The Wall Street Journal (11/20, Landro, Subscription Publication) reports in “The Informed Patient” that US medical centers are now developing programs to help better care for youngsters and adolescents who sustain concussions. Because young people’s brains are still growing, concussions may cause some serious long-term problems. The new programs are meant to inform parents, school nurses, athletic coaches and even pediatricians exactly how to care for a kid with a concussion and how to prevent further complications and damage. Researchers have also found a biomarker in the brain, which when combined with magnetic resonance imaging, may help physicians assess a patient’s long-term post-concussion prognosis. This past summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put together a task force charged with developing guidelines on concussion to be shared with physicians and emergency departments in the near future.
Related Links:
— “Fresh Efforts to Improve Teens’ Concussion Care,”Laura Landro, Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2012.