New AAN Guideline On Managing And Evaluating Athletes With Concussions Released

Each year, more than one million athletes suffer sports related head injuries in the United States. Of the one million, an estimated 300,000 of these injuries are considered traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

Because of the rise of head injuries, concussions being the most popular, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) released new guidelines in evaluating and managing athletes with concussions.

Concussions are head injuries where the brain is shaken. Head injuries that affect the scalp, skull or the brain may result in a concussion. Traumatic brain injuries may lead to short term memory loss, disorientation and brief unconsciousness. Sometimes, concussions also can cause permanent damage to the brain.

The newly released guideline replaces the 1997 AAN guideline covering the same topic. The AAN also released a new App called Concussion Quick Check, to quickly help coaches and athletic trainers recognize the signs of concussion (see Related Links).

Student Athletes At Risk Of Losing Scholarships Through Inappropriate Use of Social Media

A study by Baylor University and Clemson University state that student-athletes could lose athletic eligibility or a scholarship through inappropriate use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook. The study, "The Positives and Negatives of Twitter: Exploring How Student-Athletes Use Twitter and Respond to Critical Tweets." show that fans and critics would often vent their frustrations on a players performance through social media. These can be often be harshly critical and brutal.

Responding to these messages can be risky to their scholarship and athletic career if they respond wrongly to it. Some choose to shrug off or delete insults -- or even using them constructively as challenges to improve.

The emergence of social media allowed people to interact with others outside of their own social circles. It has given users a platform to share and discuss comments and opinions about anything they want to talk about.

Social media platforms like Twitter, Google+, and Facebook also allow everyone access to famous personalities and celebrities. It is common for these personalities to have a social media account to interact with their fans. They share their opinions, comment on current events or just inform their followers what they are doing at the moment.

Such a direct and real time connection with followers can benefit celebrities who need to be in the social radar regularly but it also has a downside. By being constantly accessible to followers exposes their comments and opinions regardless of impropriety.

It also works both ways, followers can also communicate their opinions back to the person, positive or not. This kind interaction although healthy among "real world" friends doesn't really translate well in the social media world where most of the followers are either anonymous or unknown.

Study Looks At Importance of Bicycle Helmets For Children In Mitigating Impact and Crush Injuries

A bicycle helmet helps in protecting the head of a cyclist from injuries caused by falls and impacts.

Unlike a motorcycle helmet that encloses the whole head, a bike helmet is lightweight and well ventilated. Riding a bicycle is an aerobic activity which increases body temperature significantly. The head should be properly cooled down and temperature regulated since complications such as fainting spells and dizziness may occur.

Despite the obvious protection that a bike helmet can offer, there are still ongoing debates on whether bike helmet use should be mandatory or optional. Those that are against mandatory helmet use state that riding a bicycle is intrinsically safe and what makes the activity dangerous are the public roads and highways.

One of the most criticized report is the study released by Robert S. Thompson, M.D., Frederick P. Rivara, M.D., M.P.H., and Diane C. Thompson, M.S. in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1989. "A Case-Control Study of the Effectiveness of Bicycle Safety Helmets" or "TRT 89" as it is sometimes called is said to be the most quoted study with regards to bicycle helmets and was crucial to the passage of helmet legislation across the world.

Critics of the report raised issues such as bias among the authors towards helmet use and data manipulation to come up with more favorable results leaning towards a pro-helmet stance. Data such as the often criticized and also cited 85%/88% statistic came solely from this report. It has been quoted and repeated in other reports while some question the validity of the statement.

The 85%/88% states that the use of a bicycle helmet reduces head injuries by 85% and brain injuries by 88%.

Just recently, Olympic Gold medal winner Bradley Wiggins called for legislation making it compulsory for cyclists to wear helmets in the UK. This was announced after a cyclist died in a crash near Olympic Park in London. It is unsure whether or not the cyclist was wearing a helmet.

Children's bicycle helmets shown to be effective in impact and crush tests

A favorite physical activity engaged in by Americans is bicycling, and children are perhaps its most ardent participants; it has been estimated that 70% of children ages 5 to 14 ride bicycles. Bicycling is not without its dangers, however, and one of the worst is the risk of head and brain injury during a crash. According to the US Centers for Disease Control, head injury is the most common cause of death and serious disability from bicycle crashes. The best protection offered to mitigate this injury is the bicycle helmet. However, few cyclists wear helmets regularly, and children are less inclined to wear helmets than adults: national estimates of helmet use among children range from only 15% to 25%. To determine just how effective bike helmets can be, neurosurgeon Tobias Mattei and his research team at the Illinois Neurological Institute and Bradley University tested how well helmets withstood forces of impact and crush tests when covering human cadaver skulls. They found that wearing a helmet can substantially reduce (by up to 87%) the acceleration experienced by the skull during an impact and can aid the skull in resisting forces up to 470 pounds in a crush accident. Full details on the results can be found in "Performance analysis of the protective effects of bicycle helmets during impact and crush tests in pediatric skull models. Laboratory investigation," by Mattei and colleagues, published today online, ahead of print, in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.

Concussion Rate in College Athletes Increasing

Concussion is the most common type of traumatic brain injury It is a head injury in which the brain is shaken. Sports athletes are susceptible to head injuries because of the extreme physical activity and contact required of in a game, specially in football. It is the leading cause of death from sports-related injuries.

Head trauma is an injury of the scalp, skull, or brain. The injury may vary from a minor bump on the skull to a serious brain injury. These head injuries can lead to a concussion.

Each year, an estimated 300,000 sports related traumatic brain injuries (TBI) occur in the United Stated. These include concussions, conditions of temporary altered mental status. Sports and recreational activities contribute to about 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among American children and adolescents.

Concussions affect college players at high rates too, study says

As interest in concussion rates and prevention strategies at all levels continues to grow, one population that appears to have increasing head injury rates is collegiate football players. Research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Baltimore highlights that the concussion rate in three college football programs has doubled in recent years.

"We monitored concussions at three service academies in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 football seasons, and saw the combined number of reports increased from 23 to 42 in this timespan," noted Kelly G. Kilcoyne, MD, lead author from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Athletes With Asthma May Be Using Wrong Medication Due To Misdiagnosis

Asthma is a breathing disorder that causes air passages of the lungs to swell and narrow. These air passages are called bronchioles. During an asthma attack, the muscles surrounding the airways become tight and the lining of the air passages swells. This reduces the amount of air that can pass by.

Bronchioles are the first airways by which air passes through the nose or mouth to the air sacs of the lungs. With asthma, these bronchioles swell and become narrow which results in wheezing, shortness of breath, tightening of the chest, and coughing.

Asthma can be caused by chemicals in the air or food, exercise, weather, stress, medicine, and allergens. These are called triggers.

There is no cure for asthma but the disorder can be managed and controlled. Inhaled corticosteroids help keep the airways from swelling which help prevent asthma symptoms. There are also long-acting beta-agonist inhalers which prevent the symptoms but these must be used together with another inhaled steroid drug.

Avoiding asthma triggers is also important in maintaining control and preventing attacks. Cigarette smoking and second hand smoke (passive smoke) in regard to people with asthma causes problems in effectiveness of management medications such as steroid/corticosteroid therapies.

Many athletes with asthma may be using the wrong treatment

Many athletes with asthma may not be using the best treatment for their condition and could be putting their long term health at risk, according to a roundup by journalist Sophie Arie published by the BMJ today.

The article will feature on the BMJ's new Olympics portal, an online resource to keep doctors up to date with sports medicine content from across the BMJ Group. The portal will be open until the end of the Olympic and Para-Olympic games.

Asthma is strikingly common in elite athletes and has gradually risen at almost every Olympics since the 1970s. In 2004 almost 21% of Team GB had asthma compared with 8% of the British population.

When Head Injury or Trauma In Sports Leads To Memory Loss and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

A head trauma is an injury that injures the scalp, skull, or brain. The injury may be only a minor bump on the skull or a serious brain injury.

Head injuries can lead to a concussion. It is the most common type of traumatic brain injury, in which the brain is shaken. Sports athletes are susceptible to head injuries because of the extreme physical activity and contact required of in a game. It is the leading cause of death from sports-related injuries.

Each year, an estimated 300,000 sports related traumatic brain injuries (TBI) occur in the United Stated. These include concussions, conditions of temporary altered mental status. Sports and recreational activities contribute to about 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among American children and adolescents

Breaking point: When does head trauma in sports lead to memory loss?

A new study suggests there may be a starting point at which blows to the head or other head trauma suffered in combat sports start to affect memory and thinking abilities and can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in the brain. The research was released today and will be presented as part of the Emerging Science (formerly known as Late-Breaking Science) program at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

Chronic traumatic encephalophaty (CTE) is also known as Boxer's syndrome or Dementia pugilistica. It is called so because boxers who have been hit many times in the head suffer from this disease.