Definition of PANACEA: a remedy for all ills or difficulties. Even though there are many products and claims out there finding a panacea for the concussion issue is impossible at this point. Recently we have been examining the faulty claims made by companies about how they feel they can solve the concussion issue, mainly in sport. Realistically it is an exercise in misinformation and even borderline fraud; and the reason why is simple.
Every brain and individual is exactly that; unique. How can a product or protocol even come close to addressing the billions of people on this planet, let alone the millions that play sport. Bluntly, the only panacea for mTBI is to live in a bubble and don’t move, seriously, don’t move.
Peter Keating of ESPN has been on the forefront of the concussion issue in the NFL and everywhere else since at least 2007 and as part of the World Wide Leader’s series on concussions he recently wrote what me and other feel is a pure journalistic masterpiece. Before anyone starts claiming that I am against neurocognitive testing remember that I utilize this platform as well. The most decisive point I can make is that what we have now at our disposal are just a myriad of tools that can help us do the job.
Let us break down the Keating article a bit here;
Concussions have become big business in the football world. With 1,700 players in the NFL, 66,000 in the college game, 1.1 million in high school and 250,000 more in Pop Warner, athletes and families across the country are eager to find ways to cut the risks of brain injury, whose terrifying consequences regularly tear across the sports pages. And a wave of companies offering diagnostic tools and concussion treatments are just as eager to sell them peace of mind.[...]
There’s just one problem. Many scientists who are unaffiliated with ImPACT don’t think the thing works.
“Through amazing marketing, the ImPACT guys have made their name synonymous with testing,” says William Barr, an associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at New York University and former team neuropsychologist for the New York Jets. “But there’s a growing awareness that ImPACT doesn’t have the science behind it to do what it claims it does.”
Marketing is a huge business, affecting the thoughts and processes of potential customers drive sales, period. The issue becomes Continue reading →
Tags: Don Brady, ESPN, ImPACT, Peter Keating
