USA Football and Steelers' staff had a host of recommendations for increasing concussion safety for area youth football players at Saturday's coaches clinic at the UPMC Sports Complex in Pittsburgh. Know the signs and symptoms. Teach proper tackling technique. Limit full-contact padded practices. "The whole idea is to help our kids play the game of football the right way," Steelers president Art Rooney II said to nearly 100 youth coaches, according to the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there are 3.8 million sports and recreation-related concussion annually. Most injuries are sustained while bicycling, followed by organized contact sports such as football and ice hockey and playground mishaps. Last month, data were released on the forces incurred over the course of a full season by 7- and 8-year-old football players in northern Virginia. The magnitude of the hits were measured using accelerometers placed inside several helmets. Many were comparable to forces felt in a pillow fight, but some were on par with those sustained by high school or collegiate players. The higher magnitude forces typically occurred during practices, not games. Ed Passino, Northeast regional manager for USA Football urged coaches to limit full-contact practices. "One thing that we're teaching throughout the country is that you don't have to hit every day in practice," Passino said. "It's not 1950 anymore. Update the way you handle practice. "Maybe you only hit one day a week, you can still conduct form tackling without full-on collisions." The eight Ivy League presidents, two of whom are medical doctors, limited contact practices for their football teams last summer, allowing fewer than the NCAA. USA Football concussion safety information Source: Concussions at head of youth coaches camp -- Pittsburgh-Post Gazette -- May 20, 2012 Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at jean@SportsConcussions.org 7 completed 18 scheduled

Reducing the number of concussions suffered by student-athletes is on the minds of many, including those that lead some of the most prestigious universities in the nation. Soon, following in the footsteps of changes made last year to Ivy League football programs, athletes in other sports may see the adoption of more protective measures as well. Ivy League football players saw significant changes in their practices last season after the eight presidents, two of whom are medical doctors, acted to reduce the number of impacts to their student-athletes' brains in an effort to minimize concussions. In July 2011 the Ivy League Concussion Committee developed a new set of regulations limiting full-contact practices to two per week, three less than allowed by the NCAA. In addition, of the preseason "two-a-days" only one can be full contact. Similar sport-specific regulations may be applied to other activities such as lacrosse, hockey, and soccer in the near future. “We are leading other conferences,” said Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris. “I don’t know of any conference looking at this in the same manner that we are. We really see this as an area that we can be a leader in terms of the medical care safety of our athletes as well as in terms of the research we contribute to our collective understanding of concussions and athletics,” according to the The Harvard Crimson. Ivy League Deputy Executive Director Carolyn Campbell- McGovern was apart of this game change, “A lot of the recommendations from the football report were naturally going to be applied to other sports as well, particularly the education components, sideline testing components, and any other of those types of enhancement,” Campbell-McGovern said. Recommendations for each sport, lacrosse, soccer, and hockey, will likely be different. On Wednesday, the Ivy League Concussion Committee met in New York to discuss what changes will be made. The committee will also review recommendations made by each sport's subcommittee. Athletic trainers, including Harvard Head Athletic Trainer Brant Berkstresser, physcians, and administrators make up the concussion committee. It is co-chaired by presidents David Skorton of Cornell, and Jim Kim of Dartmouth. Harvard Medical School instructor and doctor at Children's Hospital Boston's Division of Sports Medicine, Michael J. O'Brien has ideas for change. He says he sees 300-400 concussions every month, 98 percent of them sports-related. “The bigger risk is the athlete who gets injured, flies under the radar a little bit and gets a hit a few more times in that game or in the next two or three games. The injuries to that athlete tend to be exponential, their threshold to injury is much worse, and the damage is exponential. Using computer based testing to get objective information rather than just reporting symptoms would help," O'Brien said. Source: Ivy League Aims to Abate Concussions - The Harvard Crimson March 30, 2012 Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at Jean@SportsConcussions.org

Bronx, NY — Patients vary widely in their response to concussion, but scientists haven’t understood why. Now, using a new technique for analyzing data from brain imaging studies, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University andMontefiore Medical Center have found that concussion victims have unique spatial patterns of brain abnormalities that change over time. The new technique could eventually help in assessing concussion patients, predicting which head injuries are likely to have long-lasting neurological consequences, and evaluating the effectiveness of treatments, according to lead author Michael L. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., associate director of the Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center at Einstein and medical director of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) services at Montefiore. The findings are published today in the online edition of Brain Imaging and Behavior. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than one million Americans sustain a concussion (also known as mild traumatic brain injury, or mTBI) each year. Concussions in adults result mainly from motor vehicle accidents or falls. At least 300,000 adults and children are affected by sports-related concussions each year. While most people recover from concussions with no lasting ill effects, as many as 30 percent suffer permanent impairment – undergoing a personality change or being unable to plan an event. A 2003 federal study called concussions “a serious public health problem” that costs the U.S. an estimated $80 billion a year. Previous imaging studies found differences between the brains of people who have suffered concussions and normal individuals. But those studies couldn’t assess whether concussion victims differ from one another. “In fact, most researchers have assumed that all people with concussions have abnormalities in the same brain regions,” said Dr. Lipton, who is also associate professor of radiology, ofpsychiatry and behavioral sciences, and in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience at Einstein. “But that doesn’t make sense, since it is more likely that different areas would be affected in each person because of differences in anatomy, vulnerability to injury and mechanism of injury.” In the current study, the Einstein researchers used a recently developed MRI technique called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) on 34 consecutive patients (19 women and 15 men aged 19 to 64) diagnosed with mTBI at Montefiore in the Bronx and on 30 healthy controls. The patients were imaged within two weeks of injury and again three and six months afterward. The imaging data were then analyzed using a new software tool called Enhanced Z-score Microstructural Assessment Pathology (EZ-MAP), which allows researchers for the first time to examine microstructural abnormalities across the entire brain of individual patients. EZ-MAP was developed by Dr. Lipton and his colleagues at Einstein. DTI detects subtle damage to the brain by measuring the direction of diffusion of water in white matter. The same technology was used by Dr. Lipton and his team in widely publicized research on more than 30 amateur soccer players who had all played the sport since childhood. They found that frequent headers showed brain injury similar to that seen in patients with concussion. The uniformity of diffusion direction – an indicator of whether tissue has maintained its microstructural integrity – is measured on a zero-to-one scale called fractional anisotropy (FA). In the latest study, areas of abnormally low FA (reflecting abnormal brain regions) were observed in concussion patients but not in controls. Each concussion patient had a unique spatial pattern of low FA that evolved over the study period. Surprisingly, each patient also had a unique, evolving pattern of abnormally high FA distinct from the areas of low FA. “We found widespread high FA at every time point, all the way out to six months and even in patients more than one year out from their injury.” said Dr. Lipton. “We suspect that high FA represents a response to the injury. In other words, the brain may be trying to compensate for the injury by developing and enhancing other neural connections. This is a new and unexpected finding.” At present, diagnosis of concussions is based mainly on the nature of the patient’s accident and the presence of symptoms including headache, dizziness and behavioral abnormalities. DTI, combined with EZ-MAP analysis, might offer a more objective tool for diagnosing concussion injuries and for predicting which patients will have persistent and progressive symptoms. The paper is titled “Robust Detection of Traumatic Axonal Injury in Individual Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Patients: Intersubject Variation, Change Over Time and Bidirectional Changes in Anisotropy.” Contributors include Namhee Kim, Ph.D.; Tova M. Gardin, B.A.; Keivan Shifteh, M.D.; Mimi Kim, Sc.D.; Molly E. Zimmerman, Ph.D.; Richard B. Lipton, M.D.; and Craig A. Branch, Ph.D., all of Einstein and Montefiore; and Young Park, M.D., who earned his degree from Einstein; and Miriam Hulkower, a medical student at Einstein. Source: Novel Brain Imaging Technique Explains Why Concussions Affect People Differently Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University -- Newswise; June 9, 2012 Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at jean@SportsConcussions.org

MUNCIE, Ind. -- Student-athletes will receive financial assistance to help defray the costs of baseline testing from a fund named for the late Chicago Bears' Dave Duerson who committed suicide a year ago. An autopsy revealed Duerson suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease. CTE is associated with repetitive head trauma and can affect judgement, mood, impulse control and memory. Computerized neuropsychological concussion tests, known as "baseline" tests, are typically taken by student-athletes prior to the beginning of their sports season on a computer at home, in a school computer lab or in a doctor's office. Structured similar to a computer game, a student-athlete will complete various online exercises that measure memory, reaction times and cognitive processing speeds. If an injury occurs the test is retaken and baseline scores are compared to post-injury values. The difference between the two can give trained medical professionals a look at potential issues that need further evaluation prior to clearing a student-athlete to return to activity. "The baseline testing gives everyone a free opportunity to pre-test," Central High School football coach John Hochstetler said. "The post-test comes with a fee, and that's where some of our youngsters run into challenges," according to The Star Press. The Dave Duerson Muncie Community Schools Athletic Safety Fund will assist injured athletes who can't afford the post-injury test at two middle schools and two high schools beginning with the 2012-2013 season. Duerson played football, basketball and baseball at Northside High School in Muncie, Ind. He went on to play for Notre Dame where he received All-American recognition in 1981 and 1982 before entering the NFL. Duerson played for the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, and the Arizona Cardinals. He earned two Super Bowl championship rings and was selected to four consecutive Pro Bowls from 1986-1989 during his eleven-year career in the NFL. Duerson was the NFL 'Man of the Year' in 1987. Source: Duerson fund will assist Muncie athletes -- The Star Press April 1, 2012 Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at Jean@SportsConcussions.org

Common sense has led many to believe that youth football players can't possibly sustain high-impacts like their adult counterparts. But veteran correspondent Stone Phillips' report "Hard Hits, Hard Numbers," features researchers at Virginia Tech (VT) who recently turned that theory upside down when they analyzed impact data from the helmets of 7- and 8-year old players in Montgomery County, Virginia. Accelerometers placed inside seven helmets wirelessly transmitted data to scientists on the sideline for a season's worth of practices and games, with surprising results. The bottom line? Maybe it's time to take another look at practices, drills, and helmet design to minimize the forces absorbed during an average season. Regardless of the significance of the impact, none of the players sustained concussions during the season. Therein lies an enduring mystery, why small impacts can cause concussions in some players while others walk away from big hits. The force of acceleration is often measured in g. Fighter pilots may "pull" 9g in an F-16, a sneeze may register 3g. They're part of everyday life. But because of the heightened interest in sports-related concussions, researchers are looking at a multitude of ways to reduce brain impacts for everyone from adults to youth. But first, they had to identify if there was even an issue at all. Worth a look The VT study was the first of its kind to measure the impacts sustained during youth football. Having worked for nine years recording over 150,000 hits with the helmet impact system at the university, researchers turned their attention to an area youth league. The forces averaged about 15g, meaning half of the hits measured below that level, the other half above. In one case, well above. One hit measured 100g, a big hit by college standards. Most of the more forceful impacts came during practice. Highlights from PBS NewsHour include: - reseachers believe 98g or above is a red flag for a possible concussion - a total 753 impacts were recorded - average player sustained 107 impacts in one season; high school players average about 500; college players sustain about 1,000/season - there were 38 impacts of 40g or greater; almost every one occurred during practice - six impacts measured over 80g the lower range VT researchers consider to be the risk of concussion - youth football players lack strong neck and chest muscles of older players to maintain head stability - 50, 60, 70g loads were surprising - location of impact is important as are individual differences and tolerances - there is more helmet-to-helmet contact in youth football than occurs in older players; most impacts occurred to the front of the helmet - more head-to-ground impacts found at college level Changes afoot Researchers concluded that addressing changes in practice would likely reduce the number of impacts per season, an important factor in any youth sport. Less contact drills, fewer contact practices and other modifications would be beneficial, particularly as the effects of sub-concussive hits, impacts that may cause changes in the brain without causing symptoms, continue to be studied. Source: Stone Phillips Reports Pint-Size Footbal Players Take Big-League Hits -- PBS NewsHour -- April 3, 2012 Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at jean@SportsConcussions.org

SportsConcussions.org Named One of Constant Contact’s 2011 All Stars SportsConcussions.org recognized for achieving exemplary marketing results SEQUIM, Wash. — April 4, 2012 – SportsConcussions.org, a non-profit concussion education organization, has received the 2011 All Star Award from Constant Contact®, Inc., the trusted marketing advisor to more than half a million small organizations worldwide. Each year, a select group of Constant Contact customers are honored with the All Star Award for their exemplary marketing results. SportsConcussions.org’s results ranked among the top 10% of Constant Contact’s customer base. “We’re pleased to be recognized by Constant Contact for achieving strong marketing results, said Jean Rickerson, CEO and Founder of SportsConcussions.org. “Constant Contact’s tools have helped us reach a large audience with the all-important message regarding sports-related concussions in a very efficient way. We look forward to increasing our communication efforts even more in the coming year, to help protect more athletes. We are very grateful to all of our customers who follow us on our website, on social media and through our weekly newsletter. Our goal is to provide them with ideas and resources so they can protect athletes in their local communities.” Constant Contact looked at the following criteria to select this year’s All Stars: · Frequency of campaigns, events, and surveys · Open, bounce, and click-through rates · Event registration rates · Survey completion rates · Use of social features · Use of mailing list sign-up tools “There is nothing we like more than to see our customers finding success. It’s the reason Constant Contact was founded, and it’s a thrill to see the fantastic results that our All Stars are achieving,” said Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact. “This group is really leading the charge when it comes to delivering relevant, engaging content that drives real business results. We salute this year’s All Stars for their success, and are honored to have played a part in their achievements.” About SportsConcussions.orgSportsConcussions.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about sports-related concussions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) up to 3.8 million people suffer from a recreation- or –sport related concussion each year. SportsConcussions.org is anchored by a website that is update daily, featuring news, ideas and resources for school districts, leagues, coaches, parents and athletes. The organization also holds community workshops and conferences, and establishes baseline testing programs. About Constant Contact, Inc. Constant Contact is revolutionizing the success formula for small organizations through affordable, easy-to-use Engagement MarketingTM tools that help create and grow customer relationships. More than half a million small businesses, nonprofits, and associations worldwide rely on Constant Contact to drive ongoing customer dialogs through email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, and online surveys. All Constant Contact products come with unrivaled KnowHow, education, and free coaching with a personal touch, including award-winning customer support.

While involvement in school sports is probably one of the healthiest things, physically and mentally, your child can do, the pressure to play harder and practice longer brings an increased risk of head injury. Medical, sports and school communities are all taking a serious new look at how to treat concussions caused by a hit to, or shaking of, the head. Falls during equestrian, cheerleading and gymnastics events are producing concussions at an increasing rate, along with the more obvious contact sports like football and soccer. "A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury (or TBI) and it is similar to a stroke in that both affect normal brain function and may have similar symptoms," explained Neurologist Frederick Nahm, MD, PhD, and head of the Stroke Center at Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut. Immediate symptoms may include confusion, disorientation and sometimes falling unconscious. Ignoring these symptoms is outright dangerous. "During a game, your adrenaline is going and you're pumped up, so it's easy to brush it off. But whether you bump your head during sports, a car accident, a fall or during military activity, it may not be until that night or a few days later that you get a headache or start to feel dizzy or nauseous," Nahm added. "The most important thing with a head injury, if you feel as though you're having symptoms you have to tell someone and seek evaluation. Taking time to heal makes a lifetime of difference Getting a 14-year-old to take it easy, to stop using the computer, to stop texting, is not easy, but it's very important to get that teenager to understand what happened. Parents need to be involved to get the injured child engaged by allowing the brain to rest as part of the healing process. Dr. Nahm points out that, "a thorough treatment plan focuses on the emotional, psychological, and behavioral issues that can arise following even a mild brain injury." Without proper healing, a student who never worried may develop anxiety about performance at school, and may find that no matter how much effort they put into it, they can't manage to hold the grade point average they had prior to injury. "These secondary complications, like anxiety disorders or a new phobia of tests, memory problems, depression, apathy, inattention and other behaviors are indelible and can be difficult to treat. It's not something the student can control or work harder to 'fix' because It's the result of an injured brain. Only a physician trained in the treatment of concussion or traumatic brain injury (typically a neurologist or neuropsychologist) can do a thorough assessment for a severe brain injury," said Dr. Nahm. Returning to nohttps://tivity without proper healing creates an increased risk of second impact syndrome; repeated head injury, especially injury before total healing has occurred, carries a far more serious threat to long-term complications. If you bang your head, take it seriously, tell someone, and even if you have no immediate symptoms, take the time for an evaluation. Photo: Courtesy College of William and Mary/ (C) Creative Commons Story Source: Science Daily: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120912093159.htm The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Greenwich Hospital. Questions/comments? Contact Jean Rickerson at jean@sportsconcussions.org

Concern over longevity issues stemming from a string of injuries including back-to-back concussions, may have contributed to Chris Owusu's omission from the first seven rounds of the NFL draft this weekend. But Stanford's talented receiver, who turned in one of the fastest times in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in February and was considered a possible top 100 prospect during his senior year, was signed by the San Francisco 49ers shortly after the draft concluded on Saturday. Owusu, one of Andrew Luck's go-to receivers missed the end of his senior season including two Bowl games after suffering two concussions in three weeks, his third in a little more than a year. Admitting to frustration because his symptoms cleared rapidly after each injury, he was not authorized by Cardinal physicians to return. Considered a third-round talent, Sports Illustrated's Jim Trotter spoke to several general managers about Owusu. "He's off our board," says one general manager. "He was from the start. It wouldn't matter if he was RG3, he'd still be off our board. With that kind of history it's not worth the risk of him being seriously injured, especially with all the attention you're going to receive. If you draft him you're going to be under the microscope the whole time. Every time he gets hit it's going to be magnified tenfold." For the 49ers, Owushttps://oo good to pass up. "Chris wasn't wiped off our board," 49ers general manager Trent Baalke said Saturday when he met the media at the conclusion of the draft. "You've got to remember, he was cleared to play by the same group of doctors that work with us on a regular basis. He certainly was not off our board," according to NBC SportsGroup. Owusu was taking part in a Stanford School of Medicine research project when he suffered at least one of his concussions. Researchers recorded impact data from players wearing high-tech mouthguards in an effort to gain a better understanding of the forces that cause the injury. Source: Read more: https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/jim_trotter/04/25/draft.concussions/index.html#ixzz1tSyGvhE8 Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at Jean@SportsConcussions.org Photo: (c) Maveric2003@creativecommons

COLUMBUS, Ohio – There is no magic test to determine when an athlete is ready to get back into the game after they have suffered a head injury. Researchers have started using an interactive video game, a tool many athletes are already using in rehabilitation, to test balance for concussion assessment and management. The reliability of the video game for assessing athletes’ concussions has not been confirmed, but a study by a sports medicine researcher from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center may provide insight to the use of the Nintendo’s Wii Fit for concussion management. Team athletic trainers often determine whether an athlete has a concussion based on their physical examination, cognitive ability, self-report of symptoms and balance. "Student athletes love it because we have incorporated fun into their rehabilitation and concussion assessment," said Tamerah Hunt, director of research at the OSU’s Sports Medicine Concussion Program. “For many school districts, it is an affordable option and can be portable, making it convenient for sideline testing and travel with the team for away games.” Researchers from Ohio State and the University of Maryland are conducting baseline testing for concussion management in collegiate athletes, and will soon do the same among high-school athletes. Recent concussion guidelines suggest postural control is an important part of the assessment process, which makes balance an important piece of information in determining recovery from a head injury. “It’s not the perfect system, but can be considered as an option to provide basic objective information about balance,” said Hunt, whose previous research includes examining concussion recovery patterns among high school students in several states. “It’s another tool to have in our toolkit because determining when an athlete has recovered can be subjective,” Hunt admits. “Athletes are more likely to engage with a video game than to take another boring concussion test or admit they are still hurt,” said Hunt. “We currently base much of our assessment on an athlete telling us about their symptoms. The video game allows us to broadly analyze center of gravity, to help us be more objective.” Athletes participate in three different yoga poses as demonstrated on the Wii Fit game and are given a score which determines how well the athlete maintained center of balance. Baseline testing provides athletic trainers with an idea of how an athlete normally functions. If an athlete suffers a head injury at a later date, the athletic trainer can assess the balance of the athlete compared to their normal ability. According to Hunt, an athletic trainer must obtain the baseline measures to compare the athlete to themselves because everyone performs differently. Preliminary data suggests a moderate correlation to current methods used in concussion assessment, ranging from 0.75-0.82, depending on the stance. “Additional studies need to be performed to determine the long-term reliability of the measures and other factors associated with test scores, such as fatigue,” said Hunt. This is just the beginning of studies using alternative measures of balance assessment like the Wii Fit for concussion management. The National Collegiate Athletic Association concussion guidelines support using the video game as a postural assessment tool. It is not yet approved as a medical device by the Food and Drug Administration. Source: Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center -- May 2012 Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at jean@SportsConcussions.org