CDC to Set Standards for Concussions : FIT magazine

CDC to Set Standards for Concussions

By The Associated Press on Monday, October 3, 2011 ? Leave a Comment?

Texas' Sergio Kindleand, left, and Nolan Brewster wrap up Oklahoma State's Keith Toston during an NCAA college football game in Stillwater, Okla. Texas junior safety Brewster is quitting football because of concussions and post-traumatic migraine headaches. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Rodolfo Gonzalez)

HACKENSACK, N.J. ? A panel of health experts will begin work this fall to create a national standard for deciding when ? or if ? it?s safe for a young athlete to resume a sport after suffering a concussion, two New Jersey lawmakers announced last week.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will assemble experts to review medical research and, by the fall of 2013, recommend a protocol for properly diagnosing and treating concussions, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. and Sen. Robert Menendez, both New Jersey Democrats, said. Pascrell said they would then work to establish a law making those standards mandatory.

?We?ve got to stop adults from pushing young people back out onto the playing field before they are ready,? Pascrell said at a news conference to announce the new CDC initiative at Nutley High School.

Student-athletes in New Jersey are already subject to such a protocol, with a law adopted last year that requires a doctor?s written clearance before any player who suffered a concussion can return to a school-sponsored sport.

Pascrell and Menendez, D-N.J., tried last year to pass a federal law that would establish a national concussion-management standard for student-athletes. The legislation stalled.

A concussion is considered a form of brain damage, and how well athletes recover can depend greatly on how much rest time they are given to heal. A big concern is second-impact syndrome, which occurs when someone suffers another head injury before the previous concussion has healed. That can result in rapid brain swelling and even death.

In addition to requiring that a doctor specializing in concussions sign off on a player?s return to the sport, the New Jersey law requires that school athletic trainers receive continual education on concussion management and that schools follow a protocol in evaluating whether a playe r has fully recovered.

Ridgewood (N.J.) High School athletic trainer Nick Nicholaides said that before returning to their sport, all athletes who suffer a concussion must be observed for five days of low-impact training ? doing such activities as jumping rope or riding a stationary bike ? to see if they experience dizziness, nausea or other symptoms.

Not addressed by New Jersey?s law, however, are the young athletes who play contact sports like football, soccer and lacrosse for town recreation leagues or local clubs.

Many parents on their own have begun to seek baseline cognitive testing for their child athletes. The town of Franklin Lakes, N.J., this summer purchased the software needed to conduct such tests and made them mandatory for all fourth- through eighth-graders who play in the borough?s recreation football program.

The program may be expanded to include soccer and lacrosse players, said John Ciurciu, director of the recreation department.

?We just feel it?s important because at the lower levels of youth sports there is no governing authority and nothing in place to protect the younger kids,? Ciurciu said.

Source: http://www.abqjournalfit.com/2011/10/03/cdc-to-set-standards-for-concussions/

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