Kids, Sports, and Concussion: A Guide for Coaches and Parents (The Praeger Series on Contemporary Health and Living)

Written by an expert physician, Kids, Sports, and Concussion: A Guide for Coaches and Parents offers a thorough understanding of concussive brain injury, its symptoms, its potential long-term effects, and the current prevention options. Equally important, it provides insights into how this injury is treated and what parents and athletes can do to facilitate recovery.In addition to explaining in simple, clear, and complete terms what a concussion is and how it can alter the brain function of children and youths, this guide discusses new technologies and equipment that may help prevent concussion. It looks at the incidence of concussion in football, hockey, cheerleading, skiing and snowboarding, soccer, basketball, and equestrian sports, and it explores related issues, such as the movement to have soccer and rugby players wear helmets. A final chapter focuses on emerging research designed to facilitate better treatments and on safety measures, including testing for a genetic predisposition to concussion. Contents......Page 8 Series Foreword......Page 10 Foreword......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 14 Introduction......Page 18 1. Definitions and Team Members: Who Will Help Care for the Athlete with a Sport-Related Concussion?......Page 20 2. What Is a Concussion?......Page 30 3. Sport-Related Concussion: How Common Is It?......Page 48 4. Sports Equipment: Can Helmets or Mouth Guards Prevent Concussion?......Page 58 5. New Medical Information: Why Is Concussion Taken So Seriously Nowadays?......Page 66 6. “Neuropsychological” or “Neurocognitive” Testing: What Is It and Should My Athlete Have It?......Page 78 7. The Acute Assessment and Management of Sport-Related Concussion: What Do I Do When an Athlete Sustains a Concussion?......Page 86 8. Potential Therapies: What Can Be Done to Help My Athlete Recover?......Page 108 9. Assessing Recovery from Concussion: When Is It Safe for My Athlete to Return to Sports?......Page 120 10. Prevention: Is There a Way to Prevent My Athlete from Sustaining a Concussion?......Page 134 11. The Cumulative Effects of Concussion: How Many Is Too Many?......Page 142 12. The Female Athlete: Are Girls and Boys Different When It Comes to Concussion?......Page 150 13. Setting Up a Concussion Program......Page 154 14. The Future: What Medical Research May Lead to in the Future......Page 184 15. In Their Own Words: Athletes from the Sports Concussion Clinic of Children’s Hospital Boston......Page 192 Appendix: Sports Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT 2)......Page 202 C......Page 208 I......Page 209 R......Page 210 W......Page 211 Written by an expert physician, Kids, Sports, and A Guide for Coaches and Parents offers a thorough understanding of concussive brain injury, its symptoms, its potential long-term effects, and the current prevention options. Equally important, it provides insights into how this injury is treated and what parents and athletes can do to facilitate recovery. In addition to explaining in simple, clear, and complete terms what a concussion is and how it can alter the brain function of children and youths, this guide discusses new technologies and equipment that may help prevent concussion. It looks at the incidence of concussion in football, hockey, cheerleading, skiing and snowboarding, soccer, basketball, and equestrian sports, and it explores related issues, such as the movement to have soccer and rugby players wear helmets. A final chapter focuses on emerging research designed to facilitate better treatments and on safety measures, including testing for a genetic predisposition to concussion. This comprehensive, reader-friendly book written by a top physician in the field explains to coaches and parents how to understand, cope with, and prevent sport-related concussions among children and teenagers.• A foreword from Lyle Micheli, MD, past president of the American College of Sports Medicine and author of The Sports Medicine Bible for Young Athletes, commenting on the significance of sport-related concussion in pediatric and adolescent sports• A glossary• A bibliography referencing key investigations in the scientific literature for readers seeking a more in-depth, scientific analysis "This comprehensive, reader-friendly book written by a top physician in the field explains to coaches and parents how to understand, cope with, and prevent sport-related concussions among children and teenagers"-- Provided by publisher