No difference in helmet brands

A study shows that there is no difference in how many concussions player get based on helmet brand.

The University of Wisconsin reports that its new study showed no difference in the rate of concussions based on what helmet brand is used.

The university recently completed the first large-scale, prospective study in a field-based sports setting to examine if the rate of concussion is affected by the protective equipment that is worn by high school football players.

Not only did the brand not make a difference in the rate of concussions, there also was no difference in the severity of those concussions, either.

The research concluded that well-maintained and fitted football helmets remain important to reduce the risk of skull fracture and intracranial hemorrhage, but there is serious doubt to whether a helmet can ever be designed to prevent concussions.

In addition, the research found a similar concussion risk regardless of the age of the helmet.

Dr. Alison Brooks, assistant professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, spearheaded the study with Dr. Tim McGuine. Brooks called out the increased risk among previously injured athletes.

“Players in this study who had a history of previous concussion were at higher risk of sustaining another concussion, regardless of the helmet brand worn,” said Brooks. “Rather than focus on the belief that a specific helmet can ‘prevent’ concussions, which is not supported by the current scientific literature, our efforts may be better spent educating players, parents and coaches about the increased risk of concussion in these previously concussed young athletes.”

A concussion in football is a very complex event involving different and changing forces, linear (straight motion or direct hit) and rotational (circular motion of head or torque) accelerations, helmet fit, player position, impact duration, player concussion history and overall health.

Schutt Sports has the two highest 5 STAR helmets in 2014, yet the company admits that the ratings do not support a conclusion that the helmets will limit or prevent concussions.

“Schutt Sports would never represent to somebody that they’re not going to get a concussion if they wear one of our helmets,” said Robert Erb, CEO of Schutt Sports. “As a manufacturer of a helmet considered by this rating system to be the best available, I believe telling people that an athlete is less likely to get a concussion if they use a 5 STAR helmet is irresponsible. The best helmet is the one that carries NOCSAE certification, fits the player, fits the position, is configured with the proper mask and the player is comfortable in it.”

Consumers should also know that the rating given to helmets applies only to size large adult.

According to the Virginia Tech website, “It is possible that the same helmet models of different size may produce different results; however, we do not have any data on this, and we only tested large helmets as a first step.”

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Do helmets protect children from concussions?

This article explains how no helmet can entirely protect a child from concussions.

Children wear helmets when they're scooting down sidewalks, skating, skiing, sledding and playing soccer. You can even buy $40 baby helmets on Amazon, because, according to the product description, "babies will always fall taking their first steps."

Putting aside the debate over whether helmets are truly necessary in all of these situations, there's something about helmets you might not know: They won't protect your kids from common head injuries that may cause long-term problems.

There's no question that helmets save lives by preventing skull fractures and other lethal brain injuries. But according to a 2013 report on youth sports-related concussions by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, "there is limited evidence that current helmet designs reduce the risk of sports-related concussions."

That helmets don't protect against concussions is particularly worrying considering that children and adolescents may be both more vulnerable to concussions and recover more slowly from them compared to adults.

And statistics suggest that concussions are becoming more common among kids. One recent study reported a doubling in concussion-related ER visits by youth between 1997 and 2007. Some of this increase is undoubtedly due to growing awareness about concussions and better diagnostic techniques, but concussions are still believed to be underreported.

There's no good treatment for concussions, other than rest (for days, weeks or months, depending), but this rest is crucial: individuals who get concussions and then hit their heads again before they're fully healed can suffer brain swelling and even die.

Concussions are typically diagnosed based on symptoms -- headaches, dizziness, amnesia, nausea, and vomiting are among them -- but as for what kinds of blows to the head cause them, that's still largely a mystery.

"I couldn't even define the mechanism," explains Adam Bartsch, Director of the Cleveland Clinic's Head, Neck and Spine Research Laboratory.

And we can't come close to designing a concussion-proof helmet, he says, until we understand exactly how concussions happen.

Today's sports helmets are designed to attenuate high-impact linear acceleration forces, which occur in a straight front-to-back line, like "if you hit the head through the center of gravity," explains Robert Cantu, a neurosurgeon at the Boston University School of Medicine and co-author of "Concussions and Our Kids."

Yet most hits to the head, whether they're from falling off bicycles or scooters or from team sports collisions, cause the brain to rotationally accelerate, leading to concussion.

It's just that the linear acceleration is more strongly associated with severe injuries, like cracked skulls, and when the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment was formed in 1969 -- a year in which 38 Americans died playing football -- the goal was to develop helmet standards that would mitigate only the most severe injuries.

And consider the standards set for bicycling helmets by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Since people bike in different climates and conditions, the CPSC mandates that bike helmets have to pass drop tests from a height of 6 feet at temperatures as high as 127 degrees, as low as 1 degree, and after being immersed in water for up to 24 hours.

Few materials can maintain their performance in such a range of conditions; one that does is expanded polystyrene (EPS), which is the foam that comprises the inner liner of most bike helmets sold today. The problem is that EPS is so strong that it doesn't protect well against low-energy concussion-inducing impacts.

Obviously you can't protect your kid's head from everything. Nor would you want to, really, as over-protective parenting is not without risks itself.

But given the growing medical concern over the dangers of repeated concussions, common sense says that we might be wise to keep our kids' heads from smacking into things more than they absolutely have to. Helmets don't clear us of this responsibility.

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Study: Concussion rates double in high schoolers

A study claims that rates of concussions have doubled between 2005 and 2012 for high school athletes.

The rate of concussions in U.S. high school athletes more than doubled between 2005 and 2012, new research shows.

The trend probably reflects an increased awareness and more legislation governing concussions in student athletes, and not more danger in sports, the study authors noted.

"The bottom line is that rates have gone up," said lead researcher Dr. Joseph Rosenthal, an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Ohio State University. "We don't know the exact reason. This was an observational study, so I can't say for sure, but I believe what is explaining the increase is the increased awareness, not that sports are more dangerous. It's just that the concussions are being recognized more, which is good news."

The study was published recently in The American Journal of Sports Medicine.

Concussions are usually due to a blow to the head, often in sports such as football or ice hockey, but they also occur in other sports.

The researchers analyzed data from a sample of 100 U.S. high schools that have one or more certified athletic trainers on staff.

Rosenthal's team found that the concussion rate increased from 0.23 to 0.51 concussions for every 1,000 athlete exposures. An athletic exposure is defined as a single athlete participating in one competition or a practice.

From 2005 through 2012, just over 4,000 concussions occurred in seven sports. These included football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, baseball and softball.

Five of those sports had increases that were statistically significant. These included football, boys' basketball, boys' wrestling, boys' baseball and girls' softball. High school football had the highest rates of concussion, according to the study.

Increased awareness is probably behind the higher numbers, agreed Steven Broglio, an athletic trainer and director of the Neurosport Research Lab, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He is also chair of the National Athletic Trainers' Association position statement on the management of sport-related concussion.

"I'm not entirely surprised at this uptick," said Broglio. More concussions are being recognized due to a number of factors, including increased media coverage on the dangers of concussions and position statements about concussion management from organizations such as his, he added.

Another recent study suggested that awareness about the dangers of concussions is higher. Researchers from Children's Hospital Colorado tracked the compliance of high school athletes who suffered from concussions and how well they followed the return-to-play guidelines.

The researchers found that half of the athletes they tracked were compliant in 2007, but by 2013, 80 percent were. Those findings were presented at the recent annual meeting of the American Society for Sports Medicine in New Orleans.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have some kind of law designed to protect young athletes from returning to play too soon after a concussion. Experts agree that children who have a concussion need evaluation by a health care professional and need to be cleared before they can return to sports.

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