Home » Sports Channel » Football Tackle » Concussion Safety

Concussion Safety

Brooke de Lench
Brooke de Lench

Research Papers and Peer-Reviewed Studies: A World of Difference

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Tue, 02/25/2014 - 13:54. | comments

Note to reader: I wrote this blog on February 25, 2014 and updated it to include new information and updates one year later February 25, 2015 about a new "helmet add-on paper.

Last week, we posted to the site a group of four articles about a peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Neurosurgery showing that football helmet design affected concussion risk among a large group (or what scientists call a "cohort") of college football players.

Last week, we reported on a peer-reviewed study showing that football helmet design affected concussion risk. At the same time, we received a press release about an abstract of a research paper on football helmets reporting that they do very little to protect kids against the rotational forces that cause concussion.  MomsTEAM decided not to report on the paper, and here's why.

 

Read more »

NFHS Adds “Targeting” and "Defenseless Player" To High School Football Rules for 2014

In an effort to reduce contact above the shoulders and lessen the risk of head and neck injuries in football, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has revised the rules governing high school football for the 2014 season to add definitions of "targeting" and "defenseless player." 
Read more »

Study Showing Football Helmet Design Reduces Concussion Rate Raises Many Questions, Says NOCSAE's Oliver

A 2014 study (Rowson S, Duma SM, et al 2014) reporting that football helmet design can reduce concussion risk raises more questions than it answers, says Mike Oliver, Executive Director of the National Operating Committee Standards and Equipment (NOCSAE), the non-profit group that sets standards for football helmets.
Read more »

Study Showing Helmet Design Can Reduce Concussion Risk Leaves Many Questions Unanswered

A new study provides the first good clinical evidence that helmet design can lower the risk of concussion in games and practices but leaves unanswered the practical question faced by football parents, coaches, and administrators: whether a difference in concussion risk reduction exists between currently available helmet models incorporating the latest design features.
Read more »

NOCSAE Approves Development of First Football Helmet Standard to Address Concussions

The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) board of directors has approved the development of a revised football helmet standard that will require helmets to limit certain concussion-causing forces. The revised standard was approved in June 2014, and will be implemented, after a period of public comment, in June 2016.
Read more »

CTE: What Is Risk To Athletes Who Stop Playing Football After High School?

Men who played high school football in Minnesota in the decade after World War II are not increased risk of later developing dementia, Parkinson's or ALS compared with non-football playing high school males, according to a study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic. 
Read more »

NATA Re-Releases Position Statement on Crown Of Helmet Violations In Football

The National Athletic Trainers' Association has re-released an official statement regarding the calling of crown of the helmet violations in an effort to ensure sports safety at every level of football participation. Re-issuance of the statement by the NATA comes in the wake of at least two deaths of high school football players from catastrophic cervical spine injuries in 2013.
Read more »

Limiting Contact Practices In High School Football: Proceed With Caution, Study Concludes

Limiting or eliminating contact practices in football would result in an 18% to 40% reduction in head impacts respectively over the course of a high school football season, reports a new study,  which urges policymakers to proceed with caution in imposing such limits.
Read more »
Brooke de Lench
Brooke de Lench

Improving Football Safety: Is It Up To Parents?

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Mon, 09/02/2013 - 14:48. | comments

Now that the concussion lawsuit filed by retired National Football League players has apparently been settled (remember: the judge still has to give her approval), it's time to focus on the upcoming football season, and working to make the sport safer at every level of the game. Missy Womack

Sincerest form of flattery

We could sit back and wait for the N.F.L., National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS), USA Football and Pop Warner to lead the way on football safety.

Football safety is largely up to parents, argues Brooke de Lench, working with all other groups in their community with a stake in making football safer, including independent football organizations, school boards, school superintendents, athletic directors, coaches, school nurses and psychologists, and other health care providers, to improve football safety at the grassroots level.
Read more »

Coaches Can Play Important Role in Encouraging Athletes To Report Concussion Symptoms, Studies Find

A growing number of studies challenge the conventional wisdom that inadequate athlete concussion knowledge is the principal barrier to increased concussion symptom reporting.  Because educating youth about the dangers of concussion is unlikely to improve concussion reporting, they say other ways need to be found to increase reporting, among them being to enlist coaches to help create an environment where athletes feel safe in reporting.
Read more »
« first‹ previous1234567next ›last »
Syndicate content