This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-to-host-a-white-house-summit-on-growing-conerns-over-sports-head-injuries/2014/05/28/d49e48ae-e5ac-11e3-afc6-a1dd9407abcf_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Obama to host a White House summit on growing conerns over sports head injuries | Obama to host a White House summit on growing conerns over sports head injuries |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Chatting about football in the Blue Room of the White House this week with President Obama, Maria Hanes brought up the Chicago Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl champion quarterback Jim McMahon — only to have Obama finish her sentence. | Chatting about football in the Blue Room of the White House this week with President Obama, Maria Hanes brought up the Chicago Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl champion quarterback Jim McMahon — only to have Obama finish her sentence. |
| McMahon, he noted, is “suffering from dementia.” | McMahon, he noted, is “suffering from dementia.” |
| The brain-injury reference was no accident. Hanes’s little brother suffered his fourth concussion while playing the sport and can no longer play under doctor’s orders. The 19-year-old from Lancaster, Calif., has developed a “Concussion Cushion” — a gel-filled helmet cover that softens the impact when two helmets collide. | The brain-injury reference was no accident. Hanes’s little brother suffered his fourth concussion while playing the sport and can no longer play under doctor’s orders. The 19-year-old from Lancaster, Calif., has developed a “Concussion Cushion” — a gel-filled helmet cover that softens the impact when two helmets collide. |
| “My love of football drove me toward doing this,” said Hanes, a former high school team manager who has dreamed of becoming the nation’s first female college football coach. “I want football to have a future, but if things like this don’t get fixed, it won’t have a future.” | “My love of football drove me toward doing this,” said Hanes, a former high school team manager who has dreamed of becoming the nation’s first female college football coach. “I want football to have a future, but if things like this don’t get fixed, it won’t have a future.” |
| Hanes and Obama will join 200 sports officials, medical experts, parent activists and young athletes Thursday for the first White House summit on sports concussions. The gathering is aimed at finding new ways to identify, treat and prevent serious head injuries, particularly in youth sports. | Hanes and Obama will join 200 sports officials, medical experts, parent activists and young athletes Thursday for the first White House summit on sports concussions. The gathering is aimed at finding new ways to identify, treat and prevent serious head injuries, particularly in youth sports. |
| It’s the latest example of how the White House is attempting to leverage the president’s position to influence social norms in areas not directly under his control. Aides say the push was prompted in part by conversations that Obama had during last year’s National Football League playoffs with his press secretary, Jay Carney, who, like the president, has young children who play sports. | It’s the latest example of how the White House is attempting to leverage the president’s position to influence social norms in areas not directly under his control. Aides say the push was prompted in part by conversations that Obama had during last year’s National Football League playoffs with his press secretary, Jay Carney, who, like the president, has young children who play sports. |
| “The president approaches the concussions issue as a parent,” White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri said in an interview. She compared Obama’s approach to his recent focus on other issues such as sexual assault on college campuses and low-income students’ access to higher education. “A lot of change he can do is not just outside of Washington, but also outside the parameters of the government,” Palmieri said. | “The president approaches the concussions issue as a parent,” White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri said in an interview. She compared Obama’s approach to his recent focus on other issues such as sexual assault on college campuses and low-income students’ access to higher education. “A lot of change he can do is not just outside of Washington, but also outside the parameters of the government,” Palmieri said. |
| The Healthy Kids and Safe Sports Concussion Summit comes nearly a century after President Theodore Roosevelt summoned several Ivy League coaches and officials to the White House to warn them they had to make football less deadly. The issue of head injuries has sparked lawsuits and union organizing efforts, while prompting some parents to pull their children out of sports altogether. | The Healthy Kids and Safe Sports Concussion Summit comes nearly a century after President Theodore Roosevelt summoned several Ivy League coaches and officials to the White House to warn them they had to make football less deadly. The issue of head injuries has sparked lawsuits and union organizing efforts, while prompting some parents to pull their children out of sports altogether. |
| NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was invited to attend the summit, as well as representatives from the NCAA, Major League Soccer, the NFL Players Association, the U.S. Soccer Federation and medical institutions such as Children’s National Medical Center. Goodell is not expected to attend, but another NFL representative will likely come in his place. | |
| The summit will feature an on-site training session for young soccer and football players on how to avoid head injuries — complete with drills on the South Lawn — as well as panel discussions on the latest scientific research. | |
| “This is obviously very important, for a lot of different levels of play,” said Julian Bailes, chairman of the medical advisory board for Pop Warner, the nation’s oldest youth football league. After Pop Warner banned intentional head-to-head contact three years ago, he said, head contact was reduced by about 40 percent. | “This is obviously very important, for a lot of different levels of play,” said Julian Bailes, chairman of the medical advisory board for Pop Warner, the nation’s oldest youth football league. After Pop Warner banned intentional head-to-head contact three years ago, he said, head contact was reduced by about 40 percent. |
| Incidents involving head injuries among professional players have garnered big headlines in recent years. And in January, a federal judge declined to grant preliminary approval of a $765 million settlement between the NFL and former players, who sued over the impact of past concussions, on the grounds it might be insufficient. | Incidents involving head injuries among professional players have garnered big headlines in recent years. And in January, a federal judge declined to grant preliminary approval of a $765 million settlement between the NFL and former players, who sued over the impact of past concussions, on the grounds it might be insufficient. |
| But the issue has also become important for parents of young athletes in sports ranging from hockey to soccer, in part because new research suggests that younger brains are more susceptible than adult ones to repeated blows. | But the issue has also become important for parents of young athletes in sports ranging from hockey to soccer, in part because new research suggests that younger brains are more susceptible than adult ones to repeated blows. |
| “It involves structural differences between the growing brain and the adult brain’s connectivity, or circuitry,” said Boston University School of Medicine professor Robert Cantu, a senior adviser to both the NFL and the NFL Players Association. “There is a lot of reason to be more concerned about repetitive injury in young people.” | “It involves structural differences between the growing brain and the adult brain’s connectivity, or circuitry,” said Boston University School of Medicine professor Robert Cantu, a senior adviser to both the NFL and the NFL Players Association. “There is a lot of reason to be more concerned about repetitive injury in young people.” |
| Cantu and others cite recent studies that show “repetitive head banging can cause loss of brain substance” when comparing preseason cognition studies of athletes to postseason tests. | Cantu and others cite recent studies that show “repetitive head banging can cause loss of brain substance” when comparing preseason cognition studies of athletes to postseason tests. |
| But there is debate on whether the loss is permanent. Kevin Guskiewicz, co-director of the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center at the University of North Carolina, said “there is not one published study that supports the idea that sub-concussive blows cause long-term damage.” | But there is debate on whether the loss is permanent. Kevin Guskiewicz, co-director of the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center at the University of North Carolina, said “there is not one published study that supports the idea that sub-concussive blows cause long-term damage.” |
| Guskiewicz, who serves as an adviser on the NFL head, neck and spine committee and the NCAA’s concussion committee, said media coverage has fueled “a paranoia where people think there’s a concussions epidemic.” | Guskiewicz, who serves as an adviser on the NFL head, neck and spine committee and the NCAA’s concussion committee, said media coverage has fueled “a paranoia where people think there’s a concussions epidemic.” |
| Bob Gfeller, who lost his 15-year-old son Matthew to a football head injury in 2008 and now serves as executive director of the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, said 70 percent of the U.S. football-playing population is under 14, but the group is vastly understudied. He said the institute is conducting a long-running study of 9- to 12-year-olds, now in its third year, to track “the cumulative impact on the brain of head contact just across the season.” | Bob Gfeller, who lost his 15-year-old son Matthew to a football head injury in 2008 and now serves as executive director of the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, said 70 percent of the U.S. football-playing population is under 14, but the group is vastly understudied. He said the institute is conducting a long-running study of 9- to 12-year-olds, now in its third year, to track “the cumulative impact on the brain of head contact just across the season.” |
| New private-public research initiatives will be announced Thursday as part of the conference, though the White House has not released specifics. The NFL has already launched a $60 million study along with General Electric, Under Armour and the Army, and donated $30 million to the National Institutes of Health, though Cantu said the country needed “credible research” not funded by the sports industry. | New private-public research initiatives will be announced Thursday as part of the conference, though the White House has not released specifics. The NFL has already launched a $60 million study along with General Electric, Under Armour and the Army, and donated $30 million to the National Institutes of Health, though Cantu said the country needed “credible research” not funded by the sports industry. |
| Every state now has a law mandating that players must leave the field if they are suspected of having experienced a concussion, and can only return if they have been examined by a health professional with training in concussion management. | Every state now has a law mandating that players must leave the field if they are suspected of having experienced a concussion, and can only return if they have been examined by a health professional with training in concussion management. |
| Obama has weighed in on the topic in very personal terms. He said in a 2013 interview with The New Republic that if he had a son, he would “have to think long and hard before I let him play football. And I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence.” | Obama has weighed in on the topic in very personal terms. He said in a 2013 interview with The New Republic that if he had a son, he would “have to think long and hard before I let him play football. And I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence.” |
| A year later, he compared the sport to boxing, telling the The New Yorker, “I would not let my son play pro football.” | A year later, he compared the sport to boxing, telling the The New Yorker, “I would not let my son play pro football.” |
| Obama’s former personal aide, Reggie Love, is a onetime forward for the Duke Blue Devils basketball team who often talked sports with the president. Love said in an interview that concussions “would end up being topic of conversation” between them because they affect so many players. | Obama’s former personal aide, Reggie Love, is a onetime forward for the Duke Blue Devils basketball team who often talked sports with the president. Love said in an interview that concussions “would end up being topic of conversation” between them because they affect so many players. |
| “For him to have that dialogue puts a lot more information in front of parents and players and coaches on how they’re defining safety,” Love said. “Because he doesn’t have a financial benefit from it, it makes it easier for him to be a voice in that world.” | “For him to have that dialogue puts a lot more information in front of parents and players and coaches on how they’re defining safety,” Love said. “Because he doesn’t have a financial benefit from it, it makes it easier for him to be a voice in that world.” |
| Love witnessed the impact of brain injuries firsthand while in college: his roommate never walked back on the football field after suffering a concussion during his first year. | Love witnessed the impact of brain injuries firsthand while in college: his roommate never walked back on the football field after suffering a concussion during his first year. |
| Hanes’s interest in the topic and her gel helmet proposal earned her two visits to the White House this week — the first on Tuesday for an administration-sponsored science fair. Hanes sported pigskin-inspired high-heeled sandals and a rhinestone-encrusted whistle necklace for the occasion. | Hanes’s interest in the topic and her gel helmet proposal earned her two visits to the White House this week — the first on Tuesday for an administration-sponsored science fair. Hanes sported pigskin-inspired high-heeled sandals and a rhinestone-encrusted whistle necklace for the occasion. |
| She and her mother, Mary, said the connection between concussions and contact sports is troubling. Hanes’s brother had trouble seeing for six months after his fourth injury. | She and her mother, Mary, said the connection between concussions and contact sports is troubling. Hanes’s brother had trouble seeing for six months after his fourth injury. |
| “It’s frightening,” Mary Hanes said. When it comes to football, she added: “He’s done. Done.” | “It’s frightening,” Mary Hanes said. When it comes to football, she added: “He’s done. Done.” |