout her four years of playing hockey at Ryerson—Jakarsezian started grinding her teeth at night. Once, she woke up to find missing fillings. Another morning, a shattered tooth.

Immediately after a concussion, Jakarsezian used to continue to play without allotting herself time for a safe recovery, or reporting her injury. A hockey rink is extremely bright and loud—conditions that are not suitable for someone with a brain injury. She sought out Advil as the answer to mind-numbing headaches, but often found herself spacing out during games; what felt like three seconds of staring at the ice turned out to be three minutes on the clock. She had trouble remembering where in the lineup she was and who she was supposed to replace.

Her last concussion, in January 2016, was the one that took her off of the ice completely—and the one that took the largest toll on her emotionally. “You think you know what anxiety is, then you get a concussion and you really know what anxiety and clinical depression feels like,” she says.

Alongside her anxiety, Jakarsezian also experienced short-term memory loss and exhaustion. She says at one point, her emotional and mental state got so bad that she had to stay home for a month, locked in her room. She could hardly string a sentence together and she struggled to describe her emotions. “When you break your leg you can heal it again, when you hurt your brain it’s not the same,” she said. “People with concussions end up killing themselves.”

Young athletes are under a tremendous amount of pressure to succeed in their sport, and like Jakarsezian, they sometimes prioritize their athletic prowess over their physical and mental health, which can be more interconnected than perceived. A recent study done by the Canadian Medical Association Journal concludes that adults who suffer from concussions are three times more likely to be at risk of suicide, and many more suffer from depression and anxiety.

….“I had to cope with the chapter ending in my life that I wasn’t ready to end. It kinda hits you like a brick,” Brown says. “I was expecting to have another year and all of a sudden, within one week, my career was over.”

Knocked Out: The Dark Side of Quitting a Sport Post Injury
Read more: https://theeyeopener.com/2017/01/knocke ... st-injury/

[greybeard58]

Andrea Kollova
"Her stint with the national team comes after missing almost a month with the Ravens due to a concussion, which she said was hard for her to deal with.

“It was very hard for me because it was my first concussion and I’m far from home,” she said. “It was pretty hard, but I came back pretty early and I got great support from my team, from my coaches, from our team doctor, and also from school.”

Kollova Joins Slovakian National Team
Read more: http://charlatan.ca/2017/01/kollova-joi ... onal-team/

[greybeard58]

Goalie Stephanie Pascal
“It’s been 377 days since Pascal last stepped into the goalie’s crease during a competitive game, yet that’s the last thing on the third year goaltender’s mind. “Where’s my stick?” she recalls thinking to herself, spotting it at the opposite end of the bench after a short moment of panic.

For the next 18 minutes and 28 seconds, the past year is forgotten, as Pascal stops all seven shots that come her way. And while the Gaels dropped the season opener, the game marked a major turning point for Pascal.

Pascal’s dream to be a goalie began early. From second grade to her senior year in high school, Pascal played for the Sudbury Lady Wolves. Before then, she played in a recreational league that would rotate goalies every week. That was until her team got a starting goaltender, stopping the rotation.

“I was so angry because I wanted to be in net,” she said. Her coach knew how much she loved stopping pucks and recommended it to her parents. Pascal jumped at the chance. “That’s when I fell in love with it and wanted to keep playing for as long as I could and play at the highest level I could.”

Over the next ten years, Pascal developed her skills and eventually caught the attention of Holmberg. In December of her senior year in high school, she got a call from Holmberg and accepted a chance to play with the Gaels. In her first year, vying for a spot with a veteran and a fellow rookie, Pascal logged six games, posting a stellar .966 save percentage.

But on October 3, 2015, the final exhibition game before the regular season in her second year, Pascal’s push to become the Gaels starting goalie was halted. Late in the game, Pascal took a point shot to the mask.

“It seemed pretty harmless but I started to get headaches and nauseous in the game,” recalled Pascal, “ managed to finish it anyway and told my trainers about it.”

The concussion was more serious than anticipated, keeping her off the ice for more than 11 months. During those months, her future on the ice seemed unsure, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to be back.

As teammates and coaches recall, Pascal’s eternal smile was seen at games and team meetings. Though being a spectator wasn’t her ideal way to spend a season, Pascal said “it was just kind of a day-by-day mentality.”

“My team, coaches, family and friends were super supportive. They helped me stay positive, telling me ‘you’re going to be back, it’s just a matter of when.’”


Finding herself back in the net: After a year on the sideline, Stephanie Pascal is Queen’s starting goalie
Read more: http://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2017- ... n-the-net/

[greybeard58]

Related to brain injury - A dangerous wait

"Colleges across the country are failing to keep up with a troubling spike in demand for mental health care, according to a STAT special report — leaving students stuck on waiting lists for weeks. In our survey of dozens of universities, from major public institutions to small elite colleges, a striking pattern emerged: Students often have to wait weeks just for an initial intake exam to review their symptoms. The wait to see a psychiatrist who can prescribe or adjust medication — often a part-time employee — may be longer still. Those shortcomings are all too real to students, many of whom are making a push for better care."

A dangerous wait: Colleges can’t meet soaring student needs for mental health care
Read more: https://www.statnews.com/2017/02/06/men ... -students/

[greybeard58]

Isabelle Germain

"Germain was a hockey star in her own right, before a concussion in high school sidelined her.

“Concussion is really what ended it,” she said. “It was my last year of high school hockey, just after March break, the end of the season, and I got blindsided right in the middle of the ice and got knocked out cold.”

The results were devastating.

“Unfortunately, that happened before Sidney Crosby got hit, because talk on concussions was so hush-hush before,” she said. “I was rushed to the hospital and I had a neck injury, ribs were hit, my shoulder was hurt, my hip was really messed up, so there were so many scary things going on at the surface that looking at my head was not their main concern.”

Germain said she rested after the hit, but resumed training that summer at Dalhousie but noticed she felt different on the ice - something wasn’t right.

“I had been upset, I had pain I had never felt before, I couldn’t open my eyes in the light,” she said. “As soon as Crosby got hit, my doctor got a report from other doctors sharing information and they then knew what we should do, and it was pretty immediate, they called and said ‘get her off the ice.’”

Germain did a CT Scan and an MRI and results showed some serious concussion trauma.

“I struggled with depression, I failed out of school,” she said. “There’s always an excuse with concussions, like ‘it’s her first year away from her family,’ or I was homesick or not adapting well to university life, but I knew at the end of the day that it wasn’t that.”

She said she doesn’t shy away from talking about her concussion because it helped to inspire her university degree - health promotion, where she focused her research on concussions."

King's-Edgehill hockey coach to help Team Nova Scotia at Canada Games
Read more: http://www.annapoliscountyspectator.ca/ ... games.html

[greybeard58]

Alyssa Fransnielsen
“Nearly 2 years ago I passed out while working and was rushed to the hospital. I was released 8 hours later. They said there was nothing wrong with me so I went home. I spent that Christmas break extremely sick. Was throwing up literally everything that I ate or drank. I remember playing hockey, would go out for a shift, then would get off the ice and toss my guts out everywhere on the bench. I still never missed a shift while doing so by the way.

After going through this for almost a month, I was finally admitted to the hospital. I went through over 20 different hospital tests. From having probably 30 needles poked into me, to eating a radioactive sandwich so they could watch where it went in my stomach… I had tests done on me that no 17 year old should have done. All the tests were coming back negative. Although you might be thinking, well Alyssa that’s good. I honestly just wanted someone to give me an answer. I remember sitting in my hospital bed crying one night wondering if I would ever be normal again. After 20 days of being admitted into two different hospitals, they had basically given up on me and sent me home with a supposed mental illness, which I mean sure they really weren’t wrong but I always knew there was something more than that wrong with me.

After being home for about a week, things still weren’t good. At this point I had lost over 20 pounds. I was off of work. Missed almost 3 months of my senior year. And I also hadn’t been on the ice in about months. I was in a deep state of depression. There were many night I had though about ending it all. After countless doctor visits and tests I had finally found a doctor that would actually end up saving my life. I went and saw a neurologist who work with NHL and NFL players specializing in concussions. He diagnosed me having 4+ concussions that were never properly treated.

Now looking back on it, playing through that probably wasn’t the best idea eh? I spent the next 4 months doing exercises to get my body and brain back to normal. It was he**. I missed my prom, graduation, playoffs for hockey. I was off of work for 8 moths. All I was capable of doing was laying in my dark cold room with my thoughts wondering if my brain would ever be normal again.

If you’ve ever had a concussion, you know what this feeling is like. It sucks. After months and months of hard recovery, I was finally somewhat back to normal. The best feeling was skating again. That’s when I knew I was slightly back to normal. Hockey was always my get away from my problems and it broke me not being able to play for so long… Life isn’t easy. Life is going through obstacles in your way be I can promise you this…it gets better."

https://twitter.com/fransnielsen/status ... 6154500098

[greybeard58]

Sports Illustrated feature on Paige Decker

After her concussion nightmare, Paige Decker is dedicated to keeping athletes' brains healthy

https://www.si.com/nhl/2017/04/08/paige ... foundation