(Press-News.org) Researchers at Western University (London, Canada) have found youth living in rural areas are more likely to sustain concussions from injuries involving motorized vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes, whereas youth living in urban areas suffer concussions mostly as a result of sports. Hockey accounts for 40 per cent of those injuries. The study which reveals where and how children are receiving concussions is published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery.
Dr. Doug Fraser, a scientist with the Children's Health Research Institute at Lawson Health Research Institute and Tanya Charyk Stewart, the Injury Epidemiologist for the Trauma Program at Children's Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and their team tracked all the youth under the age of 18 who presented to the LHSC emergency departments with a concussion over a six year period. There were 2,112 paediatric concussions, with a steady increase in number treated each year.
"It was important for us to learn about who is getting injured, where they're getting injured, and why they're getting injured. Once you answer those questions, then you can implement targeted injury prevention programs," says Dr. Fraser, an associate professor in the Departments of Paediatrics, Physiology & Pharmacology and Clinical Neurological Sciences at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.
Concussions are a particular concern for children and adolescents because their brains are still developing and they are more susceptible to effects of a head injury. The goal following this research is to create injury prevention programs that target and educate those at high risk of sustaining a concussion.
Concussions can often be predictable. Along with properly following the rules of the sport and wearing the protective equipment, Charyk Stewart suggests, "In sports, if you have been hit, then just get off the field immediately and stop play. If you are experiencing any symptoms, be seen by a doctor."
Dr. Fraser explained what to look for in a child who has experienced a head injury, "Watch the person carefully. In young children look for symptoms like, irritability or an inability to console the child. If the care giver has any concerns at all; if a person has any symptoms whatsoever in conjunction with an injury, they should immediately go and be seen by a doctor. Better safe than sorry, so be seen."
INFORMATION: END
Rural versus urban causes of childhood concussion
2014-03-31
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Proteins discovered in gonorrhea may offer new approach to treatment
2014-03-31
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered novel proteins in, or on the surface of the bacteria that causes gonorrhea, which offer a promising new avenue of attack against a venereal disease that is showing increased resistance to the antibiotics used to treat it.
Only a single, third-generation cephalosporin antibiotic still shows good efficacy against gonorrhea, creating a race against time to find some alternative way to treat this disease that can have serious health effects. It's the second most commonly reported infectious disease in ...
Where to get Viagra news? (Really, this isn't spam)
2014-03-31
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Do you want information on Viagra or ibuprofen? Check out general social networks such as Twitter and Pinterest. Interested in sleep disorders or depression? You're better off going to specialized health social networks such as WebMD or drugs.com.
That is one of the findings of a just published paper, "Pharmaceutical Drugs Chatter on Online Social Networks," based on an analysis of more than 1 million drug-related posts, by a team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering and Zhejiang University in China.
The ...
Biolimus still comparable to everolimus in year 2 of stent match-up
2014-03-31
WASHINGTON (March 31, 2014) — A new stent covered with biodegradable coating continues to show statistical equivalence to Japan's market leader in cumulative second-year data and subgroup analyses, according to research from the NEXT trial presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session. NEXT is the largest head-to-head randomized study of these two stents – the novel biolimus-releasing model with the degradable coating (BES) and the everolimus-releasing standard with a durable polymer (EES).
Polymer coatings contain the drugs in drug-eluting ...
Tested a drug that strengthens the analgesic effect of opioids without increasing constipation
2014-03-31
Scientists from the University of Granada have taken part, alongside the Esteve laboratory, in the development of a new drug that multiplies the analgesic effect of opioids (drugs for treating intense pain), without increasing constipation, one of the most common side-effects of these drugs, among which is morphine.
This important scientific breakthrough has been published in The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and has been chosen as its outstanding article in the month of January. So far, the University of Granada researchers have published the ...
Researchers develop device that simulates gastro-intestinal tract
2014-03-31
A breakthrough in drug testing developed by a University of Huddersfield lecturer could lead to cheaper, more effective medicines. Dr Hamid Merchant is a member of the team that has created a device which accurately simulates the gastro-intestinal tract and how it absorbs medication. This means that the cost of clinical trials could be greatly reduced, with savings passed on to customers.
Dr Merchant has joined the University as a Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics. Previously a postdoctoral fellow at University College London (UCL), he has extensive research experience, ...
Certain genetic variants may identify patients at higher risk of bladder cancer recurrence
2014-03-31
While patients diagnosed with bladder cancer usually face a favorable prognosis, many experience recurrence after treatment. Because frequent, painful screenings are needed to identify recurrences, the ablility to identify patients at high risk of recurrent cancer could help to improve quality of life for all bladder cancer patients.
A new study published in BJU International, "Genetic polymorphisms modify bladder cancer recurrence and survival in a U.S. population-based prognostic study," suggests that certain inherited DNA sequences may affect a bladder cancer patient's ...
Heparin more effective than bivalirudin in patients during emergency heart procedure
2014-03-31
WASHINGTON (March 31, 2014) — In a comparison of two blood-thinning medications, heparin was associated with significantly fewer major cardiovascular events at 28 days than bivalirudin in patients receiving primary percutaneous coronary intervention after a heart attack, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session.
The single-center, open label trial enrolled 1,829 patients with suspected heart attack who received a coronary angiography, an imaging test to see how blood flows through the heart. Patients were randomized ...
Anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills linked to risk of death
2014-03-31
Anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills have been linked to an increased risk of death, according to new research from the University of Warwick.
The large study, published in BMJ, shows that several anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) drugs or hypnotic drugs (sleeping pills) are associated with a doubling in the risk of mortality.
Although these findings are based on routine data and need to be interpreted cautiously, the researchers recommended that a greater understanding of their impact is essential.
Professor Scott Weich, Professor of
Psychiatry at the University of ...
Drug-eluting stents demonstrate better outcomes after 1 year than bare metal stents
2014-03-31
WASHINGTON (March 31, 2014) — Use of drug-eluting stents is associated with a lower risk of major cardiovascular events at one year compared to bare metal stents when followed by an individualized course of blood-thinning medication among patients previously thought to be uncertain candidates for drug-eluting stents due to their heightened risk of bleeding or blood clots, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session.
Positive study findings for patients receiving a shorter than currently recommended course of ...
Never say never in the nano-world
2014-03-31
This news release is available in German.
Objects with sizes in the nanometer range, such as the molecular building blocks of living cells or nanotechnological devices, are continuously exposed to random collisions with surrounding molecules. In such fluctuating environments the fundamental laws of thermodynamics that govern our macroscopic world need to be rewritten. An international team of researchers from Barcelona, Zurich and Vienna found that a nanoparticle trapped with laser light temporarily violates the famous second law of thermodynamics, something that ...