Insightful Profile On Brain Collector Chris Nowinski

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Posted on 11th March 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Business Week/Bloomberg has done a fascinating story on a man with a quest: Chris Nowinski, a researcher who is creating what he calls the first U.S. brain bank dedicated to the study of head trauma. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-10/nfl-brain-collector-shows-violence-in-slices-of-gray-matter.html

Nowinski, co-founder of the Boston University School of Medicine Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, is collecting the brains of athletes. He is gathering physical proof for his belief that permanent brain damage is pervasive among athletes who suffer concussions.

So Nowinksi has taken on what some might consider the unenviable task of calling up the survivors of athletes who have died within 48 hours of their deaths to request their brains. He also solicits athletes who are now alive, getting them to agreed to donate their brains to his research. So far 270 have signed up.

Nowinski himself is a colorful character, with a personal stake in his research. Harvard-educated, Nowinski also wrestled for World Wrestling Entertainment. He’s an athlete who sustained two concussions while playing college football and four concussions as a pro wrestler, and he fears their permanent impact on his brain.

His brain bank now has the brains of 23 athletes. Why would a relative give up their loved one’s brain for Nowinski’s research? The decision was easy for Caroline Creekmur, the widow of NFL Hall of Famer Lou Creekmur. During his career his sustained 16 concussions, and after he retired he would break into rages and lose his memory.

Caroline tells Business Week/Bloomberg, “My husband died a hard death, and I did not know what was wrong. I wanted to know why this happened.”

This is really important stuff. It is from autopsy that we have learned the overwhelming majority of what we know about neuropathology. What is needed is to broaden this bank to include far more of those who have suffered concussions, particularly in accidents. While they never get the publicity that athlete’s concussions get, they affect far more people, far more profoundly. Through the study of the 40 year old accident victims brain, that we might unravel the deep mystery of why some people have such devastating results from TBI.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

N.J. Introduces New Regulations To Protect All Student Athletes From Concussions

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Posted on 9th March 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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The New Jersey entity that regulates high school athletics in state Monday introduced a set of rules that mandate that athletes who sustain head injuries must undergo a series of tests before being able to return to the field to play.

The story got significant play in the state’s primary newspaper, The Star-Ledger of Newark, which ran it on Page One. http://blog.nj.com/hssportsextra/2010/03/njsiaa_sets_guidelines_for_dea.html

If the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) approves the new measures, there would be a standard set of regulations to treat concussions for athletes in every single sport, according to The Ledger.

One of the new regulations is that players who sustain a concussion or head injury must show no symptoms or problems for a week before they can play again.

They must also do a six-step regimen where they gradually do aerobic exercise and get the OK of a medical professional to play again.

Trainers, student athletes and coaches will receive annual training on concussions, including their symptoms.

Those are some, but not all, of the requirements under the new NJSIAA guidelines. That body oversees athletic programs at 434 high schools in the Garden State.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

Report on New Jersey Hands Free Law – Two Years Post

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Posted on 6th March 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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New Jersey’s ban on motorists using hand-held cellphones is almost two years old, and so far there have been 3,610 crashed that involving cell phones, which led to 1,548 injuries and 13 deaths.

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/state/nj-ignores-law-banning-cell-phone-use-while-driving

During the same time span since 2008, there were 3,129 accident in which a driver was using a hands-free device, with 1,495 injuries and six deaths.

Those were some of the statistics supplied this week by the N.J. Division of Highway Traffic Safety.

Since the law prohibiting Garden State drivers from using hand-held cellphones went into effect 23 months ago, police have issued 224,725 citations for its violation. That constitutes just 4 percent of almost 5.4 million overall moving violations, not including DUI offenses, that took place in the same period.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/nj_police_issued_225k_citation.html

New Jersey’s ban on cell phones went into effect March 1, 2008. But some might question its impact after seeing the results of a poll conducted last year by Fairleigh Dickinson University and the state highway traffic division. That survey found that the number of drivers who claim they have sent text messages while they were driving rose 40 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to NewJerseyNewsroom.com.

But talking on cellphones while driving has dropped, with 80 percent maintaining that in 2009 they never or rarely did it, an increase from 71 percent in 2007.

The penalty for violating New Jersey’s cellphone law is a $100 fine, along with court costs and fees.

New Jersey will be putting up signs, especially on highways that enter the state, warning drivers that it’s illegal to use a hand-held cellphone while you’re driving in thr Garden State.

Earlier this week, on Thursday, there was a bill before the New Jersey Assembly that would make police officers to note whether a driver was distracted before having an accident.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/nj_may_ask_police_to_link_cras.html

When doing an accident report, police would have to check off a box that would say what the distraction was. The choices include using a cellphone, hair grooming, changing the radio, eating, using a FAX machine interacting with a pet.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

Post-Concussion Sufferers May Get Relief From Moderate Exercise

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Posted on 4th March 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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A new study has found that moderate exercise may help those who suffer from post-concussion syndrome (PCS), according to the National Post.

http://www.nationalpost.com/life/story.html?id=2628799

Those with PCS continue to suffer from the symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI), such as dizziness, headaches, insomnia and irritability. These PCS patients haven’t gotten much attention or focus, with the standard treatment for their condition just being rest.

But in a new study reported in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers had athletes with PCS work out on a treadmill, moderately. The goal was to create relief from PCS by working on the assumption that it is caused by an imbalanced flow of blood in the brain.

It’s known that rigorous exercise interferes with the flow of blood to the brain and can make concussion symptoms worse. So in the study, the patients with PCS were put on an exercise routine that ramped up slowly, and wasn’t very intense.

Researchers found that people in that group became better able to exercise after just a few weeks.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

Pittsburgh Man Dies After Desperate 911 Calls Fail To Bring Help

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Posted on 1st March 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Snow or no snow, there is no excuse for this tragic negligence. What if you dialed 911 repeatedly for help for your sick boyfriend, and nobody came? That’s what happened to Sharon Edge in Pittsburgh, and now her loved one is dead.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-ap-us-snow-911-death,0,7798733.story

In a story very well reported by the Associated Press, 50-year-old Curtis Mitchell, a former steel worker, died despite the desperate efforts of Edge to save him. During a big Feb. 6 snowstorm, Mitchell got bad stomach pains, and Edge called 911 for help.

During her first call, Edge was told that help was coming. After 10 callbacks to 911, and 30 hours later, Mitchell died in his cold apartment, where the storm had knocked out the power.

Mitchell had previously suffered from pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas, and had been hospitalized for treatment in January.

In Pittsburgh, officials are investigating what went wrong in Mitchell’s case. They are also looking to make changes to emergency services so this kind of fatality never happens again.

The storm had left two feet of snow in Pittsburgh. But two times, ambulances were within walking distance of Mitchell’s home, a quarter of a mile away, but they couldn’t drive their vehicle over a bridge to reach him. The notion of getting out of the ambulance to fetching their patient didn’t seem to occur to them.

AP quotes Pittsburgh’s public safety director as saying they failed Mitchell. There’s an understatement for you. The problem on pushing a program like 911 calls like we have, is that when it fails, there really is no backup. This is a life or death program and there is just no room for human or computer error. It must work, each and every time.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

New Jersey, Virginia Weigh Concussion-Related Laws

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Posted on 26th February 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Two more states, New Jersey and Virginia, are weighing legislation relating to sports and concussions.

In the Garden State, Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex) Monday introduced a bill that mandates that licensed athletic trainers take 24 hours of continuing education in sports medicine as a condition of their biennial license renewal. And four hours of that education would have to relate to concussions and brain injuries.

http://blog.nj.com/hssportsextra/2010/02/new_bill_targeting_concussion.html

But the proposed law drew criticism from the Athletic Trainers Society of New Jersey, which complained that it had not been consulted on the legislation. The group said that trainers are already required to take 75 hours of continuing education during a three-year period in order to retain their licenses.

Then in Virginia, a House of Delegates subcommittee Thursday passed a bill that will make the state Board of Education develop guidelines to identify and treat concussions in student athletes.

http://www2.wsls.com/sls/news/state_regional/govtpolitics/article/bill_on_student_athletes_concussions_advances_in_house_of_delegates/83790/

That bill was sponsored by Sen. Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk), and now will go to the full House of Education Committee. Northam is a pediatric neurologist.

The legislation mandates that student athletes who are suspected of having a concussion be benched during practice or a game, and get approval from a licensed health-care professional before coming back to play.

It will be interesting to see what each state comes up with for the definition and risks factors for concussion.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

Brain-Injured Snowboarder Watches Olympics from Hospital Bed

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Posted on 22nd February 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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With one eye, or better, one side of the brain, we watched in awe, amazement and wonder at snowboarder Shaun “The Red Tomato” White win Gold at the Olympics. His grace, joy and exhilaration – performing super human stunts, could be considered inspiring. But that’s the bright side of the counterculture sport and life on the halfpipe. The other side is the specter of brain injury.

The Vancouver Sun ran a moving story on the other side of the snowboarding experience, that of the young man who has beaten White twice. Kevin Pearce, 22, is now watching the Winter games from the sidelines – from a hospital bed, to be exact.
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/2010wintergames/Star+challenger+watches+Olympics+from+brain+injury+facility/2580023/story.html

Pearce, a Vermont native, hit his head on the edge of the halfpipe trying to do the double cork move in Park City, Utah, on New Year’s Eve. He suffered severe brain damage and had to be airlifted to a hospital, where he was in a coma for weeks.

He is now at a facility that specialized in brain and spine injuries. Odds are he won’t ever snowboard again. He just started talking again. He needs to learn how to walk again. He is having problems with his vision.

Chasing thrills and that adrenalin rush can exact a high cost. Only Pearce can say if it was worth it. But the leaders of this sport must make sure that the limits of risk taking are not just the judgment of young daredevils. Safety is ultimately so much more important. Neither the athletes nor we as spectators need these kind of thrills at the risk of a young person’s future.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

Luger Who Sustained A Concussion On Olympic Luge Track Warned Officials Of Its Dangers

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Posted on 20th February 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Much has been written about the luge track at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver where a Geogian luger was killed last week. And The New York Times has a worthy follow-up story in its sports section Friday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/sports/olympics/19luge.html?hp

An article headlined “Luger Warned of Track Before the Games” reports that luger Werner Hoeger lost consciousness and suffered a concussion during a trial run at the Whistler Sliding Centre in November.

That’s the same luger track where Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed last Friday, after slamming his back into a steel pillar.

Hoeger after his Nov. 13 accident repeatedly wrote and e-mailed international luge and Canadian officials, telling them that the track wasn’t safe, according to The Times. Obviously, officials didn’t heed Hoeger’s warning.

The International Luge Federation said Thursday that it will issue a report on the Georgian luger’s death at the end of next month. Changes were made to the luge track after last week’s fatal accident.

For a very detailed account of Hoeger’s back and forth with officials over the dangerous track, read The Times’ piece.

Notice is a major element to any claim for negligence or wrongful death. Looks like the Canadian officials had that.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

Snowboarder Pearce’s Head Injuries Don’t Deter His Rival

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Posted on 16th February 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Snowboarder Kevin Pearce, a would-be contender for gold medal in the Winter Olympics, is still recovering from the brain injury he sustained while practicing a halfpipe Dec. 31, The Washington Post reports. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/08/AR2010020803197.html

Despite Pearce’s brain injury, a competitor who will benefit from Pearce’s absence, Shaun White, an Olympic gold winner, seems to be making his routines even more dangerous. White has added even more dangerous maneuvers to his performance, including one that caused him to hit his head in a scary crash during practice at the Winter X games. White undeterred, repeated the same stunt in the competition and won it.

According to the Washington Post:

“Pearce, who was considered one of White’s biggest rivals and was expected to contend for a gold medal, suffered a brain injury Dec. 31 while doing halfpipe training. His injury has brought a round of second-guessing the dangers of a sport whose star practitioners, with White at the forefront, are continually pushing boundaries.”

Pushing the envelope for thrills, ratings. Where have we heard this theme before? Was it NASCAR, now officially a contact sport? http://www.tbilaw.com/blog/2010/01/nascar-vows-to-return-to-roots-as.html At least the NFL isn’t giving up the “roughing the passer” penalty.

The first major tragedy was in the Luge. See our blog on the death of Georgian Luger,Nodar Kumaritashvili at http://www.waiting.com/blog/2010/02/olympics-marred-by-luger-death-before.html Sport, thrills and prevention in the industrial age will be a subject of today’s blog at http://tbilaw.com/blog

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

The Bible of Mental Disorders – DSM-IV – May Undergo Controversial Revisions

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Posted on 11th February 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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The bible for diagnosing and treating mental illness, what The New York Times calls “the guidebook that largely determines where society draws the line between normal and not normal,” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/health/10psych.html?em
is undergoing some revisions that could have affect litigation and lawsuits.

The updating of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has been the subject of much lobbying by various advocacy groups. The proposed changes to the book, which physicians rely on to categorize their patients’ illness, were released Tuesday. http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx

Both The Times and AOL News noted that any changes in the this manual of mental ailments have “huge implications” — not just for psychiatrists but for the legal system, government programs and pharmaceutical companies – in terms of who is considered normal or who is considered disabled.
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/big-changes-proposed-for-diagnostic-and-statistical-manual-of-mental-disorders/19352107?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Fbig-changes-proposed-for-diagnostic-and-statistical-manual-of-mental-disorders%2F19352107

One of the revisions that has some experts worried is a new “at risk” category for those who show early signs of illnesses like dementia. The fear is that this new label will stigmatize patients.

Another recommendation is the creation of a new childhood disorder, temper dysregulation disorder with dysphoria. It’s a new category for aggressive children who previously might have been misdiagnosed as having bipolar disorder, and then were given antipsychotic drugs that have serious side effects.

New proposed categories for the DSM include one for sex addiction, “hypersexuality,” defined as when “a great deal of time is consumed by sexual fantasies and urges; and in planning for and engaging in sexual behavior.”

And binge eating is a new suggested disorder, defined as at least one binge a week for three months, followed by guilt and mood swings.

Interesting that the news doesn’t focus on the bogus definition of Post Concussion Disorder in the Appendix’s of the DSM-IV. Through two revisions, the drafters of this “bible” have been unable to agree on what defines a concussion. The proposed definition still contains a requirement of a 5 minute loss of consciousness, a requirement that has uniformly been rejected by the American Academy of Neurologists, the CDC, the United States Armed Services and virtually every peer reviewed research article this century.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

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