Mark Roth of the Pittsburgh Post-Gaette put together an informational series on chronic traumatic encephalopathy; “a brain disease that afflicts athletes”.
In the first part that came out this past Sunday, Roth took a look at the global perception of CTE through the examples of Chris Henry and the possible case of still living Fred McNeill;
Chris Henry was a fleet wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals. During his five seasons with the team, he developed a reputation as a talented athlete on the field but a bad boy off it, even though those who knew him well say he was typically quiet and respectful. [...]
Fred McNeill played 12 seasons for the Minnesota Vikings in the ’70s and ’80s. After retiring, he finished law school and became a successful attorney in Minneapolis, helping to win major class-action lawsuits.
Henry would end up dead after an accident that was predicated with some unusual actions by him, McNeill now has full-time care takers as dementia has stripped him of everything he worked hard for.
Roth begins the second piece with those that can be easily called the experts in this area, Bennet Omalu and Ann McKee; Continue reading
There was big news out of Bloomington, Illinois coming and I was getting fired up because the word on the street was they had been working with the 
Concussions have gained so much attention that the news is almost inundated with story-after-story of occurrences, recovery, litigation and people trying to mitigate the injury. There seems to be a shortage of press clipping and stories on how to handle this injury. More often I have witnessed stories downplaying the injury or the oft cited “
There are plenty of people out there that think they have the answer to the concussion issue. From helmets (G. Malcom Brown) to mouth gear (Mark Picot), to assessment, to rehabilitation, to research, the whole lot of it. Well now is your chance to put forth your best effort and get some money for research on your products or your ideas. The National Institutes of Health and the NFL have 
I really don’t have much for this quote found in 
On the surface this article may be innocuous to many, but the the minutia of concussion research and information is coming to a head very quickly, especially pertaining to the NFL. Tomorrow is the first hearings in front of the judge – and the possibility of total dismissal - for the concussion law suits filed by thousands of former NFL players.
If you all recall I went to Zurich in November to attend the “Concussion Conference”; mainly as an observer, but there was enough time and opportunity to impart my questions/knowledge as a practicing athletic trainer. Here are the links to 
A side note; how about this appearing during National Athletic Trainers Month? It might be a coincidence, but I find it serendipitous.
The concussion issue has permeated every facet of life and sport. Now policies, products, rules and law are starting to address the issue head on (pun intended), and one of the 
Certainly the research is flying in; mostly the investigations are now looking at either ways to detect the injury or objective ways to determine recovery. There are a bunch of other designs and angles out there but the most important are the above. Although it would be great if we had an objective way of determining concussion, it is really not the pressing issue (with solid education and conservative approach to injury – sit them out).
This is one heck of a way to start out National Athletic Trainer Month…
From Sunday Night down in Australia a story of how 
Here is a follow-up on the Gfeller Neurotrauma Symposium that 
