Re:Cognition Health is delighted to read the recommendations and insights published on 22 July 2021 by the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport, the Drake Foundation and Imperial College, concerning brain injury in contact sports.
As committed advocates for brain health and safety in contact sports, Re:Cognition Health’s Brain and Mind Experts believe an understanding of the risks and mechanisms of brain injury in contact sport are crucial to guiding actions to reduce the prevalence of concussion and related head trauma. This will enable current and future generations of players and to mitigate the short and long-term effects of multiple blows to the head.
Passionate about the critical need for an early and accurate diagnosis of brain injury, Re:Cognition Health’s experts have developed, sophisticated clinical and imaging biomarkers to detect mild traumatic brain injury. Using the most detailed functional MRI imaging technique available, our doctors have been able to detect objective evidence of chronic and progressive traumatic brain injury, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), in professional international rugby and other contact sports players.
CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative condition of the brain, resulting from concussions and repeated minor blows to the head. The individual develops physical and cognitive symptoms, such as memory problems, tremors, slurred speech, and a gradual decline in thinking ability, with confusion, aggression, depression and changes in personality, leading to dementia. These symptoms can become debilitating and life-changing for those affected and those around them.
Re:Cognition Health is proud to be undertaking a ground-breaking pilot project with professional rugby players, investigating possible brain injury during matches and practise sessions, to explore the cumulative effect of multiple head impacts on the blood-brain barrier and the critical brain pathways, known to be particularly vulnerable to repetitive head trauma over time. The study will also examine the protective benefit to the brain, for players wearing a new UK specially designed headband, which has been shown to be more effective than any current headband, to reduce the rotational forces to the head during play.
For further information on the Repetitive Head Injury Service visit: https://recognitionhealth.com/our-services/mentalhealth/repetitive-head-injury-service/