The International Concussion & Head Injury Research Foundation’s (ICHIRF) project, Concussion in Sport, an initiative looking at the long-term effects of concussion in men and women who have competed in impact sports, was launched earlier this year.
The study will seek to establish whether retired sportsmen and sportswomen have an increased incidence, or suffer an earlier onset, of neuro-degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and the condition currently described as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), was launched in London on 21 January this year.
The Concussion in Sport research project is a totally independent study that is open to all sportsmen and sportswomen but will initially focus on retired British, Irish and French jockeys because of the very high incidence of concussion in horseracing. With today’s launch in Dublin, detailed screening is now available to selected Irish sportsmen and women and this will become even easier when the SSC program is underway.
The Concussion in Sport research project is led by Dr Michael Turner, who has over 40 years’ experience working in sports medicine, formerly as Chief Medical Adviser to British Horseracing and now performing the same role for the Lawn Tennis Association.
Retired sportsmen and sportswomen from all sports can already enroll in the Concussion in Sport research project (e.g. rugby union, Gaelic games, football, boxing, other equestrian sports etc.) and ICHIRF is also appealing to members of the public who have never had a concussion to contribute to the study as the ‘control group’. The ‘control’ volunteers are essential to the overall credibility of the research and will enable a matched age, and gender, comparison to be made with the concussed volunteers.
To participate, volunteers are simply requested to indicate an interest by completing a registration form at the website www.concussioninsport.org Once this has been logged, the individual will be offered the opportunity to complete an online questionnaire on an annual basis.
From the volunteers who complete the online questionnaire, a number will be invited to attend for detailed medical screening. This will initially be in London but the screening will be undertaken at SSC when the concussion facility is operational.
The screening involves MRI scanning, blood tests, neuropsychological screening and a review by a number of different medical experts. The costs of travel and screening will be covered by ICHIRF and the project will continue to monitor the progress of all the participants (questionnaire only and screened individuals) over subsequent years.
Read the full article @ the Gaelic Players Association.
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