Dr. John J. Ledy performed a webinar for the Brain Injury Association of New York State. It is a very interesting topic; how to utilize controlled exercise in concussion recovery. This video was published on YouTube by BIANYS, it is over an hour in length but like most stuff I put on here it is worth the listen.
Again this falls under the mantra “none of us is as smart as all of us.”
The Concussion Blog 
http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/Let_Elite_Athletes_Destroy_Their_Own_Brains_But_Stop_Turning_High_School_Players_into_Tackling_Dummies_10136.html
Great article by Muchnick. I had just been watching Dr. Ledy’s webinar before reading it, and can’t help but agree with Muchnick that we’re basically using our youth in experiments similar to those conducted with lab animals. Dr. Ledy mentioned that rats or other lab animals are concussed and then various measurements are taken to see how their brains respond and in some cases to determine what if any impact exercise has on blood flow and healing.
At this time, we know that concussive and subconcussive hits sustained in football can result in brain damage and the development of degenerative diseases, and that brain trauma in developing brains is especially concerning. So, what we’re doing with our youth who play football, is essentially continuing to expose them to concussive and subconcussive hits until we’re able to determine exactly how many hits are too many along with the genetic characteristics that predispose individuals to poor outcomes (now of course we’re not insisting on full disclosure of the risks to parents or players, because that would just be too great a burden to place on youth leagues, and we certainly wouldn’t want to increase their exposure to liability).
Eventually, over a period of years or decades, we’ll learn how much exposure is too much and the best approaches for concussion management and return to play. Unfortunately some of the children and teens currently playing are going to end up permanently impaired, subject to a degenerative disease, or dead. I guess they and their families can rest assured knowing that with time for further research, education and training we hope to be able to eventually fix the problems which resulted in their life long impairments or deaths.
post forthcoming on this…
This is a really excellent presentation. Leddy raises a number of issues that I’ve been tracking in my own recovery — especially autonomic nervous system imbalance. Getting stuck in fight-flight mode for no detectable reason (after concussion), puts a strain on the individual as well as their friends and family and surroundings, and has serious implications for future prospects.
Of course, because sympathetic nervous system overdrive is generally respected and looked up to by society at large, dysfunctions can lurk beneath the surface, but eventually they can take a huge toll.
It just doesn’t bode well when you’re so tweaked that your relationships suffer, your thinking suffers, your job suffers — as far as I’m concerned (and from what I’ve observed in my own life), autonomic imbalance plays a huge role in long-term issues faced by mild traumatic brain injury / concussion survivors. But because it’s not something we can readily see or measure, like so many other concussion issues, it’s overlooked and/or dismissed. And at the same time, the dominant go-go-go orientation of modern life pushes us to do more, not less… stress more, rest less… fight more, chill less.
We’re learning. And thanks to pioneers like the UB folks, we’re making progress. Can’t say enough about how much I respect that group.
Thanks for posting this – great info!