Home » Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Are Concussed Athletes Being Returned To Play While Still Cognitively Impaired?

A significant number of concussed student-athletes may be cleared to return to play despite being cognitively impaired, finds an important new study, which recommends adding post-exertion computerized neurocognitive testing to the return-to-play protocol.

Youth Sports Safety: By The Numbers

A helpful compilation of statistics on concussions, exercise-induced asthma, exertional heat illness, sudden cardiac arrest, exertional sickling, use of steroids and dietary supplements, and cervical spine injury collected by the National Athletic Trainers' Association.

First National Action Plan For Sports Safety Issued

The Youth Sports Safety Alliance, composed of more than 100 organizations committed to keeping young athletes safe (including MomsTEAM), has launched the first-ever "National Action Plan for Sports Safety" (NAPSS) to ensure comprehensive action to protect America's student athletes.

Limiting Full-Contact Practices in High School Football: The Time to Act is Now!

For those of you who may be wondering why you haven't seen a blog from me in recent weeks, there is a simple answer: I have been head down (pardon the pun) finishing up MomsTEAM's high school football concussion documentary, The Smartest Team.

Newcastle, Oklahoma football player about to be tackledTwo news items on the subject of brain trauma in high school football, however, hit my desk over the past week which deserve comment.

Despite a growing body of evidence which suggests that brain trauma to football players can result, not just from violent helmet-on-helmet collisions hard enough to lead to concussions but from the cumulative effect of less forceful, but repetitive, subconcussive blows, no steps have been taken to limit such trauma at the high school level. That may be about to change.

Dietary Supplements For Performance Nutrition: Adopt "Food-First" Philosophy, Says NATA

The keys to good health and successful athletic performance are a carefully designed, healthful, and nutritionally balanced diet and well-developed program which promotes a "food-first" philosophy, says a helpful new position statement on evaluating dietary supplements from the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA).

Energy Drinks: What Teenagers, Doctors, and Parents Should Know

Reviewing current information about the content, benefits, and risks of the use of energy drinks by teens, a group of military doctors expressed "great concern" over the safety and negative effects of energy drinks, given their high caffeine content and the common practice on college campuses (and most likely at the high school level as well) of mixing energy drinks with alcohol.

Youth Sports Heroes of the Month: Queen Creek (Arizona) High School Football Team

Attending Queen Creek High School was a daily ordeal for 16-year-old sophomore Chy Johnson, who faced unrelenting taunts from bullies who would punctuate their insults by throwing garbage on her and shoving her in the hallways. Most days, she came home crying, unable to resist the indignities alone.

School bullies often seek out the most vulnerable victims, classmates who appear “different” for one reason or another and cannot defend themselves. Chy Johnson unfortunately fit the description. She attends regular classes, but she has microcephaly, a genetic brain disorder that has left her head smaller than average and causes her brain to operate at a third-grade level.

Attending Queen Creek High School was a daily ordeal for 16-year-old sophomore Chy Johnson, who faced unrelenting taunts from bullies. Until the high school football team stepped in to help.

Risk Factors for Concussion and Prolonged Recovery

History of prior concussion, collision sports, female sex, and women's soccer are the strongest known risk factors for concussion, while symptoms such as persistent headaches, migraines, amnesia, and multiple symptoms appear to be associated with prolonged recovery, says a new study.

Five Fast Tips to Help Your Athlete Strike Out the Flu

We value our children's participation in team sports for many reasons, including the camaraderie it breeds. Unfortunately, this time of year camaraderie can breed colds and flu, too. And it's tough to be a valuable teammate when you're sick. Here are five fast tips to help keep your superstar in the game and off the sidelines by keeping the flu at bay.

Women Hockey Players Sustain More Heavy Hits Than Previously Thought

There are a many more hits in women's college hockey of the kind that can lead to concussion than previously believed, new Canadian research finds.
Syndicate content