Concussions: An Overlooked Epidemic
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-09-12/concussions-overlooked-epidemic
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates between two and four million people suffer from concussions every year. Brain injuries are vastly under-reported and diagnosis is difficult because the damage is invisible to brain scanners. Concussion victims often fail to link headaches, fatigue and memory loss to what seems like a minor injury. While most concussions are sports-related, a sizable number affect victims of car accidents or falls. The science and symptoms of brain injuries and why they’ve become an overlooked epidemic.
Guests
Linda Carroll
health writer for MSNBC.com and the science section of The New York Times
David Rosner
sports writer and former managing editor of a national magazine for neurology patients.
Dr. Gerard Gioia
director, Pediatric Neuropsychology Program at Children's National Medical Center; director of Safe Concussion Outcome, Recovery & Education (SCORE) Program
Jon Almquist
administrator, Athletic Training Program, Fairfax County Public Schools
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
Great show on a topic that deserves lots more attention and research. Here is an incredibly helpful resource for those coping with traumatic brain injury. Anyone who has suffered even a "mild" traumatic brain injury or who loves someone who has, should check out this video:
http://tbisurvivorsnetwork.ning.com/video/you-look-great-living-inside
Related book:
http://www.amazon.com/You-Look-Great-Strategies-Living/dp/1463621248/ref...
Hello Diane
I only heard a bit of the show while driving to the grocery store. But I do believe that one guest said that, at a kids sporting event, there should be a medical professional on the sidelines to watch for concussions and orthopedic injuries.
What to say? I guess that, once again, I wonder "how did you and I ever grow up?" We should never have made it past 6 or 10. I was born in the early 1940s. We didn't have helmets on our bicycles, and we drove our bikes all over town. Everybody rode his bike to school. We had pickup baseball, softball, football games just about every day after school, and not only were there no medical personnel, there were no adults at all. The worst injury I remember was a skinned knee. But it's also true that we didn't keep score; we just played. Maybe that's the difference: we weren't "competing," we were playing. That's what happens when adults get involved. All of a sudden, instead of kids playing catch, it's "Little League" with capital letters, scoreboards, and parents rooting on their team wanting their kids to "win."
You have had shows where everyone was concerned that kids were indoors all the time, playing video games. Well, at least you don't get a concussion or other "orthopedic injuries" with GameBoy.
all best, dan.
Gravely suspicious as I am of conventional medicine's limitations, I was still startled to find that the three research physicians on this program were totally ignorant of arnica, its composition and uses. My own surgeon - Board Certified and considered one of the very best in his field in the large and crowded medical environment here - prescribed arnica prior to my last surgery. Its use in reducing inflammation and speeding healing is not some recent or off-the-wall application, but one accepted for decades in the mainstream medical community.
What really surprised me, however, was Diane Rehm's dismissive and almost supercilious manner in responding to the caller who mentioned arnica and asked the guests to comment on its use. Her and her guests' ignorance is not the caller's fault, but their own. I have enjoyed Rehm's program for years, but I will be a long time forgetting or forgiving that episode. I expected better manners from her.
I have not had time to listen to the entire show yet but must comment on the written intro to the show. Most concussions are NOT sports related actually. Most concussions are related to motor vehicle crashes, falls, assaults, and other accidental causes. The reason that sports concussions seem so prominent is that they are WITNESSED events. Most other concussions are not witnessed and rely on self-report of the person involved. Most concussions are not reported to anyone and many are not captured since CDC data comes primarily from hospitals and emergency rooms.
While the military experience and sports-related concussions have shone a welcome light on this, we are not very good at diagnosing concussion or predicting who may have difficulty afterwards and why.
Thank you for your discussion on Concussions: An Overlooked Epidemic. It was, can I say, extremely pertinent to my situation and current "state of mind". Just over 11 years ago I was in a very bad car accident and the bottom line result was that I was left with a major brain concussion. I was a Sr. VP with an International Bank and at the point of beginning a PhD program. All of that was put aside due to the trauma and damage caused by the accident. I have been on LTD for the last 11 years. I suffered immediately from amnesia, experienced a two-year bout of speech problems, which of course I sort of knew what was going on from the "inside-out" as my first career had been in teaching Special Education, I became suicidal due to my lack of understanding, the law suits, and the types of anti-depressants I was prescribed. My short-term memory was affected along with my powers of recall and my immediate abilities to multi-task. For all intents and purposes physically I look normal. It wasn't until I got myself, out of the anti-depressant "fog" that I began to understand that I still had to live, even though I knew I could never accomplish that which I had already succeeded in my life and career. To keep my mind going I focused on reading, which I had done previously, as well as taking classical piano lessons and researching genealogy. I, with my partner began a quilting business, which is allowing the avenue and opportunities for me to channel my creativity in a different and unique way. I loved working but I had to realize that I would never, because of the damage I had suffered from the concussion, be able to accomplish and continue work in my former career path. The LTD does help with the finances but I still do miss the challenges of my corporate career world. I now organize myself to not get too stressed out and I take every day one step at a time.
Hi Diane,
I am an RN and work in our Trauma Services department and also am involved in injury prevention within our community. I truly believe that concussions especially in our younger population has been overlooked and minimized in the previous years. I believe it has finally surfaced due to media coverage on athletes with these injuries or possible death of these athletes from traumatic brain injuries. Our community is developing a program with the school systems for athletes and the recognition of TBI. We have started with our football programs within our community. Every high school varsity game has a physician present to diagnose such injuries and the player cannot go back into play until evaluated appropriately after 72 hours by their primary physician or neuro specialist. This is only a program that touches a tip of the iceberg. There are many athlete in our community that will not be touched by this program and so education needs to take place for parents and the athlete themself. We also need to educate our elderly population as their number one admitting diagnosis is injury from a fall. Many of the elderly are on a anticoagulant and need to recognize the seriousness of traumatic brain injury with these falls. Thanks for the great program.