The Pop Warner youth football group issued new practice guidelines this week in an attempt to reduce concussions and head injuries among the more than 400,000 children who participate in youth football leagues in the United States. Pop Warner is a major source and feeder system for high school, college, and professional football – more… Read More »
What is Mild Cognitive Impairment? Mild Cognitive Impairment, or MCI, is an intermediate stage condition between normal cognitive functioning and Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia: Signs of MCI include a “change in cognition” — this typically means memory problems, but it can also include planning and reasoning skills that could negatively affect higher… Read More »
Best Practices for Sports Teams and School Athletic Departments. A Guide for Coaches, Athletic Trainers, Physicians, and Parents. A number of high profile cases involving long term risks of concussions in contact sports has spurred sports concussion legislation in many states. State legislation will typically require mandatory concussion management policies that school administrators and athletic… Read More »
Routine health screenings are now common for a variety of conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and glaucoma. Many health insurance plans, including Medicare, provide no cost or low cost health screenings to their members. The main intent behind these preventive health screenings, or wellness screenings, is to provide an early warning system for both consumers and… Read More »
A recent article on a new iPad health care application to screen for early signs of Alzheimer’s Disease points to how innovation is beginning to drive research lab tools for cognitive testing into the physician’s office. Developed by Cambridge Cognition, a commercial spin-off from Cambridge University, the screening application is based on Cantab PAL, a… Read More »
This recent announcement from Axon Sports, a joint venture from CogState and Quixote Investment, points to the growing awareness that cognitive testing is an essential step in managing and treating sports related concussions. The joint venture also highlights an interesting business driver — managing risk and health care expenses associated with concussions on the playing… Read More »