William Meehan, MD, director of Boston Children's Hospital's Sports Concussion Clinic
Yesterday’s suicide of former NFL star Junior Seau has once again raised troubling questions about the short- and long-term impact of concussions on the brain. While it’s not clear that Seau was diagnosed with concussions during his 20-plus year career, his method of suicide—shooting himself in the chest—echoes that of former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson, who killed himself in 2011 and left a note saying that he wanted his brain to be studied for the effects of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). According to Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, CTE is “a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes (and others) with a history of repetitive brain trauma.”
Notice that it doesn’t say, “a history of concussion”. What’s troubling about CTE is that it’s not just happening to former NFL linemen who make their living crashing into each other every week. William Meehan, MD, director Boston Children’s Hospital’s Sports Concussion Clinic, says he’s seeing serious concussions in kids who play sports not typically associated with them. Full story »
On June 6, 2011, the Boston Bruins were playing the Vancouver Canucks in game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals. Bruins forward Nathan Horton had passed the puck to his teammate Milan Lucic when he was blindsided by the Canucks’s Aaron Rome, who buried his left shoulder into Horton’s face. Horton’s head was spun backwards, down towards the ice. The back of his head was the first part of his body to make contact with the ice. He was knocked unconscious. His arms became rigid. His eyes rolled back in his head. He had a convulsion.
Nathan Horton was concussed.
Concussion is all too common in sports, particularly those, like ice hockey, that involve body-to-body collisions. Yet it’s still somewhat of a medical mystery. Until the last 10 to 15 years, most medical professionals didn’t think concussions posed enough risk to warrant much research. Thus, we know very little about it today.
Although the signs and symptoms of a concussion can be serious, as seen in the case of Nathan Horton, it can be hard to see them when you look at images of concussed brains; CT scans and MRIs often don’t clearly show how a concussed brain has been injured. There’s no bruising, no bleeding and no swelling. Full story »
Bad weather kept Marc Savard from watching last night's game in his donated box, so teammate Brad Marchand came up to hang out with Children's patient Patrick and family.
Snow No! I was super excited to watch TV yesterday so I could check out press coverage of Bruins forward Marc Savard, who was scheduled to publicly announce an AMAZING donation he’s giving to the kids of Children’s Hospital Boston.
Unfortunately winter storms in Toronto grounded his flight to Boston and Savy’s big announcement was postponed. The weather may have stolen some of Savard’s thunder, but it can’t take away the great things he’s doing for kids. Marc recently purchased an entire luxury suite at TD Garden, the home of the Bruins, and is donating it to Children’s patients for every home game of this and next season.
Children’s Child Life Services will be awarding the tickets to various patients throughout the hospital, with a special focus on children suffering from the medical and psychological effects of head trauma. It’s a cause dear to Savard, who has had to temporarily stop playing with the Bruins after suffering two concussions last season during play.
“Marc Savard understands firsthand the challenges faced by children suffering from the effects of head trauma,” said Beth Donegan Driscoll, director of Child Life Services at Children’s Hospital Boston. “The partnership with him is an exceptional opportunity for Children’s Hospital Boston patients and their families to experience the thrill of a Bruins game at the generosity of this very special man.” Full story »
Boston Magazine recently released its 2011 Top Doc list, made up of the best 650 physicians in the Hub. Seeing as Boston is home to some of the greatest medical minds on the planet, the list reads like a prestigious who’s-who roster of talent; a medical dream team spanning every aspect of treatment, from surgery to research and innovation.
Broken into 57 different specialties, doctors included on the list are voted for by fellow medical professionals, meaning that the Top Docs have not only gained the respect of the public and media, but of their peers as well.
Children’s Hospital Boston is proud to announce that over 10 percent of the entire list was made up of our staff, many of whom will be familiar to Thriving readers.
In 2004 Children’s Chief of Cardiac Surgery,Pedro del Nido, MD, was the first person to use the da Vinci surgical robot to fix a defect in a child’s heart, using child-sized tools of his own design. Read about another family whose child was also saved by Dr. del Nido’s surgical expertise and steady hands.
On September 12, at 6 p.m. Mark Proctor, MD, director of Children’s Brain Injury Center, will lead a dynamic discussion on concussions in pediatric patients during a live, interactive Webcast. A multidisciplinary team from Children’s Hospital Boston departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Neuropsychology, Neuroradiology and Sports Medicine, will join Proctor. Sign up for an email reminder about the webcast and read on to learn more about the patient featured in the presentation.
Even at just 7-years-old, Nicklas Johnson seemed more comfortable on skates than he did walking. A natural born athlete, Nick split his time between the hockey rink, soccer and lacrosse fields, but it was clear that the ice was his true passion. But in 2006 Nick sustained a hockey injury that would force him to reevaluate not only his love for the sport, but his future as well. Full story »
It seems like head injury awareness is everywhere these days. From veteran hospitals and construction sites to cheer practice and Pee-Wee hockey games, it appears that people are beginning to understand just how serious a head injury can be. One of the more important aspects of that awareness is the realization that with these types of injuries, many of the associated risks may not become apparent until long after the swelling has subsided and bruises have healed, or there may be no bruises at all. Memory loss, brain damage and difficulties with school have all been seen in children who suffered a blow to the head, and sometimes these conditions don’t manifest for months or years after the accident. Now, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics, there could be yet another risky, long-term side effect for children with brain injury: An increased risk for violent behavior.
The study, which followed 850 high school students for five years, showed that of the 88 study participants who had suffered head injury, 43 percent of them were involved in some form of violence in the year following their injury. That’s almost a 10 percent increase in violent activity when compared to study participants who had never suffered a head injury. These numbers may seem staggering to some, but come as no real surprise to the medical community.
“Given what we know about brain injuries’ ability to affect behavior, these results are far from shocking. Depending on the nature of the injury, it’s not unusual for a patient’s judgment of what is and what isn’t acceptable behavior to change after significant brain trauma,” says Mark Proctor, MD, of Children’s Hospital Boston’s department of Neurosurgery. “It’s a little bit like what happens when some people drink. Their inhibitions and normal judgment change, sometimes fairly significantly.” Full story »
Millions of football fans watched on Monday night as Bret Favre took a devastating hit that resulted in a concussion, taking the 41 year-old quarterback out of the game, possibly even ending his career. Favre’s concussion is just one of many head injuries suffered in the National Football League this year. Current figures show that the number of concussions sustained so far this season is up more than 20 percent from the total number reported in all of 2009, and more than 30 percent from 2008. Full story »
Having grown up in the Deep South –Tallahassee, Florida to be exact–I spent many weekends watching college football (Go ‘Noles!!). At the time it seemed everyone was enthralled with the action on the field, but few seemed overly concerned about the future health of the players. Many people cheered for yard gains and devastating blocks, but few seemed to think about the long-term effects those hits could have for the boys on the gridiron. Fortunately things are changing.
There is now growing awareness of the effects of repeated head trauma and concussions based on the experiences of professional football players and other athletes like Mohammed Ali. In response the NFL just passed new rules governing hits in the league, hoping to reduce the amount of head injuries sustained by its players. A good move for protecting the long term health of the athletes, and one that’s likely to be replicated by college and high school sports programs as well. It’s a step in the right direction, but based on my experiences there’s still a great deal of information that patients, parents and coaches still need to learn about concussions. Full story »
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