Archive for October, 2017
By Paul Stone On October 30th, 2017
The NFL has been accused countless times of hiding downplaying or outright hiding the risk of brain injuries from its players, but one athlete says some in the league are also trying to keep word from getting out to the public. In a recent hearing with the Democratic members of the House Committee on Energy…
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By jasonmaddox On October 30th, 2017
The 1960’s and 1970’s football heroes are now old and aging. Some have passed away and a few have taken their own lives. Football in the 1960’s and 70’s allowed players to return to the game with concussions due to the lack of awareness of the long-term effects of multiple concussive injuries. It’s time that we take a look at these players and see how they’ve fared as they age.
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By Paul Stone On October 26th, 2017
The typical concussion is thought to take between one to two weeks to recover from. At least, that is what doctors and patients alike believed until recently. The latest studies suggest that while concussion symptoms can fade away within the weeks after a brain injury, the damage to the brain may last quite a bit…
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By Paul Stone On October 20th, 2017
Throughout the past decade, every state in America has passed their own form of regulations aimed at protecting young athletes from concussions. Now, one of the first studies to examine these regulations says they are working. According to the report published in the American Journal of Public Health, these regulations have led to a…
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By Paul Stone On October 18th, 2017
Young athletes have a lot of reason to worry about concussions. Not only can these brain injuries put them on the sidelines with debilitating symptoms ranging from headaches and memory problems to vision and coordination issues. Athletes are also gripping with the risk of long-time brain disease from repeated concussions. Now, these young athletes have…
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By jasonmaddox On October 18th, 2017
Over 700 mixed martial arts fighters and boxers have enrolled in a study at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Revo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas over the last six years. The study involves both active and retired fighters and is looking for the early signs of trauma-induced brain injury based on subtle changes in blood chemistry, brain imaging and performance testing.
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By Paul Stone On October 16th, 2017
After listening to several former NFL players testify about the effects and risks of traumatic brain injury, one member of the House of Representatives says he will donate his brain for concussion research. Rep. David Cicilline from Rhode Island, who used to play football earlier in his life, says he has pledged to donate his…
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By Paul Stone On October 13th, 2017
Every year, parents across the country have to make a hard decision: “do I let my child play football?” It wasn’t such a difficult decision not all that long ago, but the increasing evidence tying repeated concussions to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has made the issue much more complicated. For Samantha Buono, the choice was…
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By jasonmaddox On October 12th, 2017
This year’s Zarrow Symposium, organized by the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma, garnered national news for its powerful themes of diversity and inclusion. Among notable speakers like Dr. Cornell West, our own CEO Dr. Rolf Gainer presented his talk “Resilience After Brain Injury Disability (pdf).” Shortly after that presentation, Dr. Gainer and Jason Pirtle, the…
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By Paul Stone On October 12th, 2017
A rising professional athlete in a dangerous sport suddenly takes his life. When doctors examine his brain in an autopsy, they notice the tell-tale signs of the notorious degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The story is common in the world of football. However, in this case, I’m describing young Canadian bull rider Ty…
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