The truth about concussions

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) established a Sports Medicine Concussion Program in 2000 that specializes in the diagnosis, evaluation and management of athletes' sports-related concussions on all levels.

The director of the widely respected program, Dr. Mark Lovell, has developed testing programs for the NFL and NHL.

Dr. Micky Collins, the assistant director of the UPMC Concussion Program, recently spoke with The Patriot-News about concussions and their impact on athletes on the professional, collegiate and high school levels.

Collins touched on a couple of little-known facts about concussions and also provided us with a couple of resources to learn more about concussions and their effects.

THE TRUTH ABOUT CONCUSSIONS

1. You don't have to get knocked out.

"There's been a lot of research and study and I can tell you that 90 percent of concussions do not involve loss of consciousness," Collins said.

2. Concussions won't show up on a CT (computed tomography) scan or an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

"You can take tests to determine if there's bleeding or there's been a fracture, those are things a CT scan will unearth," Collins said.

"But a CT scan won't help with the discovery of a concussion. ... If the CT scan says your normal, that doesn't mean you've recovered from the concussion."

3. When in recovery, exerting yourself mentally is just as bad as exerting yourself physically.

"When you have a concussion, the cells in your brain are starved for energy," Collins said. "If you push yourself physically or mentally, you're increasing the demand for energy too quickly. You'll know it if you rush back too soon."

Collins also said the UPMC team is mindful of the need to educate athletes, parents, trainers and coaches about concussions and offered a couple of resources that serve as excellent learning tools:

1. CDC.gov. (Center for Disease Control).

2. impacttest.com

At CDC.gov, click on the letter "T" for and go to traumatic brain injury (TBI), another phrase for concussion. Then click on the link on the right side of the page entitled: "Concussion in High School Sports."

Once there, you can obtain a free copy of the concussion tool kit authored by Collins. It includes a DVD, a video and fact sheets.

At the impacttest.com site, there is plenty of information about the ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) program designed by the UPMC staff.

The 20-minute cognitive online test is used to help determine when an athlete is ready to return to play.

For more information about this article, please visit http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnewssports/2010/01/the_truth_about_concussions.html

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