concussion

Mild concussion? Simple blood test can detect injury up to a week after

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Molecular marker could help treat and prevent brain damage.

 

A barely bruised brain can send out molecular SOS signals in the blood for days after an injury, researchers report this week in JAMA Neurology.

The finding suggests that new blood tests, already in development to detect those signals, may be able to identify even the mildest concussions well after a knock to the head.

“It is common for patients who have had a concussion or mild [traumatic brain injury] not to seek immediate medical attention,” the authors write. Kids, in particular, might have delayed or mild symptoms and go without treatment right away. Letting a concussion go undiagnosed may mean returning to work or school too soon, thwarting the brain’s efforts to heal. This can lead to dizziness, memory loss, depression, and headaches. And if a patient returns to play or sports too quickly, further hits to the head could lead to more severe or even permanent damage.

 

Read on ArsTechnica

Will Football Players Someday Take a Concussion Pill?

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New research provides a potential pathway to a drug to save people from the progressive damage of severe or repeated concussions

 

An experimental treatment helps restore normal brain structure and function in mice that have sustained severe concussions, and could lead to a drug that would do the same in humans, according to new research.

The brains of people who suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects people such as boxers and football players with a history of repetitive hard hits to the head, are characterized by fibrous tangles of a protein called tau. It is not known how traumatic brain injury leads to these tangles, which are also found in the brains of people who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

 

 

Read full article at MIT Technology Review

Sports concussion ‘breathalyser’ proposed

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Experts who want tighter regulation of concussion in sport are trialling new medical tests that could provide rapid, pitchside diagnosis.

The “return to play decision” after a head injury is a serious problem that has caused tragedy and controversy.

Among the new proposals is a breath test, which successfully detects key chemicals in early laboratory trials.

Produced by the damaged brain, these chemicals are known to indicate a brain injury when found in the bloodstream.

Further trials will establish whether the same markers can also be detected in athletes’ breath, and whether such a breath test would pick up the kind of brain injuries commonly seen in sports like rugby, football and American football.

“These biochemical compounds from the brain can be measured in a number of different fluids – for example, saliva and breath,” explained Prof Tony Belli, a neurosurgeon and medical researcher from the University of Birmingham.

 

Read full story on BBC News