Sports-Related Concussions & Subconcussive Injuries

Rise in Emergency Department Visits for Sports Concussions Reflects Increased Awareness

That the number of emergency department visits by children and teens for sports and recreation-related concussion jumped over 60 percent from 2001 to 2009 may be good news, says The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which attributed the rise to increased awareness of sports parents and coaches about the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries.

Brooke de Lench

Are Parents Who Allow Young Athletes To Play Contact or Collision Sports Guilty of Child Abuse?

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 20:01. | comments

As long-time visitors to MomsTeam or readers of my blog and 2006 book, Home Team Advantage, know, I have always taken a somewhat expansive view of what constitutes child abuse in the context of sports.

Parents who allow their children - particularly elementary school age-children - to participate in collision sports are not engaging in child abuse simply by letting them play.

NHL Star Had CTE: Degenerative Disease Linked To Repeated Brain Trauma

An autopsy has revealed that former NHL star Rick Martin was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated brain trauma.

Brooke de Lench

Concussion Safety: Past, Present and Future

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 17:13. | comments

The other day I was asked in a radio interview what I thought were the biggest recent developments in concussion safety, and what I saw happening in the near future to protect our kids from the dangers of brain injury in contact and collision sports. Here are the five developments that I view as the most significant, and a seven-point "wish list" for what I hope to see in the not too distant future to make such sports even safer:

The other day I was asked in a radio interview what I thought were biggest recent developments in concussion safety, and what I saw happening in the near future to protect our kids from the dangers of brain injury in contact and collision sports. Here are the five developments that I view as the most significant, and a seven-point "wish list" for what I hope to see in the not too distant future to make such sports even safer:

Reporting Concussion Signs and Symptoms: Be Honest, Be Smart

Concussion expert Dr. William P. Meehan, III says an athlete's failure to report concussions signs or symptoms can delay recovery, result in catastrophic injury in rare cases, and long-term problems.

Retiring From Sports After Concussion: No Magic Number

Medicine has not yet figured out how many concussions is too many. The number that leads to permanent deficits in memory, concentration, and other cognitive processes, and/or increases the risk of dementia and other problems later in life, is different for each athlete.