(Press-News.org) CHICAGO, IL – 40,000 high school football kids get a concussion every year, but contrary to equipment manufacturers' claims, the specific brand of helmet and helmet age were not associated with lower risk of concussion, say researchers presenting their work today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.
"According to our research, lower risks of sustaining a sports-related concussion (SRC) and its severity were not improved based on a specific manufacturer. In addition, the SRC rates were similar for players wearing new helmets, as compared to those wearing older ones," said lead author, Timothy McGuine, PhD, ATC of the University of Wisconsin. "It is also interesting to note, that players who wore a generic mouth guard provided by the school had a lower rate of SRC compared to players with more expensive mouth guards."
Researchers collected data by Licensed Athletic Trainers (ATCs) at 36 public and private high schools in Wisconsin during the 2012 football season. A sample of 1,332 players were enrolled in the study with 251 individuals having reported at least one SRC within the last six years, and 171 reported one SRC within the previous 12 months. ATCs at each school recorded the helmet brand, model and purchase year, as well as the type of mouth guard utilized (generic, specialized or custom fit.) ATCs also recorded the number and type of exposure (practice vs. game) and the number of SRCs sustained.
"Increased risk of concussions in our study was not associated with age, BMI, grade in school, level of competition or years of football experience. However, players with a history of SRC were twice as likely to sustain another one compared to players without a history. Additional screening to identify those players with increased concussion risk is a key to prevention and hopefully will help reduce rates in the future," said McGuine.
###
The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) is a world leader in sports medicine education, research, communication and fellowship, and includes national and international orthopaedic sports medicine leaders. The Society works closely with many other sports medicine specialists, including athletic trainers, physical therapists, family physicians, and others to improve the identification, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of sports injuries. AOSSM is also a founding partner of the STOP Sports Injuries campaign to prevent overuse and traumatic injuries in kids. For more information on AOSSM or the STOP Sports Injuries campaign, visit http://www.sportsmed.org or http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org
Type of helmet, may not lower concussion risk
2013-07-13
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Study finds strong pregnancy outcomes for survivors of childhood cancer
2013-07-13
BOSTON -- Although women who survived childhood cancer face an increased risk of infertility, nearly two-thirds of those who tried unsuccessfully to become pregnant for at least a year eventually conceived, according to clinical researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and Brigham and Women's Hospital. This is comparable to the rate of eventual pregnancy among all clinically infertile women.
"Most women think that if they had cancer as a child, then they'll never have children. It turns out that many of them can get pregnant. It ...
Exploring gender dimensions of treatment programs for neglected tropical diseases in Uganda
2013-07-13
TORONTO, ON – Males and females face different challenges in accessing treatment for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), according to a new study from researchers at the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Uganda Ministry of Health and Imperial College London. The study, published by PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases on July 11, explores the role of gender in access to treatment in the Uganda National Neglected Tropical Disease Control Program.
NTDs are a group of parasitic, viral and bacterial diseases that affect at least a billion people worldwide. ...
Geology tracks eruptions, earthquakes, erosion, extinctions & more
2013-07-13
Boulder, Colo., USA – Twenty-five new articles have been posted online ahead of print on Geology's website since 28 June. The science covers a gamut of topics, from microbial mats to super-eruptions; sand to monsoons; glaciers to sinkholes. All Geology articles go through a rigorous peer-review process prior to print. Geology is the highest rated journal for geoscience for the seventh year in a row, according to a 2012 Thomson Reuters survey.
Highlights are provided below. GEOLOGY articles published ahead of print can be accessed online at http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/recent. ...
NJIT professor collaborated on new federal report on Deepwater Horizon oil spill
2013-07-13
NJIT Professor Michel Boufadel, is a co-author of a new expert report on the effects of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Mississippi Canyon-252 oil spill on ecosystem services in the Gulf of Mexico.
Entitled "An Ecosystem Services Approach to Assessing the Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico," the report, published by the National Academy of Sciences, makes the case for how and why a more resilient Gulf of Mexico ecosystem needs to be developed. Recommendations include a plea to build an infrastructure to organize and integrate data. The ...
Young job seekers, check your privacy settings!
2013-07-13
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Social media websites can be a boon for employers scoping out job applicants, and that's bad news for certain groups of young people, according to a new Northwestern University study.
Researchers found that -- among young adults -- men, Hispanics and those with lower Internet skills are the least likely to keep employment-related audiences in mind when it comes to their online profiles. Women, whites and those with higher Internet skills are more likely to actively manage their social media privacy settings as they seek a job or maintain employment.
This ...
Research finds racial/ethnic disparities in health care among older male cancer survivors
2013-07-13
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – July 12, 2013 – Older African-American and Hispanic men who have survived cancer are less likely than their white counterparts to see a specialist or receive basic preventive care, such as vaccinations, according to new research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
Researchers examined racial/ethnic disparities in health care receipt among a nationally representative sample of male cancer survivors. They found that disparities are evident among older, but not younger, cancer survivors, despite their access to Medicare.
Lead author Nynikka Palmer, ...
Raising adopted children, how parents cooperate matters more than gay or straight
2013-07-13
AMHERST, Mass. – A new study by psychology researchers suggests that whether parents are gay, lesbian or straight, how well they work together as a couple and support each other in parenting is linked to fewer behavior problems among their adopted children and is more important than their sexual orientation.
Rachel H. Farr at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Charlotte J. Patterson at the University of Virginia report their findings from this first empirical examination of differences and similarities in co-parenting among lesbian, gay and heterosexual adoptive ...
NASA sees Soulik's eye reopen on Taiwan approach
2013-07-13
Typhoon Soulik's eyewall appears to have rebuilt as evidenced in NASA satellite imagery. Soulik is approaching Taiwan and is forecast to make landfall in southeastern China over the weekend of July 13 and 14.
On July 12 at 05:05 UTC (1:05 a.m. EDT) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Typhoon Soulik approaching Taiwan. The image clearly showed a tight, powerful ring of thunderstorms around Soulik's center with a small eye in the center. Soulik underwent eyewall reconstruction ...
Satellite views Chantal's remnants over Bahamas
2013-07-13
NOAA's GOES-13 satellite spotted the remnant clouds and showers from former Tropical Storm Chantal lingering over the Bahamas on July 12. Chantal's chances for regeneration are diminishing because of upper-level winds.
A visible image from NOAA's GOES-13 satellite at 9:45 a.m. EDT on July 12, 2013 showed Chantal's remnant clouds and showers moving north in the Atlantic. The image of Chantal's remnants resembled the sideways view of a jellyfish. The GOES image was created by NASA's GOES Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
The National Hurricane ...
Stem cell clues uncovered
2013-07-13
Baltimore, MD—Proper tissue function and regeneration is supported by stem cells, which reside in so-called niches. New work from Carnegie's Yixian Zheng and Haiyang Chen identifies an important component for regulating stem cell niches, with impacts on tissue building and function. The results could have implications for disease research. It is published by Cell Stem Cell.
Lamins are proteins that the major structural component of the material that lines the inside of a cell's nucleus. Lamins have diverse functions, including suppressing gene expression. It has been ...