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Originally Posted by ericschand
Looks like someone has found a way to detect concussions and related brain damage. Even though in the preliminary stages, FDA support makes me wonder.
Armageddon question: Could this end sports leagues like the NHL and NFL?
Something that could relatively quickly determine a concussion and long lasting brain damage would have a severe effect on the players and their long-term playing ability. What team(s) would be keep someone with known brain injury around, especially in the litigation happy USA?
Not to mention how could you keep a child in sports, knowing they are already suffering from damage, and have more to come?
Think-of-the-kids question: If you can detect it, should you be required to pull a child out of sports if they have symptoms?
It's not just hockey and football. Boxing/MMA/wrestling/rugby/AFL, and to an extent, basketball too.
ers
PS. Thrown into the "Off topic" forum but could belong in "Other sports"? |
A lot of your questions are somewhat irrelevant as this testing is short term only. From the article:
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While a test to diagnose concussions quickly will be welcomed in the medical and sports worlds, it does not address the growing worries about the cumulative effect of repeated head hits. Head hits absorbed over many years of playing football and other sports have been linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease found in autopsies of former football players, other athletes and soldiers.
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And besides, we already have good clinical testing (called the SCAT test) that uses symptoms (memory/coordination changes, etc) to diagnose concussions. It's not perfect but a potential blood marker test won't be either. Some concussions will be missed, maybe some diagnosed erroneously.