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| What happens to the brain of a football player that can cause a concussion (Credit: AP) |
Medical officials from the NFL, FIFA
and other sports organizations are banding together to look into better ways to
identify, manage and treat concussions.
The "think tank," funded
by an educational grant from the NFL, was held Sunday and Monday at league
headquarters in New York. Dozens of scientific and medical personnel from
football, rugby and equestrian circles participated, AP reports.
Dr. Rich Ellenbogen, chairman of the
NFL's head, neck and spine committee, said the various sports organizations
"need to look at all variations of what is being done around the
world."
"This will change the
paradigm," Ellenbogen said of such cooperation among sports. "How can
we accelerate the information? This can provide a unique perspective to get
people back to health. There are a lot of big ideas that can come out of this
that resonated with all the leagues that may have not come up if they had done
it in isolation."
Among those on hand were FIFA's
chief medical officer, Dr. Jiri Dvorak; Dr. Martin Raftery of the International
Rugby Board; Dr. Willem Meeuwisse of the University of Calgary's sports injury
prevention research center; and Dr. Paul McCrory, an associate professor at
Australia's Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.
McCrory, who works with Australian
Rules Football, also emphasized the need to work collectively.
"This is an exciting
development in the science of sports concussion," he said. "Working
with international sports leaders not only benefits athletes in professional
sports but amateur participants throughout the world."
Handling concussions was a major
topic at the recently concluded World Cup in Brazil. In the wake of FIFA being
criticized during the tournament for not effectively policing concussions,
Dvorak insisted that the team doctor has final say over players returning to
action after an apparent head injury.
He promised that FIFA would make it
clear who is in charge if a player is suspected to be concussed.
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