Preventing brain injury

Criticism has again mounted around the “fundamentally flawed” concussion trials in football, after an incident where a player was allowed to continue after sustaining a head injury. 

In the Sheffield United vs Leeds match at the weekend, George Baldock initially continued after being checked on the pitch by medics, but had to come off five minutes later after feeling groggy and experiencing blurred vision.  Under new trial concussion protocols introduced in the Premiership, players who sustain a head injury can be replaced in a concussion substitution, which will remove them from the game permanently. 

A Parliamentary inquiry is to be held to examine the link between sport and long-term brain injury.

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee will look into the issue over two sessions, the first of which will be held next Tuesday. Through the inquiry, the cross-party group of MPs will consider scientific evidence for links between head trauma and dementia and how risks could be mitigated.

The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has added its weight to calls for newly-introduced trials around concussions substitutions to go further.

The PFA, the union representing professional players, has said temporary concussion substitutions need to be considered, in addition to the permanent substitutions which are currently offered under the Premier League trial. Their comments come after the use of the first concussion substitution in football, after West Ham’s Issa Diop was replaced after a clash of heads with Anthony Martial of Manchester United.

Years of campaigning for concussion substitutions to be introduced into football look set to deliver some success, with Premier League clubs preparing to adopt the policy to help address the need to protect players from the effects of head injury.

In a trial move, expected to take effect from fixtures next week, teams can use up to two substitutes in the event of head injuries, which will be in addition to the usual three substitutions that can be made in a normal match. The substitutions - which will be permanent and not for 10-minute durations as in rugby, to allow for players to leave the pitch for medical assessment and return if deemed able - are expected to be approved at a meeting of the Premier League tomorrow.

A 12-week campaign is being launched today - Stroke Prevention Day - to help raise awareness of how the risk of stroke can be reduced. 

The campaign encourages people to make one small positive change to their lifestyle to reduce the possibility of stroke, which is the fourth highest cause of death in the UK.  According to the Stroke Association UK, 89 per cent - almost 9 in 10 - strokes are associated with modifiable risk factors in the Western countries, including lifestyle elements that can be changed to reduce risk, such as weight, diet and blood pressure. 

Preventing heart attacks and strokes in type 2 diabetes patients managed in primary care should be an urgent priority, concludes a new study.

"The most striking result of our study was that the vast majority of patients (93%) had a high or very high risk of fatal events within a decade. Half of patients in the very high-risk group had no history of heart disease, meaning they would not be receiving medications to prevent heart attacks and strokes," said study author Dr. Manel Mata-Cases, a general practitioner for the Catalan Institute of Health.

Blood pressure monitors should be handed out on prescription to slash the number of people who die or are left with disabilities from strokes and heart attacks, a medical charity has said.

Making the home monitors available to anyone diagnosed with high blood pressure would allow people to control the condition more effectively and reduce the demand on GPs’ surgeries, Blood Pressure UK said. “It would make a huge difference,” said Prof Graham MacGregor, chair of the charity. “High blood pressure is the biggest killer in the world from the strokes and heart attacks it causes, and we know that if you are found to have raised blood pressure and it’s treated with tablets and lifestyle changes, it hugely reduces your risk.”

Using blood thinners to prevent stroke in very elderly patients with atrial fibrillation is a challenge for doctors, because of an increased risk of bleeding.

Researchers from the Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital in Japan decided to conduct a randomised, double-blind trial to compare a daily dose of blood thinner edoxaban with a placebo treatment involving almost 700 elderly Japanese patients who were 80 years old and above. They all had atrial fibrillation, and weren’t considered to be appropriate candidates for oral blood-thinning therapy at doses approved for stroke prevention.