Thursday, March 17, 2016
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Quotes by Max Baer (1909–1959)
Max Baer Quotes
- He hit me 18 times while I was in the act of falling.
- I define fear as standing across the ring from Joe Louis and knowing he wants to go home early.
- On being called Jethro now: "It`s like somebody calling you a son of a bitch. If he`s your friend, it`s okay. If he`s your enemy, it`s not.
- It's like somebody calling you a son of a b____. If he's your friend, it's okay. If he's your enemy, it's not.
- Ronnie didn't want to show anything positive about my dad. He didn't want to show he was a hero. 'Jimmy Braddock was a great guy,' my father always said. But you don't build him up as the hero of the downtrodden by bringing my dad down.
- I looked across the ring and realised I wanted to go home [on fighting Louis]
- I define fear as standing across the ring from Joe Louis and knowing he wants to go home early.
- On being called Jethro now: "It`s like somebody calling you a son of a bitch. If he`s your friend, it`s okay. If he`s your enemy, it`s not.
- It's like somebody calling you a son of a b____. If he's your friend, it's okay. If he's your enemy, it's not.
- Ronnie didn't want to show anything positive about my dad. He didn't want to show he was a hero. 'Jimmy Braddock was a great guy,' my father always said. But you don't build him up as the hero of the downtrodden by bringing my dad down.
- I looked across the ring and realised I wanted to go home [on fighting Louis]
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Monday, March 7, 2016
How concussion damages the brain
Athletes need more time to recover, UBC researcher says
Areas of significantly reduced myelin in athletes with concussion two weeks after an injury.
Photograph by: UBC MRI Research Centre
An
advanced brain scanning technique has shown for the first time in
humans how concussion damages the brain and its wiring, findings that
cast doubt on the effectiveness of conventional assessment tools used by
doctors.
This new understanding of the physical damage to the brain and the time frame for recovery suggests athletes should not be cleared to play less than two weeks after a concussion and should probably be shelved much longer, said Alex Rauscher, an MRI scientist and Canada Research Chair in the department of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia.
“We can see that the myelin is still (damaged) at two weeks, so even if the athlete passes the neuropsychological exam, I would hold him out of play for at least three weeks,” he said. “Getting another concussion before the brain is healed can be extremely dangerous.”
High-level athletes are notorious for trying to return to action quickly after a mild traumatic brain injury. Only 31 per cent of NHL players took more than 10 days off after suffering a concussion, according to a separate study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Recovery time more than doubled with each successive concussion.
Raucher used specially tuned magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of hockey players — who are at a high risk of concussion — to detect damage to the myelin sheath that protects nerves in the brain.
Myelin, which acts like the insulation on a wire, is the substance that is damaged in patients with multiple sclerosis.
The researchers scanned the brains of male and female university hockey players before the start of the season and then did multiple followup scans on eleven players who suffered a concussion, three days, two weeks and two months after the injury.
“We didn’t really know what happened to the brain in a concussion, because until now we haven’t had data taken before the injury to compare,” said Rauscher.
Concussions damage myelin and appear to cause the insulator to separate from the nerve and then slowly recover over two months, he said.
The researchers also noticed that conventional concussion assessments conducted in parallel with the scanning program failed to reflect the persistence of myelin damage.
Doctors rely on observations of behaviour, patient reporting of symptoms and questionnaires to determine whether a player has recovered before returning to play after a concussion.
“There was no correlation between the questionnaire results and the imaging findings,” he said. “It couldn’t see the damage to the brain.”
That puts doctors in a position in which they could send players back to the ice who are not fully healed, he said.
Conventional MRIs also detected a reduction in brain volume — equivalent to three sugar cubes — both in players that suffered concussions and in players who had not suffered a concussion scanned after the grind of a normal hockey season.
The volume reduction, probably the result of a number of sub-concussive hits, is also found in extreme-long-distance runners, said Rauscher. The runners’ brains recover over time, but it is not known if hockey players fully recover brain volume in the break between seasons.
At UBC student athletes return to play in a graduated program that begins when the athlete is “essentially symptom free,” after which they return to classes, a gradual return to exercise, then return to sport, said Dr. Rob Lloyd-Smith, head physician to the UBC Thunderbirds sports teams.
Doctors also conduct a computer-based neuropsychological test to compare with pre-season baseline testing.
“We rely on a number of clinical assessments and tools for diagnosis, but there is a significant overlap in symptoms between different conditions like concussion and whiplash, or even a viral illness that can make you feel lousy,” he said.
Doctors are waiting for a test that is both accurate and specific to concussion, a test that won’t be confused by other conditions, he said.
“Although there were changes in the myelin, it is uncertain what this represents and we are not ready to use the changes to determine return to play,” Lloyd-smith said.
While MRI provides a window into the kind of damage that concussion inflicts on the brain, it is not yet realized as a diagnostic tool.
“We don’t have ideal tools at present, but we do have access to a student athlete population that is ideal for this kind of research,” he said. “The tools that we have right now are not the tools that we will have 10 years from now, but they are better than the tools we used 10 years ago.”
Rauscher’s findings were published in the peer-reviewed open access journals PLOS One and Frontiers in Neurology.
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/scanning+technique+reveals+concussion+damages+brain/11766648/story.html
This new understanding of the physical damage to the brain and the time frame for recovery suggests athletes should not be cleared to play less than two weeks after a concussion and should probably be shelved much longer, said Alex Rauscher, an MRI scientist and Canada Research Chair in the department of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia.
“We can see that the myelin is still (damaged) at two weeks, so even if the athlete passes the neuropsychological exam, I would hold him out of play for at least three weeks,” he said. “Getting another concussion before the brain is healed can be extremely dangerous.”
High-level athletes are notorious for trying to return to action quickly after a mild traumatic brain injury. Only 31 per cent of NHL players took more than 10 days off after suffering a concussion, according to a separate study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Recovery time more than doubled with each successive concussion.
Raucher used specially tuned magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of hockey players — who are at a high risk of concussion — to detect damage to the myelin sheath that protects nerves in the brain.
Myelin, which acts like the insulation on a wire, is the substance that is damaged in patients with multiple sclerosis.
The researchers scanned the brains of male and female university hockey players before the start of the season and then did multiple followup scans on eleven players who suffered a concussion, three days, two weeks and two months after the injury.
“We didn’t really know what happened to the brain in a concussion, because until now we haven’t had data taken before the injury to compare,” said Rauscher.
Concussions damage myelin and appear to cause the insulator to separate from the nerve and then slowly recover over two months, he said.
The researchers also noticed that conventional concussion assessments conducted in parallel with the scanning program failed to reflect the persistence of myelin damage.
Doctors rely on observations of behaviour, patient reporting of symptoms and questionnaires to determine whether a player has recovered before returning to play after a concussion.
“There was no correlation between the questionnaire results and the imaging findings,” he said. “It couldn’t see the damage to the brain.”
That puts doctors in a position in which they could send players back to the ice who are not fully healed, he said.
Conventional MRIs also detected a reduction in brain volume — equivalent to three sugar cubes — both in players that suffered concussions and in players who had not suffered a concussion scanned after the grind of a normal hockey season.
The volume reduction, probably the result of a number of sub-concussive hits, is also found in extreme-long-distance runners, said Rauscher. The runners’ brains recover over time, but it is not known if hockey players fully recover brain volume in the break between seasons.
At UBC student athletes return to play in a graduated program that begins when the athlete is “essentially symptom free,” after which they return to classes, a gradual return to exercise, then return to sport, said Dr. Rob Lloyd-Smith, head physician to the UBC Thunderbirds sports teams.
Doctors also conduct a computer-based neuropsychological test to compare with pre-season baseline testing.
“We rely on a number of clinical assessments and tools for diagnosis, but there is a significant overlap in symptoms between different conditions like concussion and whiplash, or even a viral illness that can make you feel lousy,” he said.
Doctors are waiting for a test that is both accurate and specific to concussion, a test that won’t be confused by other conditions, he said.
“Although there were changes in the myelin, it is uncertain what this represents and we are not ready to use the changes to determine return to play,” Lloyd-smith said.
While MRI provides a window into the kind of damage that concussion inflicts on the brain, it is not yet realized as a diagnostic tool.
“We don’t have ideal tools at present, but we do have access to a student athlete population that is ideal for this kind of research,” he said. “The tools that we have right now are not the tools that we will have 10 years from now, but they are better than the tools we used 10 years ago.”
Rauscher’s findings were published in the peer-reviewed open access journals PLOS One and Frontiers in Neurology.
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/scanning+technique+reveals+concussion+damages+brain/11766648/story.html
Monday, February 29, 2016
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Friday, February 19, 2016
Manny Pacquiao - Manny Pacquiao loves starting his day with Pacman the Dog
Manny Pacquiao - Manny Pacquiao loves starting his day with Pacman the Dog
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Concussions May Increase Suicide Risk, Study Finds (By DR. AARON HAWKINS)
Concussions May Increase Suicide Risk, Study Finds
The risks of suffering a concussion have been under the spotlight in
recent years, especially as the degenerative neurological illness known
as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has been found in multiple
football players after their deaths. The degenerative disease is
believed to be linked to brain trauma, including concussions.
Now, a new study has found that concussions may also be associated with
an increase in the long-term risk of suicide. Experts have long known
that a severe, traumatic brain injury raises the risk of suicide, but
this study sheds more light on how concussions, a common mild head
injury, may impact overall suicide risk.
The study, published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal,
looked at the long-term risk of someone committing suicide if they have
ever suffered a concussion.
The suicide rate in Ontario, Canada, where the study was conducted, is
approximately nine per 100,000 people, according to the study. In the
U.S. as a whole, it's about 12 per 100,000 people, according to the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study conducted in Ontario gathered information on 235,110
individuals who had a history of concussion over a 20-year period, from
1992 to 2012. In the group there were 667 subsequent suicides --
equivalent to 31 deaths per 100,000 people, or three times the suicide
rate in the population as a whole, researchers found.
Those who had a concussion on a weekend had a higher risk of suicide,
the study also found. Their rate of suicide was 39 per 100,000 people,
or nearly four times the rate of the general population.
The study's authors said that while their findings support past research on how concussions can have lasting effects on physiology, mood and behavior, they cautioned that further research is needed.
The study's authors said that while their findings support past research on how concussions can have lasting effects on physiology, mood and behavior, they cautioned that further research is needed.
Concussions are usually caused by a bump or blow to the head, briefly
disrupting brain function.
Concussions do not always cause a loss of
consciousness. Concussions are considered to be a mild form of brain
injury and are the most common type of mild brain injury occurring in
young adults.
The study also finds that each additional concussion is associated with a further increase in suicide risk.
Dr. Donald Redelmeier, professor of medicine at the University of
Toronto and a lead researcher in the study, said the findings emphasize
that it's important for medical providers to be aware of a patient's
concussion history.
"Mild concussions, although invisible at the time of the incident, could
be dangerous later on," Redelmeier told ABC News. "It is important that
even years after a concussion, not to forget about it and to inform
your doctor of your history."
Dr. Allen Sills, a professor of neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University,
said suicide has become a major concern for medical providers.
"It is important that we screen for depressive symptoms in all patients
and not just patients with a concussion history," Sills, who was not
involved in the Ontario study, told ABC News.
Redelmeier said he is hopeful that the research will encourage doctors
to take a second look at patients who had a concussion, even if the
concussion occurred years ago.
"I compare it to penicillin. If you have had an allergic reaction to
penicillin in the past, you would let your doctor know about this
medication allergy so that you do not have a harmful event in the
future," Redelmeier said. "We should think of a concussion history in
the same way."
Dr. Aaron Hawkins is a psychiatry resident from the University of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. He is currently a resident at the ABC News Medical Unit.
Link:http://abcnews.go.com/Health/concussions-increase-suicide-risk-study-finds/story?id=36779173
Neuropsychological test scores before and after brain-injury rehabilitation in relation to return to employment
TW Teasdale, H Skovdahl Hansen, A Gade… - Neuropsychological …, 1997 - Taylor & Francis
Neuropsychological tests are widely used not only to assess the degree of dysfunction
following a brain injury, but also to assess the effectiveness of rehabilitation procedures in
improving cognitive functioning. As yet, however, there is little evidence bearing upon ...
following a brain injury, but also to assess the effectiveness of rehabilitation procedures in
improving cognitive functioning. As yet, however, there is little evidence bearing upon ...
Concussion raises long-term suicide risk, study finds
Concussion raises long-term suicide risk, study finds
Research shows for the first time that brain injuries incurred on a weekend seem to carry an even higher risk of self-harm than weekday concussions.
By: Sheryl Ubelacker The Canadian Press, Published on Mon Feb 08 2016
“For some patients with concussion, it takes so long to get better and you kind of wonder if they fully recover," said Dr. Donald Redelmeier, lead researcher on a new study of 235,000 concussion patients.
Adults who experience a concussion appear to have a long-term suicide risk three times higher than that of the general population — and that risk rises to four times higher if the traumatic brain injury occurred on a weekend, a study suggests.
The study, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, also found that having a subsequent concussion was associated with a further increase in the risk that a person would take his or her own life.
“We know that a concussion can cause lasting changes in the brain that can alter mood, perhaps resulting in behaviour changes, including impulsivity,” said principal researcher Dr. Donald Redelmeier, an internal medicine specialist and senior scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
“It’s possible that we’re seeing greater suicide risk linked to weekend concussions due to risk-taking associated with recreation or misadventure, whereas weekday injuries may be linked to employment hazards.”
To conduct the study, researchers analyzed Ontario health records to identify more than 235,000 concussion patients between 1992 and 2012. Over that 20-year period, 667 people with a history of concussion died by their own hands.
Those injured on weekdays accounted for 519 suicides, three times the population norm of about nine per 100,000 annually, while those whose brain injuries occurred on weekends accounted for 148 suicides, about four times the population norm.
In absolute terms, researchers concluded that 470 of these deaths might not have occurred if patients’ risks had matched those of the general population.
“Patients who experienced a concussion were at increased risk of suicide regardless of demographic factors such as age, sex, socioeconomic status or past psychiatric conditions,” Redelmeier said.
The mean age of patients at the time of suicide was 41, men and women were equally affected, most lived in cities, and the average time gap between the concussion and committing suicide was almost six years.
“It may not be that the concussion was the cause,” Redelmeier noted. “It may be that they were already predisposed towards self-harm activity and in that way the concussion isn’t a mechanism; it is a marker of an underlying tendency. And that certainly could be the case in our study.
“But it does leave this lingering question: Were they just predisposed to begin with or was there a direct injury that disrupted serotonin pathways and led to impulsivity and depression and sleep disturbances and irritability?” (Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, or brain chemical, related to mood regulation, pain perception and other physical functions.)
“The patients that I see, that’s what they talk about a lot: ‘I’ve never fully recovered from the concussion. I’m just not the same,’ ” he said. “For some patients with concussion, it takes so long to get better and you kind of wonder if they fully recover.”
Dr. Anthony Phillips, who was not involved in the study, called it a well-conducted research paper, which shows for the first time that weekend concussions seem to carry an even higher risk of long-term suicide than do weekday concussions.
“There’s reasons for this — the fact that weekend events may be related to recreation where there might be a more severe injury. It’s a very interesting pattern that’s never been reported before,” said Phillips, scientific director of neurosciences for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
“There’s no doubt that there are changes, scars that are left in the brain that are subtle and are producing changes in perhaps neurotransmitters or neural connections,” he said Monday from Vancouver.
While stressing that the research does not suggest that every person who suffers a concussion “now has a high liability of suicide,” Phillips said the increased risk needs to be taken seriously.
“We’ve got to protect our brains, keep them healthy,” he said. “If you’ve had a concussion, you should take extra precautions to make sure you don’t get another one. It’s a matter of prevention and not putting yourself in harm’s way.”
Interestingly, the study found that about half the patients had visited a physician for unrelated medical issues in the week prior to taking their own lives. Overall, about 80 per cent had seen their doctors in the month prior to their suicide.
“It was a missed opportunity, at face value. A doctor may not be able to make everything perfect, but is in a position to stop a situation from becoming worse,” said Redelmeier, suggesting that patients should routinely be asked about a history of concussion and suicidal thoughts.
“I think an awareness of the association between concussions and suicide is informative not just for public health, but also for practising physicians,” he said.
“Understanding how a history of concussion raises the risk of suicide and supporting patients with better screening, treatment and followup for recovery may be important steps in preventing these tragic and avoidable deaths.”
Link: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/02/08/concussion-raises-long-term-suicide-risk-study-finds.html
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