Canadian researchers report today that athletes who suffer a concussion while playing sports continue to show negative effects of their injury 30 years later. The results are alarming because until recently, most research into the aftereffects of concussions has focused on the period immediately following the injury or at most a few years after.

Researchers at the Université de Montréal gave a questionnaire to former university-level athletes (mainly hockey players) who are now in their 50s and asked them if they had ever suffered a concussion during their playing days. The researchers identified a group of 19 healthy former athletes who had sustained concussion more than 30 years ago and another group of 21 healthy former athletes with no history of concussion. When compared, the results showed that former athletes who had suffered only one or two concussions showed declines in their attention and memory, as well as a slowing of movements compared to athletes who had not suffered a concussion.

Specifically, former athletes who had suffered a concussion more than 30 years ago (and not since) showed signs of mild cognitive impairment on the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), which tests orientation, attention, immediate and short-term recall, language, and the ability to follow simple verbal and written commands. They also showed deficits on tests of episodic memory and executive function. Electroencephalogram (EEG) tests showed impairments in brain activity as well: concussed participants showed aberrant responses to unpredictable stimuli. Even their overall movements were slower than their non-concussed counterparts.

The results of the study are alarming on several levels. For one, they call into question the current thinking about sports concussions, which is often focused on ensuring safety by determining how much time should pass after a concussion before an athlete returns to competition. The results also indicate that sports concussions may actually accelerate the aging process in the brain, perhaps making these athletes more vulnerable to developing severe neurological disorders including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.

However, it is important to note that all the study participants were all still fit and healthy and continued to engage in some form of regular physical activity at least three times a week. They lived relatively normal lives despite their mild impairments. The researchers intend to follow the participants in the coming years to determine if they experience more severe deteriorations in their mental functioning and quality of life.

The researchers suggest that athletes should be better informed about the long-term effects of sports concussion on mental and physical functioning so that they can weigh the potential risks of returning to competition after a concussion.

Do you have child who plays contact sports? If he or she experiences an on-field concussion, you may want to consider talking to the doctor about the risks of a return to competition. For more information about concussions, join the Healia Health Community for Head and Brain Injuries.

_{Photo: JamieL.WilliamsPhotograph y, Flickr, Creative Commons}