subconcussive

MomsTEAM recently spoke with Dr. C.J. Abraham, the inventor of the Forcefield FF Protective Headband about the value of protective headgear in soccer. Dr. Abraham said that there is no headgear in the world for any sport or recreational activity that can eliminate subconcussive and concussive brain injuries. All that can be said is that headgear can significantly reduce the effective impact to an individual's head and brain.

New rules and recommendations regarding heading in youth soccer issued in November 2015 by a number of national and California soccer organizations have generated significant controversy, with some criticizing the rules as going too far and some as not going far enough. Not surprisingly, Dr. Frank Webbe, a prominent researcher on the subject of heading in soccer and a longtime supporter of a ban on heading in soccer below age 14, favors the new rules, despite the lack of data to establish their effectiveness.

Limiting or eliminating contact practices in football would result in an 18% to 40% reduction in head impacts respectively over the course of a high school football season, reports a new study,  which urges policymakers to proceed with caution in imposing such limits.

Concussions, and even lesser subconcussive head trauma, may speed up the brain's natural aging process says a new study which found changes in gait, balance, and in the brain's electrical activity in areas measuring attention and impulse control in otherwise healthy college students with a history of concussion.

While it is possible that intentional heading in soccer represents a form of repetitive subconcussive mild brain injury which, over time,  could be a cause of chronic traumatic encephalpathy (CTE), the possible cause-and-effect relationship remains theoretical, says a 2012 study.

The Sports Legacy Institute's  "Hit Count" initiative is designed to dramatically reduce youth athletes' exposure to repetitive brain trauma in multiple sports, with the goal to reduce concussions, sub-concussive trauma and risk of developing Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

An autopsy has revealed that former NHL star Rick Martin was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated brain trauma.