An experimental high-tech brain scan is finding previously undetected traumatic brain injury in servicemen who sustain concussions in combat.

The research is considered a first step toward a better understanding of what happens in the brain after bomb blasts and what might be done about it, said Dr. David Brody of Washington University in St. Louis. He's senior author of the study in the June 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Blast-related traumatic brain injuries have affected about 320,000 U.S. troops and are considered the "signature" injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, HealthDay reported. But because concussions alone cause no visible damage, experts have debated whether they actually damaged the brain.

The new "diffusion tensor imaging" scans seem to suggest that concussions can affect the "wiring" that connects parts of the brain. It's unclear what the new finding suggests for treatment, Brody said. Scientists are studying whether they reveal anything about a patient's future course, such as the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The scans were done by adding software to an ordinary MRI machine.

The results suggest doctors may someday be able to use objective markers to help make a concussion diagnosis, said Katherine Helmick, deputy director for traumatic brain injury at the federally funded Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Little can be done to reverse the initial brain damage that results from traumatic brain injury, which can cause changes in mood, behavior. But patients can often be helped with physical and occupational therapy and other forms of treatment.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/3bhygn7

It’s the most gruesome distinction in hockey: Only one player has ever died from injuries directly suffered in an NHL game.

When Bill Masterton’s limp body collapsed to the ice on Jan. 15, 1968, the Minnesota North Stars centre appeared to be the victim of an innocuous hit. Thirty hours later, he was dead in hospital.

Today his story is nearly forgotten, but for an annual NHL award that bears his name. It honours perseverance and dedication to hockey.

The irony is that perseverance probably killed Bill Masterton.

What happened in the days leading up to that fatal moment in Minneapolis, when Masterton played his 38th and final NHL game, has been largely a mystery.

But a Star investigation has uncovered evidence that an earlier, untreated concussion was likely responsible for Masterton’s death at the age of 29.

That injury was compounded by the age-old hockey code that preaches shake-it-off-and-get-back-out-there resilience in the face of pain, serious injury, even brain trauma.

“I’ve never said this to anyone before,” said Wren Blair, Masterton’s coach and general manager, now 85. “I’ve never thought that it had anything to do with that hit. I think he had a (pre-existing) cerebral brain hemorrhage.”

Those closest to Masterton concur he was suffering from a brain injury before he stepped on to the ice that night, as does a medical expert who reviewed an autopsy report obtained by the Star.

Minnesota goalie Cesare Maniago’s wife, Mavis, had a clear view of Masterton’s fall from her seat in the stands. She, too, believes something else was wrong with Masterton that night, something that explains why the routine bodycheck left him unconscious even before he hit the ice.

“I saw Bill’s head after he was just checked from behind and it just looked like his eyes were in the back of his head,” she said. “I thought he was out then and just went fast right down.”

While much in hockey has changed since Masterton died, one thing hasn’t: Playing hurt is a sacred principle.

“Billy” Masterton’s commitment to the game was bred in the bone.

A ritual unfolded every Saturday evening in the small Masterton home in Winnipeg’s East Kildonan neighbourhood: brothers Bill and Bob took a bath, slipped into pajamas and sat together in front of a tiny electric fireplace while listening to Foster Hewitt on the radio.

“We spent a lot of time dreaming,” said Bob. “But my brother was the worker and he had the ethic that you need to make the NHL.”

He didn’t just work on the ice. He was a rarity in the way he prepared for a life outside the game. He starred at the University of Denver from 1957-61, helping the Pioneers win three national collegiate titles and earning tournament MVP honours his senior year. More importantly, he earned a degree.

Masterton left pro hockey after two seasons when it appeared he’d never make the NHL. He pursued a master’s degree in business engineering, eventually joining technology giant Honeywell, where he worked on the financial end of the Apollo project. He settled in Minneapolis with his high school sweetheart, Carol, and they adopted two children, Scott and Sally.

In 1967, Masterton’s nearly forgotten hope of playing in the NHL re-emerged with the league’s expansion from six to 12 teams. The Montreal Canadiens, which owned his rights, traded them to Minnesota. Blair, in charge of the North Stars, came calling.

Bob Masterton remembers his brother telling him about the NHL offer over dinner. “I looked at him and said, ‘What are you going to do?’ because he was just starting a young family,” said Bob. “It was kind of one of those things where I asked the question but I knew what he was going to do. It was always in the back of his mind.”

The season started with promise: Masterton scored the first goal in North Stars history. But 37 games later, in the days leading up to the hit that would kill him, there were signs all was not right.

The night before the fatal game against Oakland, Masterton was at Maniago’s house with his family — Scott was 3 and Sally, 1 — helping the genial goaltender celebrate his 29th birthday with teammates.

In a quiet moment, Masterton made a rare admission to Maniago: He was struggling with the effects of a head check into the glass during a recent game.

“He had been complaining of headaches,” said Maniago. “He’d got hit and even that night he said ‘Gee, I’ve really been getting these migraines and they’ve been with me for about a week.’”

In several games prior to the tragedy, Blair had also noticed something strange.

“I’d said to our trainer, ‘Do you ever look at Billy when the game’s on?’” Blair recalled. “His face is blood red, almost purple. (The trainer) said, ‘Yeah, I notice that too.’ I said, ‘I wonder if we could have him checked. There’s something wrong.’”

Masterton, who was always quick to dismiss concerns, was never sent to a doctor.

“I’m fine,” he’d say, the mantra of a thousand hockey players.

Carl Johnson, assistant general manager of Minnesota’s farm team in Memphis, said he was told Masterton had blacked out while on line rushes during practice.

Former Edmonton Oilers coach John Muckler, who coached the North Stars’ farm club in Memphis that season, said he saw signs of trouble with Masterton in training camp.

“I really believe he was injured before the fatal blow. I know that in our training camp he got hit hard a couple of times. And he got hit a few games very hard at the NHL level. His aggressiveness got him.”

Masterton wasn’t big. But he played as though he was, said Muckler.

“He wasn’t the most talented guy in the world but he really wanted to play. . . . He wanted it badly. I’ve never seen a person work so hard. He’d never show when he got hurt. He never laid down.”

When he suffered the final hit of his career, Masterton was making his patented move — crossing the opposing blueline and cutting to one side before passing the puck to a teammate.

Oakland defencemen Larry Cahan and Ron Harris moved in to check Masterton, who wound up falling on the back of his head. One account holds that Masterton regained consciousness for a few moments and repeated the words, “Never again, never again,” before closing his eyes for the final time.

Neatly typed on Masterton’s 1968 autopsy report are the words, “Likely Cause of Death: Cerebral contusions” sustained from a “fall on ice.”

After reviewing the document, Dr. Charles Tator, a Toronto neurosurgeon and concussion expert, believes Masterton suffered “second impact syndrome,” a rare occurrence where a second concussion happens on the heels of a first concussion that never healed, causing rapid and severe brain swelling.

“We know the second hit can be fatal. The usual story is just as has unfolded here, that they can even talk a bit after that final hit and then they lapse into a coma,” Tator said. “There is evidence of massive brain swelling . . . that is out of proportion to the blow that he got. My interpretation is that the seeds of this catastrophic injury were sown days before.”

What makes hockey players hide their injuries and re-enter games knowing the next hit could spell ruin?

Fear, plain and simple, said Mike Walton, a Maple Leafs rookie when Masterton died.

“Injury wasn’t really of any importance in the sense that you didn’t want to lose your job and if you couldn’t play, obviously they had to fill their roster,” said Walton, now a real estate agent in Toronto. “It was a dictatorship. They had total control.”

While knowledge of concussions has increased dramatically since Masterton died, the warrior-like mindset of professional hockey players is everlasting, he said.

“It goes on today, there’s no question about it. The general public doesn’t understand the adrenaline, the passion, the dedication the players have to get out there and perform.”

Throughout his college career, right through to his training camp in Memphis, Masterton wore a helmet, a rarity in an age when head protection was dismissed by players and management alike. It disappeared during his 38-game career as an NHLer.

“I’ve always thought of this after, that when he complained (of headaches) at least he could have put on a helmet for a couple of days,” said teammate Wayne Connolly. “But it was frowned on, really.”

Only Andre Boudrias had the temerity to challenge it on Minnesota. He was traded the following season to Chicago.

“We were not allowed to wear helmets,” said J.P. Parise. “You would get traded if you did. It was a no-no in no uncertain terms. You were a yellow belly if you wore a helmet.”

Bill’s son Scott Masterton, now 46 with four children of his own, also believes that his father’s fate was sealed long before the night when the final blow was dealt.

“My mother, before she died, talked about it. He was having some headaches. My feeling is that he may have gotten a minor concussion playing or practising on some other day . . . and when he got hit the second time, he had that head whip and when that happens, you can go unconscious in that split second before you fall.”

He speaks with the authority of an athlete accustomed to putting his body at risk.

As a 29-year-old professional U.S. kickboxing champion, the younger Masterton’s career ended with a slip and fall in the ring against the then British champion on the very date — Jan. 15th — of his father’s death, also at the age of 29.

Their professional athletic careers may have ended with eerie similarity exactly 25 years apart. But from that moment forward, the echoes of his father’s life stopped. With a blown knee and broken bones, Scott stepped away from his sport.

“I knew it was time to stop.”

How much has changed in the NHL since Masterton’s limp body was removed from the Minnesota ice? What distant early warning does his death serve to the league and to the growing ranks of players suffering from the contemporary concussion epidemic in hockey?

Philadelphia forward Ian Laperriere is one of three final nominees for this year’s Masterton Trophy — despite not playing a single game in 2010-11 as he deals with post-concussion syndrome.

Like Masterton, Laperriere earned an unlikely place in the pros with grit. Twice last season, Laperriere took slapshots in the face. Still, he returned to play following lost teeth, hundreds of stitches and even the discovery of a spot on his brain visible on a CAT scan.

Laperriere’s brain was bleeding. But four neurologists cleared him to play after the spot disappeared.

“People said I was crazy, but I’m like, ‘They brought me here to show the young guys the right way,’” said the 37-year-old Laperriere, who had signed with Philly before the 2009-10 season.

His playing style has endeared him to hockey fans. Nowhere was that more apparent than during a standing ovation for Laperriere during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston last year. The scoreboard showed a video of Laperriere getting nailed in face with a puck in the opening series against New Jersey, blood pouring from a gash over his right eye.

As dramatic music replaced a play-by-play call of the incident, the video moved backwards in slow motion until just before Laperriere’s face absorbed the slapshot. The question flashed up on the big screen: “What if Ian didn’t believe in sacrifice?”

Laperriere acknowledged his career may be over, though he can’t bring himself to retire. He admits he lied to team doctors about his post-concussion issues in order to return for a shot at the Stanley Cup.

“If I had a slim chance to play, I’m going to play.”

That’s a philosophy that Scott Masterton views with the ambivalence of both a former competitive athlete and a man left fatherless at the age of 3.

He sees both nobility and short-sightedness in the demands placed on hockey’s most devoted players. He understands how passion and perseverance can deliver both glory and death.

“The idea that you persevere goes back to time immemorial. It’s a badge of honour,” he said. “It’s also the mindset that will shorten their lives and destroy their bodies. Men are the way men are.”

The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, will be awarded June 22.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/3m9pzlk

Brain injury attorney Jason Byrd wants to let parents know that they have a responsibility to make sure their children are wearing helmets when operating ATVs. With ATVs causing a majority of child brain injury cases, it just makes sense for parents to demand that their children wear helmets.

“The brain oversees and controls the entire process of living, thinking and experiencing ,” Jason Byrd explains. “Unfortunately, many brain injuries are permanent in nature, and too much damage to the brain can often lead to either a vegetative state or death.” That said, once a child experiences head trauma, they may lose their ability to lead a normal life.

Jason Byrd is releasing this statement partly in response to a recent article on www.sciencedaily.com entitled “Adult-Sized ATVs Are Not Safe for Kids, Startling Statistics Show.” The article explains that ATV related injuries are on the rise and that the severity is increasing dramatically.

Byrd agrees wholeheartedly with the renowned Dr. Sawyer’s quote in the article where he states that “parents should use the same guidelines they would when allowing their children to drive cars,” meaning parents should set the rules for their children and force them to abide by them for the sake of their own safety.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/3k3jrkz

GRAND RAPIDS -- DJ Little dreams of being a paleontologist or an archaeologist someday.

But first, he has set his sights on a goal close at hand: walking across the stage at his eighth-grade graduation ceremony.

When he does, each step will be a triumph, brought about by the love and dedication of his parents, therapists, teachers and, most of all, DJ’s strong will.

DJ, a 15-year-old Alger Middle School student, was hit by a car five and a half years ago. He suffered a broken left femur, a severe neck injury, internal bruising and a traumatic brain injury.

Since the accident, he has had to relearn everything: how to sit up, swallow food, feed himself, talk and, now, how to walk.

”Somebody was a little bit more stubborn than what the doctors thought,” said his mom, Lisa Shockey. She recalled how medical staff first predicted DJ would not survive more than 24 hours and, if he did, he would be “a vegetable.”

DJ, asked how he has managed to come so far, had a ready response.

”I never give up,” he said, his words coming slow but sure. “I didn’t give up on life.”
DJ will be one of nine eighth-graders from Alger’s POHI program -- for physically and otherwise health-impaired students -- taking part in the end-of-school ceremony Thursday (June 2) with the 150 general education students. The crossing-over ceremony marks their transition to Ottawa Hills High School.

”I’m so excited for him,” said Liesha Crawford. who has taught DJ for four years. “He really, really, really has learned more than we ever thought he would.”

The accident that changed DJ’s life happened on Dec. 3, 2005, when the family lived on Brooks Street in Muskegon Township. Ten-year-old DJ (David James)was a fourth-grader, a bright, inquisitive kid with an outgoing personality. He was so analytical that his father, Darren Shockey, said he talked to DJ as an adult.

DJ was crossing the street in front of his home when he was hit by a car. He spent the next month in a coma and a total of 10 months in hospitals and rehab centers before coming home.

His dad switched jobs, and his family moved to a one-story home in Kentwood to be closer to the medical care at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. DJ has undergone 17 operations -- repairing his elbow, leg and neck, getting a skin graft and other procedures -- and has his 18th planned for this summer.

His parents were told DJ probably would get as far as he could in his first year post-accident, but he has far exceeded that prediction.

When Sarah Willson, a physical therapist with Harbor Rehabilitation, met DJ four years ago, he was unable to roll over in bed without help. On a recent afternoon, she helped him stand up and grasp a cane, then coached him as he picked up his feet one at a time and moved forward, one slow step after another.

”Last week was the first time DJ made a full lap around the house,” Willson said, as they walked past the kitchen island. “Which just goes to show you, even four years after a brain injury, you can keep improving and progressing.”

Lisa Shockey credits the therapy DJ has received. He has physical and occupational therapy twice a week and speech therapy once a week at home. He also has therapy sessions at school, along with his academic subjects.

DJ’s hand shook on the cane at times, and his face was a study of concentration. But when someone praised his progress, he grinned.

Although his parents were cautioned his personality might change with the brain injury, they still see the same curious mind -- and especially his sense of humor. He still loves dinosaurs and country music. Thanks to his grandmother, he has a collection of signed photographs of country music stars.

”He has a wonderful sense of humor,” Crawford said. “I don’t think he’d be as far as he is if he didn’t.”

Because DJ has little short-term memory, making progress takes lots of effort and repetition.

”Getting anything into his long-term memory is unbelievably hard,” Crawford said.
She kept DJ for a second year of eighth grade because he made such progress last year. He went from not knowing that he had a binder to remembering to bring it to class and go through it to see what work needs to be done. He is working on multiplication facts. And he uses a color-coded system to distinguish nouns and verbs.

”He can verbalize his answers,” Crawford said. “He has great conversations. He’s very opinionated and he’s not afraid to tell you his opinion.”

DJ will continue in the POHI program at Ottawa -- and he looks forward to seeing his friends who have already moved onto high school.

This summer, his goal is to walk around the block. And he can’t wait ride the bike he ordered through Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital.

What lies ahead in the long-term is anyone’s guess, his mother said.

”We just take it one day at a time,” she said. “And thank God for all the little miracles.”

”And the big one,” DJ reminded her with a smile. “Me.”

Source: http://tinyurl.com/3v8qnro

Trauma patients with major brain injuries are not getting to specialized neurosurgeons fast enough.

A study of transportation times for traumatic brain injury patients in Nova Scotia, published in this month’s edition of the Journal of Trauma, states that those patients should and could be in the care of Halifax-based neurosurgeons within three hours but that the current average transportation time is five hours.

"When you get beyond three to four hours, your likelihood of dying from a brain injury begins to increase significantly," said Dr. David Clarke, director of the neurotrauma program at the Capital district health authority.

"We need to look at ways to streamline transportation of brain-injured patients directly to Halifax so that they receive the best neurosurgical care sooner."

Clarke, who led the study along with Dr. John Tallon, said that between ambulances, a helicopter and a plane, Nova Scotia has the emergency transportation infrastructure to get patients to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre within three hours.

The delay in getting patients with brain injuries to Halifax happens while they are being stabilized and assessed at the nearest hospital. He suggested that, on average, the delay for those patients is about 2½ hours.

"You may have a hemorrhage that may need to be taken out urgently, which could cause the patient to die," said Clarke.

"The only place you have that kind of specialized service, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is in Halifax."

The study found that the majority of brain trauma patients fit within two groups — young men, often involved in motor vehicle accidents, and senior citizens who have suffered falls.

The next step, said Clarke, is to figure out the changes that need to be made to get those emergency patients to Halifax sooner.

"Making steps to ensure that the injured receive the necessary emergency care within the required amount of time can significantly improve health outcomes," Health and Wellness Minister Maureen MacDonald said in a news release.

"As part of our Better Care Sooner plan, we’re continuing to make emergency care more efficient . . . and this research gives us the opportunity to work closely with our health partners to improve trauma care for Nova Scotians and their families."

Source: http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1245075.html

PARKSVILLE, BC, May 24, 2011 /CNW/ - The game's best player hasn't played in months, another may have died months after an on-ice head injury. Concussions in hockey are serious business. Acres Hockey has joined forces with Brain Navigators to create the first concussion preventative hockey school in Canada. The Parksville, B.C. based hockey school's mission is to provide players with the Skills, Tools and Education for Prevention (S.T.E.P.) via the Bringing Smart Play to Hockey program.

"We have the ability and must do better as coaches" says Henry Acres-Program Director of Acres Hockey Training. "Basic skills training must take precedence over winning for our youth to continue to play hockey past the age of body-contact introduction. It's a fact the majority of Canadian kids are behind in skating, and puck handling compared to kids over there."

Acres would know having spent most of his 9-year pro career in Sweden and Finland. Colleen Butler, Founder of Brain Navigators knows the ugliness of living with brain trauma suffered in a car accident.  "2 weeks and you'll be fine." She was told by doctors. "Little did I know what was in store for me. Having survived this journey I vowed that my struggle should not be repeated by others. Education is vital to understanding that head injury recuperation time can be minimized with practical tools mentally and physically."

The core message of the hockey schools running July 18-20 and 24-28 for players 5-14 of age will be respect and education for brain injury prevention.

Source: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2011/24/c7162.html

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/3rv66fe

Well, fans, I’m going out and buying a ping pong table. The doctors say that will help improve my hand/eye coordination. It’s definitely not what it used to be. And I’m also doing some brain puzzle tests that I download off the Internet. Basically, I’m rehabbing my brain.

Today most athletes rehab after surgery from a knee or shoulder injury. Well, I’m learning how to prevent my brain from getting worse than it is after suffering a career worth of concussions playing football. When I played for the Steelers and I got my bell rung, I’d take smelling salts and go right back out there. All of us did that. We didn’t know any better. You don’t know how many times I was in the huddle, asking my teammates to help me call a play. After a few minutes, I’d be fine and I’d keep playing just like nothing had happened.

But lately I’ve really been struggling with my short-term memory. I was in Ruston, La., doing my annual fundraising golf tournament for my alma mater, Louisiana Tech, and I told a bunch of writers and TV folks back there what was going on with me. I was dead serious with them. It was definitely the first time I was back there that I didn’t crack a joke or smile. I think they knew I was serious because I was sweating so much, explaining what was going on with me.

Why did I go public? Well, I thought it would be good for a lot of players for this to get out, for me to tell my story because I was a quarterback. I know how much my late center Mike Webster suffered. I can only imagine what a lot of defensive players from my era are going through. I’ve talked with Howie Long about this. He understands what I’m going through. I just thought it would good for them to hear what I had to say. I also think other players should speak up and say what they’ve been experiencing. It’s good for the soul and your brain.

I spent a weekend at the Amen Clinic in Newport Beach, Calif., where I found out the cause of my short-term memory loss. I’ve had this horrible concentration problem for a while now — it took me 10 days to learn nine pages of a speech, something that would probably take you one or two days to learn. It’s obvious that my brain isn’t what it used to be. I’m taking memory power boost tablets to help me every day and doing the puzzles to help me stay focused.

Toward the end of last season on the FOX pregame show, maybe the last six weeks, I really started to forget things. That’s why I quit reciting statistics because I couldn’t remember them exactly and I stayed away from mentioning some players by name because I really wasn’t sure and I didn’t want to make a mistake. I’m on national TV in front of millions and I hate making mistakes. I told the people in Ruston that I suffered six concussions and numerous head injuries. I think that’s right, but I’m not really sure.

The memory loss made me jittery at times. It was driving me crazy that I couldn’t remember something that I studied the night before. All it did was trigger my anxiety and all of sudden everything would snowball on me. I know I have depression and it’s a horrible disease. This memory loss just made my depression worse.

By looking at the damage to my own brain, I can see now what I’m dealing with and what I have to do from making it worse. I definitely have issues, but I did pass most of the tests. I know what I have to do to maintain and do the FOX show and do my speeches without worrying all the time, making myself feel worse. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s something I have to stay on top of now.

I know the NFL has done a lot to help us and also to improve the conditions for today’s players in regards to helmets and head injuries. But it’s nowhere where it needs to be. Over 100 professional athletes have gone through the Amen Clinic. They are doing some amazing studies of the brain. But I really think it is important for players to talk about what they are going through after their playing days are over. The research, the talking is going to help someone else. I really believe that.

To see the video from the interview click on the link to this article below.

http://tinyurl.com/3pdms4j

Bob Woodruff was 27 days into the job of a lifetime when he was nearly killed in Iraq. Now, instead of co-anchoring ABC's World News Tonight, he is working on his recovery ... avoiding war zones and advocating for soldiers with severe brain injuries.

Please check out the link below to listen to Bob's story from CBC Radio.

http://tinyurl.com/3o2d5xn