On Friday October 1st, this conference was held with 192 in attendance listening to the 11 speakers about how head trauma is affecting sports/athletes in Boston, MA. More importantly it was being discussed how the young athlete is most susceptible and preventative steps must be taken.
Chris Nowinski, co-director of the Boston University Center for study of CTE, and advisory board member of www.sportsconcussions.org, was to the point about reducing hits to the head of individual athletes,
“We can have a way to reduce the number of hits in the head from 1,000 to 300, tomorrow.”
But a lot needs to be studied and in order to do that more brains are needed. Thankfully there are some out there that are willing to donate when the time comes.
Some 350 athletes, from all sports and including amateurs, have agreed to donate their brains to the Boston University center since the program’s inception last year; its goal is 750 donations. Meanwhile, six retired pro athletes are participating in a study in which their brains undergo state-of-the-art imaging tests, and they already have produced evidence of lost brain tissue compared to non-athletes.
Next month, the center directors said, 200 retired NFL players of all ages and years of experience will begin a program of neurological, psychiatric and medical study that will include spinal taps, to track potential brain injury and disease and find other ways that they can be diagnosed.
The Concussion Blog 