BrainBlog

From the CBC : Concussion prevention effort features mobile app Four sports organizations partner with government on new education programs CBC News Posted: Jan 19, 2012 11:27 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 19, 2012 3:19 PM ET [snip] Four sports organizations will receive $1.5 million in federal funding for new education programs designed to reduce concussions and other brain injuries in children and youth who play team sports. The Public Health Agency of Canada's "Active and Safe" program is supporting a joint project of ThinkFirst Canada, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, the Coaching Association of Canada, and Hockey Canada to help coachers, trainers, parents, and athletes recognize and prevent serious brain injuries. In announcing the funding in Ottawa Thursday, Minister of State for Amateur Sport Bal Gosal noted that an estimated 90 per cent of severe brain injuries were preventable if parents, coaches and the kids themselves knew more about the risks. "We can...

From The Atlantic.com : Giffords's Superspecialized Brain Doctor: Adding Insight to Injury by Ford Vox The Atlantic.com 07 February 2011 "A crucial part of Gabby Giffords's intensive brain injury rehabilitation at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) in Houston involves serial assessments and counsel by a neuropsychologist, a superspecialized breed of clinician many people know little about. "Rehabilitation teams count count on expert neuropsychologists to administer formal standardized tests and analyze those results in light of clinical data. The best neuropsychological reports are veritable Rosetta stones." Read the article

Military Still Failing To Diagnose, Treat Brain Injuries by T. CHRISTIAN MILLER and DANIEL ZWERDLING. Includes a link to the NPR All Things Considered presentation.

Several days ago, the CDC released a report entitled, "Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths, 2002-2006" - available as a .pdf (and .doc) download. Download the report

Today's recommended reading addresses proposed efficacy measures for use in clinical trials related to traumatic brain injury (TBI): Bagiella E, Novack TA, Ansel B, Diaz-Arrastia R, Dikmen S, Hart T, & Temkin N. Measuring Outcome in Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Trials: Recommendations From the Traumatic Brain Injury Clinical Trials Network. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. 2010. BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) involves several aspects of a patient's condition, including physical, mental, emotional, cognitive, social, and functional changes. Therefore, a clinical trial with individuals with TBI should consider outcome measures that reflect their global status. METHODS: We present the work of the National Institute of Child Health and Development-sponsored Traumatic Brain Injury Clinical Trials Network Outcome Measures subcommittee and its choice of outcome measures for a phase III clinical trial of patients with complicated mild to severe TBI. RESULTS: ...

From The Guardian : Sex hormone progesterone may save lives after brain injury A major clinical trial will test whether the female sex hormone can minimise damage and improve recovery after brain injury Ian Sample, San Diego guardian.co.uk Friday 19 February 2010 21.30 GMT An article about the proTECT III clinical trial. Read the article === Here is the ClinicalTrials.gov entry for this study: proTECT III ===

From The New Yorker : Author Malcolm Gladwell has a live chat about brain injuries and sports tomorrow at 1430 hrs ET. The chat can be found at the link found below. If you wish to submit a question for the essayist and author, go to that link and you can submit a question in advance of the event. Questions for Gladwell/Live Chat

Barbara, a rehabilitation professional, went on Antony Gormley's One and Other Fourth Plinth project in Trafalgar Square yesterday morning. She promoted helmet use for sports and recreational activities and did so in a very nice kiddie-friendly manner. Her hour can be viewed at: oneandother.co.uk/participants/BarbaraJean

Batting Helmet is Safer, but Players Hate the Look By DAVID WALDSTEIN The New York Times Published: August 13, 2009 "Some major league players don’t want to sacrifice comfort and style for the added protection of Rawlings’ new helmet." Read article [Note: The helmet is called the Rawlings S100 and the company's website has promotional material about it's features.}

An interesting feature article in tomorrow's New York Times Sunday Magazine : The Sergeant Lost Within By DANIEL BERGNER Published: May 25, 2008 "Roadside bombs have caused hundreds of dire brain injuries to soldiers in Iraq. One of them is Shurvon Phillip, and a team of specialists has worked avidly trying to reach him." A good deal of the article deals with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) . [ ... Read the full article ... ]

Today's Science Times section of The New York Times has a good feature article about the daily work of an Occupational Therapist working with patients who have sustained severe traumatic brain injuries. Link to full text of article