If you want America to pay attention to anything this week it has to be occurring in Washington or at the Super Bowl.
Thus, the results of a new study published in a journal called Brain, unveiled yesterday at a press conference in Tampa point to negative effects on the brain up to 30 years after suffering even a few mild concussions.
Dr. Maryse Lassonde of the University of Montreal said those effects are similar to ones manifest in patients who are in early stages of dementia. While the individuals are functional, the damage done from the concussive activity is demonstrable when compared to the results of research done on people who never suffered a concussion.
The press conference was sponsored by the Sports Legacy Institute (SLI) which is involved in the research being done by doctors who are examining the brains of deceased NFL players. Obviously they are on the other side of the scale from those studied by Dr. Lassonde but the Montreal research was eye-opening about the long term effects of what an athlete would consider a non-event.
In the SLI study six former players' brain were biopsied and all show severe degeneration caused by repetitive concussions, similar to the problems that occur in boxers who take beatings to their heads.
The league has been unable to find a study that convinces them that physical damage done to players during their careers can be directly related to brain damage and its manifestations such as depression, drug use and suicide. The press conference occuring at the NFL's biggest media event of the year can't be music to its ears.
Prevention seems to be the best way to address brain damage if even a small number of concussive episodes lead to results as seen by Dr. Lassonde.
When you see Ben Roethisberger on the field this Sunday, just think about the pressure on him to return to play after suffering a concussion in Week 17 that necessitated him being taken off the field on a cart.
One team in the NFL employs the services of a dentist who has devised a device that has assisted hundreds in the league as well as in the hockey and boxing communities. Dr. Gerald Maher is in Tampa this week meeting with other dentists at a seminar. Read about the Maher mouth guard, here.
whether you're traveling to Tampa or hosting your own party, Examiners have Super Bowl XLIII covered!
Comments
I thought that issue was a no-brainer (so to speak.) I was wondering when it was going to get to boxers. Of course it kills cells when you have head trauma. I didn't even know this was disputed by anyone. Try having a meaningful conversation with Evander Holyfield sometime. And he STILL wants to fight despite having all of the money in the world. I've been thinking that Holyfield isn't even of sound enough mind to make a decision as to weather he should fight or not. Someone should step in there.
I've seen quite a few Q.B.s who have that brain dead look on their face too. Troy Aikman comes quickly to mind.
Was this posted in the illustrious scientific journal, "DUH?"
The Maher mouth guard was developed for boxers. He's got a history with Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
Is the mouth guard supposed to prevent concussions? I'll admit ignorance about the guard.
History or not, Holyfield can't complete a coherent sentence. Watching him box is like watching a public execution. I cringe every time I see him get hit in the face or head.
Kevin: click the link to the Maher product and you'll see.
I did. I left a comment on there. I can understand the chinstrap whiplash head bashing helmet and ground but I don't see how it would help a boxer.
Kevin, Mouth guards are required in boxing because, as you mentioned, the known long-term outcomes. NFL/NHL players are now showing these same outcomes because of the violent evolution of the game which has increase boxing type "rotational blows"on chin strap forces similar to that of the McGahee hit. Yet both the NFL and NHL do not have a mouth guard mandate. This retainer like mouth guard use within the NFL for over two decades, is the only ADA aproved product on the market that individually identifies a diagnosable defect in jaw cartilage now found also in soldiers exposed to IED. The military, as in the NFL, is having epidemic like concussion rates that some experts feel correlate to the unprecedented numbers of depression related suicide. A group of soldiers readying for deployment at one base is waiting to be fitted with this orthotic device, their job is to remove IED from the roads of Iraq, yet funding is hard to find. This country is willing to spend $200 million on contraceptives for the public, yet we aren't having any luck lobbying politicians and foundations alike for $15k to protect this group of soldiers from these known chin strap forces. Such a pilot study could elicit a mandate for all soldiers and athletes alike, we feel would result in a drastic reduction in MTBI. It's about time standards for this type of protection are more emphasized, to much has been made of new helmet designs, although very important, they only help prevent trauma from blows to the crown. It is the helmets anchoring system that employs the chin/jaw that needs further review. If there is anyone reading this and would like to help these troops get fitted this week please contact the email below with any kind of contact info that may help fund this much needed project. mpicot@mahercorlabs.com
are the majority of lower mandibular induced concussions the result of blows to the facemask/frontal-helmet or are they from direct shots to the lower jaw?
Al: I'd recommend going to the Mahercor Labs site to get your fix on this issue. From what I'm told by Mark Picot of the company, it is the chin strap issue that snaps the bones back into the parietal lobe.
look pal, i can go to that clunky mahercor site again (perhaps the only site on the net which would actually benefit from having more flash video)... or i can come here, my adopted home on all things parietal trauma related. :)
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