By Jack Firneno
Wire Editor
With school sports tryouts starting next week, and school starting a few weeks after that, parents of athletes are thinking about shoulder pads and helmets along with pencils and notebooks.
They should also consider a baseline cognitive screening.
According to Dr. Emil Matarese, director of the concussion program at Aria Health Services, concussions are on the rise in younger athletes. And, as the medical profession learns more about concussions, tests like these are becoming crucial to preventing long-term damage in athletes of any age.
“A concussion isn’t just getting your bell rung as we’ve thought in the past,” said Matarese. “It’s a potentially serious injury to the brain.”
Matarese works closely with schools and coaches at Neshaminy, Bristol and other nearby school districts to ensure students, athletes or not, don’t suffer prolonged damage from a concussion.
As a preventative measure, the schools he works with offer ImPACT tests.
Available for students in Bucks County from eighth grade through college, the ImPACT test is an assessment of an athlete’s cognitive skills, like reaction time and visual recognition skills. It establishes a baseline for each student so doctors can measure neurological recovery should they suffer a concussion, and determine when it’s safe for them to return to sports and school work.
When a person suffers a concussion, there is microscopic swelling in brain cells, which causes them to temporarily malfunction. They require increased energy, blood and nutrients to heal, which means the sufferer needs to give their body — and their mind — a rest.
“Too much mental exercise, like studying, reading or computer games, shifts blood from the damaged areas to healthier areas, therefore delaying recovery of the damaged brain tissue,” explained Matarese.
The same happens when a person exercises too much. And, athletes also run the risk of second-impact syndrome if they return to the field too soon. It’s a potentially lethal increase of pressure and swelling in the brain if they get hit again before the concussion has healed.
Multiple concussions can also lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy. “It’s a disease found in people subjected to multiple concussions, and it mimics Alzheimer’s disease,” said Matarese. “This is the condition many professional football players have suffered.” The long-term effects of concussions can also include depression and suicide. Teenagers and children who suffer them are even more at risk because their brains are still developing, and Matarese said more younger people are suffering from them than before.
“We’re seeing our younger athletes becoming stronger, faster and able to inflict more aggressive impacts in each other, creating more serious traumatic brain injuries in the past,” he explained. And, it’s not just in contact sports like football.
“I’ve seen cheerleaders suffer concussions from falling from the top of a pyramid, or doing a flip and landing forcibly on their head, or kicking a teammate as they fall.”
But however it occurs, trained physicians like Matarese assess the damage and help the patient ease back into their normal routine as they heal.
“Each patient is different, and their treatment must be individually designed based on their needs,” he said.
A student is removed from school immediately following a concussion, and then usually eased back into the school day with just a few hours of classes and plenty of breaks.
“A child can usually return to school when they’re able to focus or concentrate for at least 30 minutes without exhibiting any symptoms,” said Matarese.
More:
Read about Levittown college student who only recently recovered from a concussion he suffered nearly two years ago at www.midweekwire.com/2014/07/31/concussion
