Body Checking Increases Risk of Bain Injury
Perhaps this new research should have been published in the Journal of Common Sense (if there was such a thing they probably wouldn’t have enough subscribers).
A new study of minor hockey players has found that the incidents of brain injury in 9 and 10 year olds has increased ten times since Hockey Canada decided to allow body checking at a younger age in minor hockey.
The temperature is dropping and more and more Canadians are using space heaters to keep warm.
The first house that my wife and I bought was so poorly insulated that we had an electric space heater in the bathroom so we wouldn’t freeze to death getting ready for work in the morning.
Thinking back it probably wasn’t a great idea to have an electrical appliance like that around so much water.
Since then I have seen many people who have been injured because of faulty space heaters. Or children injured because heaters were not used properly. So I thought it might be a good idea to post these safety tips.
A research study conducted by the University of Toronto over 7 years has found that teenage boys with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) have a 35% higher risk of being hurt in car accidents, whether they are the driver or just a pedestrian.
The lead author of this study, Dr. Donald Redelmeier said that teenagers with ADHD:
“Should wear seatbelts, avoid excessive speed, restrict the use of alcohol and avoid distractions such as having a lot of passengers in the car and using a cell phone.”
Darren Cossar, Executive Director of Hockey Nova Scotia, has announced that the organization has approved a new policy to address concussions in children playing minor hockey.
The Globe & Mail reported Cossar as saying: “We’ve finalized concussion policy for return to play…the onus is on the coach that any player who is suspected of having a concussion has to be examined by a doctor before returning to play.”
Hockey Canada recently released the results of the Hockey Concussion Education Project which revealed a frequency of concussion in minor hockey that was 7x higher then previously thought. The authors of the report called concussions an “epidemic”.
It looks like amateur sports are finally starting to get the message. Concussions are serious injuries that can have permanent and lasting consequences.
Everyone who has learned to drive knows that all vehicles have “blind spots” in the back, sides and corners where the vehicles rear view or side view mirrors don’t provide adequate visibility.
Children Injured Every Day
Everyday, young children are injured when they are backed over by a motor vehicle. More than 70% of children injured in “backing up” accidents are hit by a driver who’s related to them, usually their parent.
According to a medical study released in Toronto on Monday, 25% of junior hockey players on the two teams that were the subject of the study suffered concussions (minor traumatic brain injuries) last year.
One of the co-authors of this study, Dr. Paul Echlin called the results “alarming”.
Multiple Injuries
Perhaps the biggest myth of brain injury is that mild traumatic brain injuries are not disabling.
They Look Okay
Since persons with traumatic brain injuries do not look obviously injured and many can function reasonable well in society, there is a common misperception that a traumatic brain injury is not as disabling as more obvious physical injuries.
I have to admit it, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love seeing all the cute and scary costumes, and decorating our house so it looks like a haunted mansion.
But Halloween can also present dangers to children that parents need to be aware of. Here is a simple list of Halloween Safety Tips for parents to consider.
Halloween Safety Tips
This week Evenflo, one of the largest manufactures of infant car and booster seats, announced it is recalling more than 18,000 child car seats in Canada and the U.S. after Consumer Reports crash-tested the seat and found that it can crack and fail in a simulated 48 km/h frontal collision.
The recall affects the Evenflo Maestro Combination Booster Seat. Canadians who own the seats should call 1-800-265-0749 for more information.
The news made me think of some of the claims I have had in the past where children were injured in car accidents even though they were secured in car seats. The fact is that many parents are not aware of some of the issues that need to be considered when buying and using infant car seats.
Concussions Have Long Term Effects
It was once thought that the effects of concussion, (mild traumatic brain injury) were temporary. Doctors assumed patients could recover from the effects of concussion after a few minutes or hours.
However a famous research study published in Neurology, the Journal of the American Academy of Neurologists, found that after one year, 10% to 15% of mild traumatic brain injury patients still had not fully recovered. In fact, the study determined that many patients had more symptoms than immediately after the accident.
