Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) - a Silent Epidemic in Youth Sports?
August 1, 2006, Atlanta, GA --- Did you know that even a minor sports injury can cause TBI, Traumatic Brain Injury? Each year in the United States, an estimated 3.8
million athletes sustain sports-related concussions and 1.4 million
people sustain a TBI, which is 8 times the number of people diagnosed
with breast cancer and 34 times the number of new cases of HIV/AIDS.
Click here - get a FREE Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) fact sheet
Of those 1.4 million, approximately
1.1 million, or 75 percent, sustain a mild traumatic brain injury
(MTBI). Yet, many are not hospitalized or receive no medical care at
all. An unknown proportion of those who are not hospitalized may
experience long-term problems such as persistent headache, pain,
fatigue, vision or hearing problems, memory problems, confusion, sleep
disturbances, or mood changes. The problem is properly diagnosing head
injuries and preventing the second blow called second impact syndrome.
It may be the follow-up brain bruise that causes permanent damage to
the brain.
Click here - get a FREE Concussion Tool Kit For Athletes, Parents, Coaches (CDC - English/ Spanish)
Among children ages 0 to 14 years, traumatic brain injury results in an estimated 3,000 deaths, 29,000 hospitalizations and 400,000
emergency department visits (Langlois 2001). An estimated 300,000
sports-related brain injuries of mild to moderate severity occur in the
Unites States each year (CDC 1997a).
TBI
is an overlooked killer of Americans, according to the experts in brain
injury prevention. According to the Society for Neuroscience, traumatic
brain injury is the leading cause of disability among American children
and young adults with an annual cost to society of about $50 billion.
At least 1.5 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury each
year and 50,000 people die. Brain injuries are among the most likely
types of injury to cause death or permanent disability, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The
general public doesn’t know that a concussion is a brain injury.
Sport-SOS continues to increase awareness and provide FREE education to
the youth sports community how to prevent, diagnose and treat
sports-related head injuries.
Sport-SOS is a proud sponsor of the third annual brain injury awareness campaign entitled "No-Brainer®". The 2007 campaign
will guide youth sports organizations, athletes and volunteers to team
up and create projects that increase TBI awareness in their local
communities and COI.
Corporate partners and individuals are invited to join No-Brainer campaign, You can build a link from your website to the awareness campaign webpage, run TBI awareness fundraisers, wear & share awareness merchandise, make a cash donation to a non-profit youth sports or brain injury organization, host TBI awareness events, contests and drawings.
Media partners can help by increasing awareness locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Media inquiries, please contact Jonna LeVine, volunteer No-Brainer campaign coordinator, an athlete and a TBI survivor.
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