Center for Disease Control & Prevention to Conduct Study on Sports-Related Concussions in Youth Athletes
Thanks to support from Senator Robert Menendez and Congressman Bill Pascrell, both of New Jersey, the United States Center for Disease Control & Prevention will launch a new study into sports-related concussions and with those findings, will develop national guidelines for managing sports-related concussions in youth athletes.
Currently, New Jersey is one of the few states that require a physician’s approval before a student can return to play after they have suffered a brain injury. New Jersey also mandates safety training for coaches, players and parents in an effort to prevent concussions from happening in the first place.
Although most concussions are not life threatening, there are serious long-term effects that are associated with even mild brain injuries, such as memory loss, headaches and depression.
As the nation catches up with New Jersey, we urge state lawmakers to take another step forward and pass a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex) that would add cheerleading to the safety-training program that covers prevention, risk and treatment of sports-related concussions and other brain injuries.