A new three-part study in Canada reinforces the early dangers of head injury, even a single concussion. Under the direction of concussion specialist Paul Echlin of Burlington, Ontario (Canada), researchers discovered that microscopic changes occur in the brains of young athletes who suffer concussions.
The study utilized advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques and observed new changes in the brain typically not detected by the medical professionals who treat athletes for head injuries. The observations included a pattern of microbleeding and what the research believed to be inflammation. Echlin pointed out this is further evidence that changes in the brain occur in the very first brain injuries suffered by athletes as well as that damage to the brain can worsen over time. Echlin said:
“This is demonstrating, definitively, that this is an injury to the microstructure of the brain, it occurred over time and it wasn’t there before. We want our kids to play [contact sports] but we have to look at change, substantial change, to the way we play to avoid these multiple hits to the head.”
In Hockey-Based Study, nearly 25 Percent of Participants Suffered Concussions in One Season
The independent study, named the Hockey Concussion Education Project, was conducted in collaboration with a team comprised of researchers at Harvard University’s medical school, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Boston Healthcare Associates Inc. and the University of Munich in Germany.
The three-part study, which is scheduled to be released on February 11th, followed 45 male and female hockey players between the ages of 19 and 26 from the Canadian Interuniversity Sport leagues during the 2011-12 season. Each of the test subjects underwent specialized, advanced technique MRI scanning at the beginning of the season, the end of the season, plus a series of tests following any diagnosed cases of concussions. Players who experienced concussions were tested at three intervals – 72 hours, two weeks and two months after the injury. A total of 11 out of the 45 players were diagnosed with a concussion during the hockey season. That figure accounted for nearly 25 percent of the test subjects, consisting of five men and six women.
Part one of three of the study, designed to detect microbleeding after head trauma, found that while the female players sustained a higher incidence of concussions, the men showed a “statistically significant” rate of microbleeding, while the women did not.
Part two of the study focused on changes to white matter tissue, which transmits signals from one part of the brain to another, in the initial 72 hours after injury. Researchers found there was less room between the cells of the white matter, indicative of inflammation.
The third and final part of the study compared the MRI results from the beginning of the season to those at the end of the season. The team discovered that players who suffered a concussion during the study, as well as those who admitted to experiencing previous concussions, showed microscopic changes to their brains, relatively different in comparison to those with no history of prior head injuries.
Study Leader Urges Immediate Safety Reform in Youth Sports
Echlin’s lead associates agreed that while the long-term implications of these changes require further study, they are troubling signs for young athletes everywhere. Martha Shenton of Harvard Medical School said:
“These changes could be the first sign of long-term pathologies. There is evidence in repetitive brain trauma in NFL players and in blast injuries in the military that it is repetitive brain trauma, rather than concussive or sub-concussive [single injuries], that can contribute to long-term pathologies like chronic traumatic encephalopathy [CTE].”
References:
