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Former MMA fighter Ronda Rousey: concussions under the spotlight
Ronda Rousey, a former MMA fighter, tells her story of her life-long experience with concussions and lasting health impacts in a recent interview with The Guardian.
Study finds more pre-existing mental diagnoses associated with longer recovery time and higher emotional symptom burden
In a study published in Sports Health, Master et al. found that the existence of pre-injury mental health diagnoses correlated with longer concussion recovery time and increased emotional symptoms.
Study finds marker of functional brain activity and vasculature more accurate than ImPACT testing
A study found that these measures of blood oxygen variability (measured with fMRI) are significantly better at detecting concussion in athletes than widely used computerized cognitive diagnostic testing (i.e., ImPACT)
Study Highlights the Importance of Delaying Return to Activities in Symptomatic Concussion Patients
A paper published in the Journal of Neurotrauma found that children with persistent symptoms had imaging “evidence of ongoing microstructural reorganization or neuroinflammation,” highlighting the importance of delaying a child’s return to play following a concussion if symptoms are persisting.
Adolescents with exercise-induced vision dysfunction have a 3-fold greater relative risk of developing persistent postconcussive symptoms
Results from a recent study published in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine indicated that youth with exercise-induced vision dysfunction following sport-related concussion were at “a 3-folder greater risk” of developing persistent post-concussive symptoms (PPCS) compared to those without exercise-induced vision dysfunction.
Neuroinflammation found in athletes with persistent post-concussive symptoms (PPCS)
A study published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation found that athletes with PPCS due to sports-related concussions (SRC) have elevated levels of inflammation in the brain. Of 27 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of inflammation tested for, eight were significantly higher in athletes with PPCS compared to healthy controls.
Children at elevated risk for posttraumatic headache months after a concussion
Some people recover quickly from headache after concussion, but others take much longer. How do we know as soon as possible what will be the case for someone who has had a concussion? A recent study in Cephalalgia by Marbil and colleagues tracked the progression of headaches over time in children after a new concussion. They found that post-concussion headaches were common and were more severe in those with a history of headache prior to concussion.
Study finds that symptoms persist beyond a year in the majority of concussion patients
A study conducted by Joan Machamer et al. found that over two-thirds of concussion patients report persistent symptoms a year post-injury. At the 12 month evaluation, 50 percent of participants reported at least three symptoms, and 71 percent of participants reported that at least one symptom was new or worse than pre-injury.