NFL will help fund new concussion research studies
The NFL will help finance new concussion research in an attempt to help treat head injuries and aid recovery, the league announced Saturday.
The study will track roughly 1,000 American high school and college football players, Irish rugby players and Australian rules football players over a to-be-determined period of time. The traditional treatment for concussed athletes includes rest and avoiding sources of high stimulation, such as light. Some doctors believe that concussions can be better treated through therapy, due to the situational variance and unique status of athletes’ respective injuries.
“Everybody is looking at the tool, looking at the diagnosis and saying, ‘Is this a treatable condition?’” said Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, the co-chairman of the NFL’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee, according to The New York Times.
The NFL will also help fund research pertaining to the long-term effects of multiple concussions in jockeys, as well as gauging the effectiveness of the King-Devick test, a visual exam used to diagnose head injuries in the Canadian Football League.
The studies were announced after a series of meetings in London involving the NFL, FIFA, the NCAA and other sports organizations, and the International Concussion and Head Injury Research Foundation.
The NFL reached a $765 million settlement over head injuries in 2013, after thousands of former players sued the league over conditions related to brain damage and degeneration. Boston University researchers last month announced that CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) had been found in the brains of 87 of 91 deceased former players.
- Jeremy Woo
