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Post by Navleen Gill on Dec 10, 2015 13:09:58 GMT -4
It has been a recurring theme since the beginning of time that practices in which are detrimental to human physical and psychological health is compromised for the adherence to the social mesh work that has been constructed. This example being the most monetary and highly sought after field of sports. Many studies have been done with the emphasis on the motor cortex and its excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms post-brain trauma. A highly physiological, and a more specific neural response spanning from motor evoked potentials in palmar interossei to psychosocial behavior in athletes victimized by concussions and various forms of chronic brain trauma. Conclusions of many of these case-control experiments have shown that repeated and subsequent concussions in athletes yields a direct linear exacerbation of depressive, suicidal behavior from athletes in baseball and football etc. A more definitive plan of action should be implemented to clear the haze of cognitive dissonance that such a highly charged sports society has developed over years. At the very least it should be strongly publicized in the media, where many things go untouched, but the things that do usually change the perspectives of individuals. Obviously the results should be definitive and confirmatory in order to do so.
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Post by James Butz on Dec 10, 2015 13:34:23 GMT -4
This article was an interesting read. I think the obvious take away points were twofold: 1) concussions/ TBI can inflict psychological damage and 2) more research needs to be performed. However, limitations exist on what research can be done and how to interpret the results of that research given the multiple confounding variables associated with each person’s head injury relating to: location of injury, intensity of force (i.e. energy), blunt or focalized pattern of disbursement of that energy, age, race, gender, and isolated vs. combinatorial neural structural damage (i.e. damage to cortex alone vs. damage to cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum, & brain stem).
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Post by Juan Camilo Pineda on Dec 10, 2015 14:17:58 GMT -4
As physicians we are the front lines for patients who suffer from psychiatric illnesses whether they are trauma induced, drug induced, or simply part of their brain physiology. Psychiatric issues in today’s society are slowly growing acceptance, but there is still a long way to go in the sense that most people would prefer to hide from the truth for fear of being looked at in a different light. Although medicine has advanced much throughout time there is always room for improvement and there are still many mysteries that are unknown. Articles such as this serve as an important reminder to the fact that there are many connections to symptoms and illnesses that we do not fully understand. These connections if studied further could potentially help the medical community become better diagnosticians and clinicians. What I truly appreciate about this article is that as physicians we sometimes get so caught up in the exact present that we forget to address possible lingering symptoms from previous traumas, surgeries, or emotional situations. Being able to detect and connect these findings could truly improve the treatment and recovery of patients with concussions such as these. Medicine is no longer a diagnose and treat system, rather a system that is able to bring together seemingly disconnected symptoms to arrive to a quicker and more efficient diagnosis to hopefully prevent aftereffects of having a diagnosis that took longer than expected to discover.
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Post by Soham Patel on Dec 10, 2015 15:53:51 GMT -4
This article outlines a complex problem in the management of concussions for patients, families, and physicians alike. With few specific treatments available, it would seem that our best approach to managing concussions and the associated mental status symptoms would lie in prevention and education. The association between concussions and mental health disorders is by no means a public secret, especially considering the prominence of the NFL and the recent wave of media attention to concussions and CTE in America. However, the majority of the public believes concussions to be an isolated issue - something that only affects athletes involved in contact sports. This is of course not the case as concussions can happen to anyone involved in a fall, accident, collision, or any other form of physical impact. I have seen a patient in the past who began showing signs of concussion a week after being involved in an altercation at school. Cases like these are more common than one would think, and it highlights how we as physicians should always be on the look out for concussive signs in every patient that has experienced any physical trauma or impact. Much like how educating the general public on stroke symptoms has played a role in early identification of stroke patients and their overall outcomes, I believe that educating patients about signs and symptoms of concussions can lead to similar positive outcomes. Education would not only allow for the early identification of individuals experiencing concussions, but also in identifying patients who are most in need of help. For example, the article talks about Cynthia Kamzelski who spoke about how he fell down the "rabbit hole” becoming increasingly despondent and hopeless. Perhaps by knowing what he might expect after his concussion, Kamzelski and his family may have felt more comfortable with the situation and been able to provide a stronger support network for Kamzelski. This issue of not knowing the mental anguish that can come from concussions is likely even more prominent in cases that have gone undiagnosed. With the lack of interventional modalities available to medical professionals regarding concussions, an approach that highlights preventive measures, early diagnosis, and widespread education of signs and symptoms of concussion may be our best shot at improving morbidity and mortality due to this underestimated affliction.
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ajain
New Member
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Post by ajain on Dec 10, 2015 17:16:04 GMT -4
This is an extremely important topic to discuss about. As doctors, we sometimes overlook the most common diagnosis and jump to a more complicated area of matter. The symptoms of concussion are so widely ranged and can cause severe impairment in physical, cognitive, and emotional world. Those who have had one concussion are more likely and susceptible to another. Some symptoms to be watchful for after an injury to the brain are headaches including dizziness, vomitting, nausea, lack of motor coordination, difficulty balancing. Visual symptoms include light sensitivity, blurred vision, seeing bright lights. Concussion are under diagnosed due to the lack of highly noticeable signs and symptoms while athletes minimize their symptoms to remain in the competition. According to the article, football players might be at slightly increased risk of developing depression after a traumatic brain injury, but detecting the condition early could help prevent tragic consequences.
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Post by agrover85 on Dec 10, 2015 17:17:41 GMT -4
This is a wonderful article that brings light to the link between concussions and repeated head injuries to mood disorders, particularly depression. The article details the stories of young athletes whom after receiving traumatic brain injuries had marked mood and personality changes. As the article discusses, that as symptoms may have a delayed onset, clinicians may not always be able to identify the link between the two in an individual patient. This is important for us, as future doctors, to keep in mind. According to the CDC, in 2010 there were 823.7 Trauma related Brain injuries per 100,000 ED visits, which nearly doubled since 2001. As this number grows it becomes imperative for medical professionals to be able to quickly and accurately diagnose and treat traumatic brain injury related mood disorders. I particularly appreciated Collin’s chessboard approach to treatment utilizing the six trajectories. Isolating the symptomatic pathways and improving function through therapy and exercise is an efficient and effective method that can and does save lives as it did in this article. -AG MS3
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Post by Nalliene Chavez on Dec 10, 2015 20:04:56 GMT -4
Amidst all of the talk of sports that we take part of, rarely do these conversations include how dangerous sports related injuries are, and just how common in just about every athlete. Most athletes begin training when very young, through adolescence and the adulthood, that is a lot of brain injuries when you add it up. As the article points out, the adolescent group is experiencing a lot of development of their frontal lobe during the time these accidents occur. The NCAA seems to be making an effort to recognize the effect and predominance of psychiatric disease in the sports population, however, other than increasing protective equipment, what else could be done to avoid these injuries in full contact sports such as football or wrestling? If primary prevention does not work or is not feasible, then we must focus our efforts into rehabilitation. We must focus as physicians on recognizing the early signs of these psychiatric illnesses so that we can provide better care and timely care to athletes.
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