A highly controversial subject in the news today is that of youth sport-related concussions.  Research has shown that athletes between the ages of sixteen and nineteen sustain approximately thirty percent of all sports-related concussions and that the rate of concussions in high school athletes has increased by sixteen percent in the past decade.

Reducing the incidence of sport-related concussions in youth sports has become a priority in high schools across the country, with new safety measures being taken to ensure the safety of the athletes.  However, as a tragic accident in Arizona illustrates, even with safety precautions in place, young athletes in contact sports still suffer debilitating and sometimes fatal injuries.

Last week in Keams Canyon, Arizona, a high school student was rushed to the hospital after collapsing on the football field after being tackled and hitting his head.

Charles Youvella, a senior at Hopi Junior/Senior High School, was playing in the first round of Division V playoffs when he was tackled after a pass play.  Unknown to everyone on the field, Youvella suffered a traumatic brain injury after hitting his head during the tackle. Two plays after the tackle he collapsed on the field.  Although he was awake and actually  speaking with paramedics on his way to St. Joseph’s Hospital, his condition deteriorated and he died several days later.

Youvella’s death illustrates that more steps need to be taken to protect high school football players from suffering traumatic brain injury due to concussions.

One step being taken to protect football players from concussions is  a study that is taking place in the Valley. In his study, Dr. Trent of  Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN), has football players at Arizona State University  wear special helmets with sensors that record the magnitude,  force and  frequency of collisions between players.  Dr. Trent’s  team is composed of forty researchers, five of whom are at every ASU football game, and even travel with the team to away games.

These helmets make it possible for the team of researchers to combine the data from the sensors along with the information from samples of the player’s blood, saliva and urine to discover the changes in the athlete’s body that would give a definitive and completely objective sign of a concussion.  Dr. Trent stated that his researchers focus on the players who have the hardest hits and the three players with the most cumulative hits in a game.

Dr. Cardenas of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix said that the most devastating injuries occur when an athlete has sustained a concussion and is then sent back to play before he has fully recovered from his injuries. The information from the sensors could prevent these players from being sent back into the game.

Dr. Trent and other researchers feel that this study may eventually help prevent athlete concussions in the future by leading to a “concussion detector” being built into the athlete’s gear.

“Picture a mouth guard that might change to a different color if they’ve had an injury,” said Dr. Trent.  Sport-related injury surveillance systems such as the Riddell helmet sensor can provide the scientific data needed to prevent traumatic brain and other serious sport-related injuries to young athletes in contact sports.

Original story found here.