Nice toys man! One day I'll pull the trigger and get one.....
Found it, thanks for that info Gramps https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0328114638.htm
So it appears it can detect concussions which is great, but still cannot detect CTE in a living person, but guess it is a start
From article:
It's estimated nearly a quarter of a million children are treated in hospitals each year for concussions from playing sports, an average of nearly 700 a day. Almost all concussions in children are diagnosed only by symptoms, which are either observed, like vomiting or loss of balance, or symptoms reported by the child, like blurred vision or headaches. Neither scenario gives doctors and objective way to determine the severity of the injury.
Wow, I didn’t think the stat was that high as an average of 700 kids get concussions a day….that is a lot
From article:
The biomarker Papa analyzed is known as a glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). These proteins are found in glial cells, which surround neurons in the brain, and when an injury occurs, the GFAP are released. What makes them unique is that they pass the blood-brain barrier and enter the bloodstream, making them easy to detect with this particular test.
This sounds very similar to what Dr. Omalu discovered; injury to brain release a toxin. Appears this toxin is released and the brain tries to fight it off, which eventually leads to people going crazy.
From article:
When cross-checked with scans, the blood test was able to detect mild to moderate traumatic brain lesions with up to 97 percent accuracy in patients 18 years and older. The blood test also indicated which patients were in need of life-saving neurosurgery. This suggests that the blood test could be used by clinicians for up to a week after injury to detect brain injury. This is important because many patients with concussion may not seek medical attention for days after injury.
This is awesome that it also indicates if neurosurgery is needed because this is normally how people die from concussions; they ignore the symptoms and think they will be ok and by then it is too late.
From article:
The blood test could also dramatically cut down on the need for computerized tomography (CT) scans. Currently, CT scans are the most precise way to diagnose brain lesions, but are expensive and are associated with radiation exposure.
And save money too as an average CT scan is about $1200+ and a blood test is less than a hundred. Most physicians don’t want to spend the money to do a CT scan, so this could dramatically improve detection
I’d really like to see this go into effect and used in sports. Currently some sports like UFC will suspend a person for 6 months (training or fighting) and it would be interesting to see if the NFL could do that too. Obviously this could take a player out for an entire season, so I doubt they would ever got for it, but it would be the smart thing to do. Although like Townie and Gramps said, if players are aware of this and continue to choose to play, I do not feel bad for them....like the boxers who go in knowing they will probably be "punch drunk" one day, but still fight.
So anyone want to share some concussions stories?
I got a few…one I saw double for 2 days, another shattered my new helmet and ruined my track day (but saved my life), another I wrecked on the first run at Keystone but chose to continue to snowboard the rest of day with the concussion (probably not smart now that I think back on it).