Doctor Juan Ronderos on 'Sports Concussions' - A Fox10 News Special Report

Fox10 News aired a special report about the dangers of sports related concussions to young athletes and the consequences for athletes in later life.

Fox10's Rob Lehocky interviewed Doctor Juan Ronderos, who heads the Watson Neuroscience Foundation, about sports concussions, the impact on young athletes, and how the game of football is changing to protect athletes.


"What happened five years ago is, 'Shake it off, go back in there,'" said Dr. John Ronderos of the Watson Neuroscience Foundation in Mobile. "Football is changing."

The NFL has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in brain injury research and equipment improvements, but Dr. Ronderos said prevention of future brain damage starts with recognition and a change in culture. It’s something he said we're already seeing.

"Right now, there's a lot more protection for the quarterback. There's more helmet to helmet contact penalties, more spearing penalties, and those type of penalties which I never heard of five years ago, you now see every week, almost every game."

Ronderos and his partners at the Watson Neuroscience Foundation do impact concussion studies and try to educate parents, coaches and players about identifying concussions.

"There's a lot more knowledge as far as when a player can and cannot go back (in the game). You have a concussion and before you completely resolve that you go back in, and you play and you get another one. Those are the hits that appear to be more devastating to players that a concussion in itself."

....

"Anytime you have movement, collision, athletics, you're gonna have a certain level, what is that theoretical minimum, I don’t know, but that's the whole point of this -- trying to get the level of injury to our kids down to the theoretical minimum."

The Watson Neuroscience Foundation is a registered charity and currently provides ImPACT concussion testing to for five area high schools, as well as concussion consulting to other schools in the area.

Watson Neuroscience Foundation is a non-profit regional neuroscience center, headquartered in Mobile, Alabama, and servicing the Gulf Coast and Southeast U.S. Region. The foundation has a four-fold purpose: support for brain tumor patients, funding for research, education outreach, and sports concussion testing in high school athletes.

If you would like to support the Watson Neuroscience Foundation mission to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of head injury, donate today.

Video courtesy of Fox10Tv.com

For more information about this article, please visit http://watsonresearch.org/fox-10-news-sports-concussions-doctor-ronderos.php

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