Sports and Brain Injury
Learn about the risks of brain damage from youth sports, and what can be done to protect our young athletes. Dr. Robbins launched a public awareness campaign in December 2012 to warn people that despite the many benefits of youth sports, we are increasingly learning about the headaches, memory problems, and other health impacts being inflicted on young people.
Learn about the risks of brain damage from youth tackle football, and what can be done to protect our young athletes. Dr. Robbins launched a public awareness campaign in December 2012 to warn people that despite the sport’s many benefits, we are increasingly learning about the headaches, memory problems, and other health impacts being inflicted on young people by tackle football.
Children should just play flag or touch football until at least age 12. The evidence is compelling that early exposure to tackle football may permanently harm the brain. Intuitively, it’s just not a terrific idea for a child to use his head as a battering ram.
NHL Star Chris Pronger Has a Headache
Chris Pronger, former captain of the Philadelphia Flyers suffers from severe headaches since two head injuries he suffered on the ice 18 months ago. Brian Cazeneuve, a writer for Sports Illustrated recently reported on his progress - the following is part of his...
American Academy of Neurology Updates Concussion Guideline
The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has released a new guideline for the assessment and management of athletes with concussion. This new guideline replaces the 1997 AAN guideline on the same subject. "These recommendations are the best summation of available...
Stop Football…Save Brains: A Point- Counterpoint Discussion
Dr. Robbins has recently written an Opinion Editorial on the Listserv of the Southern Headache Society. He has voiced his concerns regarding tackle football before the age of 18. While high school players have strong neck and shoulder muscles that can absorb some of...
Concussions and Headaches
We do see a # of younger people with sports concussions, with resulting headache syndromes(among other post-concussion problems).....often it is after the 2nd(or 3rd or 4th) concussion, with lingering symptoms. Thse can be tough to treat, as they often do not respond...
Dr. Robbins on Radio: Christmas Nite
I am scheduled to be on WGN 720 AM (Chicago) Dec 25th at 8:10 or so; we will be discussing football, concussions, and what to do about head traumas in football; recently I wrote an OPED (on Realclearsports.com several Thursdays ago) on "Save Brains: Stop Football"..as...
Concussions/Head Trauma/Football Part 2
It is not just High School football players that sustain head injuries; studies of 7 to 8 year olds revealed the average kid recieved 107 significant head blows per season; to a young, immature, developing brain, this is very significant. Who know what this damage can...
High School Football/Head Injuries
In the 1 million HS football players, about 60,000 concussions are reported yearly. At least as many go unreported (kids notoriously underreport concussions). Many of these lead to post-concussion syndrome, headaches included. These are tough to treat. A fascinating...
Youth/High School Football and Head Trauma/Headache
This is the first post of several on youth and H.S. football, and head traumas. There are 3.5 million tackle football players age 5 to 14, and 1 million more H.S. players. I just wrote an OPED on this subject(has not been accepted yet), basically stating my position...
“Natasha’s Law” Aims to Protect Texas Student Athletes With Concussions
Texas doctors and legislators believe the health of student athletes will be better protected with the recent enactment of Natasha's Law. The new state law requires specific responses when student athletes get concussions on the field. Previously, a coach was able to...
Retired NFL Athletes Show Greater Risk for Alzheimer’s and ALS
The journal Neurology has released results from a study that revealed retired NFL athletes had a four-times higher risk of developing Alzheimer's and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS than the general population. According to...
