There has been lots in the news lately about two groups of people experiencing traumatic brain injuries: NFL players, and soldiers. More and more soldiers have been experiencing TBIs while on duty, and there are calls to publish guidelines for soldier TBI treatment.

According to this article, a set of guidelines has recently been published in the Department of Veteran Affairs Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development.

These guidelines include steps that go through the identification, treatment, and management of concussions suffered by soldiers on duty.

Posted by Astrid Scott at 02:20 PM | Permalink

Congress is urging a review of information about traumatic brain injury in the NFL, after reports of the high incidence of traumatic brain injury and other issues in current and former players.

The National Football League has recently taken action to respond to these findings, but Congress is still looking to review TBI data, according to this article.

One step the NFL has taken, according to the article, is establish a hotline that players can call if they feel they are being pressured to play while suffering from a brain injury.

Posted by Astrid Scott at 03:01 PM | Permalink

A question for readers has been posted on the Minnesota Public Radio Web site, "Have fears of brain injury affected your decisions about the sports you let your children play?"

It notes that growing concerns of the links between sports injuries and traumatic brain injury (which have been written about previously in this blog) as a reason why people may reconsider letting their child play sports.

Research has indicated that professional football players may be at a higher risk for brain injury than people who do not play. Traumatic brain injury can be treated, but it is impossible to cure.

The question was posted today, so you can still share your thoughts. You can post them here.

Posted by Astrid Scott at 10:52 AM | Permalink

A Olympic silver medal winning boblsed driver won't be able to compete anymore after a crash left him with a traumatic brain injury.

In an article in The New York Times blog says the crash occurred during training before the Vancouver Olympics.

The 40-year-old driver was first diagnosed with a concussion, the article states, but it was later determined to be a traumatic brain injury.

Posted by Astrid Scott at 01:59 PM | Permalink

Although there is no cure for traumatic brain injury, researchers say they are making progress and are on track for trails of a new treatment involving amino acids.

This article notes that researchers who fed amino acids to mice who had brain injuries noticed improvement in their cognitive abilities. Other studies have shown similar results.

Researchers hope this new information will be helpful in moving forward toward a better treatment for traumatic brain injury.

Posted by Astrid Scott at 12:18 PM | Permalink

As the discussion about traumatic brain injuries in the NFL continues, more people are chiming in with opinions about what has been done in the past, and what should be done in the future.

Here is another opinion article about how the NFL has been dealing with brain injuries. It notes how the NFL has previously responded to such incidents, and outlines suggestions on what should be done.

Research has previously indicated that NFL players may be at an increased risk for issues such as dementia and memory loss. There have been reports of players suffering concussions on the field and returning shortly after to play another game.

Posted by Astrid Scott at 08:12 AM | Permalink

The NFL has been in the news lately for the number of brain injuries among players and research suggesting that professional football players might be at a higher risk for things like memory loss at an earlier age than people who do not play football.

This article is an opinion piece about the "medical tests" that send injured players back on the field. The author notes that in many cases, football players sometimes get concussions, pass medical tests, and then get right back on the field and suffer more concussions.

It also questions the use of the term "mild concussion." It questions whether any brain injury can be described as "mild."

A good, quick read!

Posted by Astrid Scott at 05:06 PM | Permalink