Texas Leads in Making Youth Sports Safer From Concussions
CNN recently reported that concussions have been on the rise for American youth, this according to the new Health of America Report released by Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS). The piece notes a 71 percent increase in rough-sports-related concussions for youth ages 10 to 19 since 2010.
While these numbers may seem grim, what we have learned and implemented because of them is a brain-changer. Since 2010, we have gotten much better at recognizing, detecting, treating, and working to restore the brain after injury when before efforts were minimally existent. Thanks to scientific breakthroughs and other reports shining a light on this major issue, concussions and brain injury have risen to the forefront of our dinner table conversations and made front page news.
National and local organizations representing youth, collegiate and professional sports have teamed up with health care professionals, patient advocates, and others to develop innovative and collaborative ways to optimize brain health, to build brain reserve prior to injury, and to address mitigating short and long-term effects of concussions. Right here in Dallas, research scientists and medical minds are making extraordinary headway to put brain health in center focus of sports safety.
INVESTIGATING PROTOCOLS TO IMPROVE COGNITIVE DEFICITS FROM CONCUSSIONS
We, at the Center for BrainHealth, part of The University of Texas at Dallas, have a long-standing relationship with collaborators at Baylor College of Medicine to address long-term deficits in children and teens recovering from brain injury. Soon, we will also be recruiting youth to take part in a clinical trial investigating protocols to improve persistent cognitive deficits following concussion.
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Published on Dallas Innovates October 29, 2016
