BLOG #8: Parents’ and Students’ Enhanced Healing Concussion Protocol
Do NOT Accept “There’s not very much we can do”
“Concussion research in the United States commonly relies on collegiate athletes as study subjects. Such research recognizes learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders (LD/ADHD) as comorbidities that should be addressed in concussion research and management. Authors observed LD/ADHD rates among football athletes exceeding 50% in multiple cohort years, a degree of magnitude greater than the rate among general college student populations. Neurospychological testing revealed scores among some incoming freshman college football players consistent with those of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. Evidence of cognitive impairment among incoming college football players raises concern over the potential effects of cumulative exposure to head trauma and the increased risk associated with continued participation in collision sports.”
Tatos T. and Comrie D. 2019. Cognitive Disorders Among Incoming College Football Athletes: Legal and Medical Implications of Undisclosed Inclusion in Concussion ResearchThe Journal of Scientific Practice and Integrity.
DOI: 10.35122/jospi.2019.873611.
Fact Sheet on Healing A Concussion, a Brain Wound
In light of the facts and implications of the latest research on brain injuries sustained by athletes, this set of facts and recommendations is presented to help parents in their search for answers that will lead to faster and more effective healing of concussive effects in their children and loved ones.
Concussions are a brain wound, a form of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
A concussion is a wound to the soft tissue we call the brain, perhaps the most important organ in the body. A concussion begins a negative “concussion cascade” that can lead to serious and sometimes fatal consequences. This brain wounding is accompanied by symptoms. While it is true that these symptoms will diminish over time in many cases, there are physiological and psychological and emotional consequences when you do not treat the brain wound. Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG), Department of Neuroscience, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | (2020) 11:4524 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18113-4
What is this Concussion Cascade, and why haven’t I been told about it?
It has been very difficult to “see” the wound to the brain. Medicine typically diagnoses concussions by identifying symptoms. You are assumed to be “better” when those symptoms go away. Doctors typically say that 80-90% of concussions heal on their own. What they should be saying is that, in time, most symptoms go away in most cases. But that avoids what is still going on in the head, with the “invisible wound.” We know the Concussion Cascade can include:
- Inflammation that can last a long time
- Reduction in the flow of blood and oxygen
- Reduction in the flow of nutrients and enzymes necessary for wound healing
- Physical damage to brain matter
- Oxygen starvation/hypoxia
- Cell death and cell stunning/inactivation
- Beginning of a longer term buildup of excessive material that can lead to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and other neurological degeneration in some cases.
This Concussion Cascade sounds like real physical damage is being done.
Researchers have recently been able to “see” what this brain wounding looks like. Physical damage leads to physical, emotional, behavioral, and functional atrophy that is directly tied to the wound: Source: The New Neurometabolic Cascade of Concussion. Christopher C. Giza, M.D. and David A. Hovda, Ph.D. Neurosurgery. 2014 October; 75(0 4): S24–S33. doi:10.1227/NEU.0000000000000505.
What can be done about this damage, and can we heal the wound to the brain?
- The most important message is that you must be your own advocate for brain healing. This idea of a “wound to the brain” is unconventional. The treatment, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and other alternative interventions, are controversial but are backed up by decades of clinical experience, evidence, peer-reviewed science, and over 7,500 success stories attesting to the power of oxygen under pressure to speed healing.
- Dr. Daphne Denham, the nation’s premier expert in using Hyperbaric Oxygenation (HBOT) to treat and help heal brain wounds, is amassing evidence that active intervention with HBOT can dramatically reduce symptoms and shorten the negative consequences of Acute Concussions. You can view her work here. 348 out of 350 success stories with Acute Concussions, all within days of the injury.
- Worldwide research and evidence-based medicine attest to the medical significance of HBOT in treating and healing many kinds of wounds to the brain and is all parts of the body. Seek medical attention immediately, but demand that they talk to you about HBOT therapy. If they don’t, get a second or third opinion.
All the discoveries by Dr. Ann McKee and her Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) team in Boston confirm a strong correlation between numerous hits to the head and onset of CTE. At last count, she had found CTE in 99% of the brains studied, or 110 out of 111 examinations of the brains of former NFL players. Common sense is slowly causing parents and officials to pay attention to these correlations. Your child is a long way from CTE, but wounds to the head add up. There is no evidence that any of the deceased ever had a chance to receive HBOT treatment. But now we know better. These videos that will give you confidence and information:
Joe Namath, NY Jets: https://tinyurl.com/yxkwdb27
MSGT Scott Roessler: http://tinyurl.com/hf3czmw
Roy Jefferson, Patriots, Redskins: https://bit.ly/2MDg1JV
GnySgt Rotenberry & wife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay__tiUU6gE&feature=youtu.be
Joe Delamielleure (Buffalo Bills): http://tinyurl.com/jts2jy3
Dave Robinson (Packers): https://bit.ly/3bzOeXz
The Honorable Patt Maney (BG): http://tinyurl.com/m97x4jp
NFL player Steve Bowman: http://tinyurl.com/oj2pggg
Marv Fleming (Packers, Miami): http://tinyurl.com/jgl5ob5
Where can I go to get Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
HBOT Treatment Centers across the U.S. that deal routinely with Concussion/TBI/PTSD can be found here.
NOTE: The information provided here does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made. Follow all instructions in your school Concussion Protocols and continue to talk to the trainer, the coach, the Athletic Director and school Administrators, along with your family physician. But that’s not the end of what you can do. You have a right to do all you can to get help for your child’s brain wound.
You do NOT have to sit idly by, hoping Concussion Symptoms will go away. TreatNOW.org
The information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.
