Concussion data from 85 retired NRL stars to be compared with NFL players’ data
CONCUSSION data from 85 retired rugby league players, including Immortals and Test and State of Origin stars, will be compared to that of NFL players in the US in a major first for Australian sport.
CONCUSSION data from 85 retired rugby league players, including Immortals and Test and State of Origin stars, will be compared to that of NFL players in the US next week in a major first for Australian sport.
Newcastle’s clinical neuropsychologist Dr Andrew Gardner, who is emerging as a world leader in the field of sports-related concussion, will fly to Boston for a three-month scholarship at Harvard University.
Gardner will share and compare his data from retired rugby league players, which has been collected over five years in collaboration with Professor Christopher Levi.
The move looms as a potential breakthrough in understanding the impact of life-changing head knocks.
Gardner and Levi also consult with the NRL, and are responsible for opening Australia’s only free Sports Concussion Clinic in the Hunter in 2013.
The clinic aims to create a database by examining and tracking the recovery of concussed athletes while they’re alive, as opposed to only learning of the cause and effect of concussions after an athlete has died.
In five years, the Novocastrians and pioneers in their field have assessed more than 150 athletes, including 85 retired professional rugby league players.
Rugby league is lauded across the globe for its physicality, heavy contact and collision, which is why professors from Harvard Medical School are eager to review the data which Gardner will present.
Gardener’s work in the US will include analysing information supplied from 5000 NFL players who have taken part in Harvard’s Football Players Health Study.
“It’s one of the most prestigious scholarships that you can get in the world, so I’m under no illusion as to what this trip means,’’ Gardner said.
“They (Harvard) really want you to go over there and make a difference in the US, but also get the US information and bring it back to Australia as well.
“I’ll be taking my data that I have collected and I’ll be working with the retired NFL players health study at Harvard’s medical school. We’ll be sharing information.
“It’s really about, is there anything in the thought that concussion does cause these long-term consequences in terms of cognition or thinking skills?
“We want to get a number of sports, in this case NFL and rugby league, who we know are high-contact sports where people do sustain a lot of concussions, to get a better idea what the differences are.’’
During a fund-raising lunch for the clinic in Newcastle on Friday, Gardner told The Sunday Telegraph that the data provided from 85 of the game’s elite players was critical.
Levi and Gardner also encouraged other rugby league players to visit the clinic, saying it was a case of “strength in numbers” when attempting to better understand the impact of concussion and its long-term effects.
“They’re (players) not necessarily seen or referred to us medically, these are 85 players who some of them have problems, some of them don’t have problems,’’ Gardner, who is a researcher at University of Newcastle, said.
“So they’re putting their hand up and saying, ‘yes I’d like to be part of this research.’
“Our oldest is 89 years old and our youngest is 30 and was retired for one year when we got him.
“It’s all confidential, we won’t be naming names, but they are all elite level players. There’s Immortals and other players who played at the elite level.
“They were playing in the NSWRL at the elite level, had represented Australia, had played for NSW and Queensland.
“We have those players who played 300 games at the top level and we also have players who only played a couple of games at the top level.
“So we’ve got a wide spectrum. And 85 might sound a lot, but we would love to double and triple those numbers because the more data you get, the better it is to be able to extrapolate what you’ve got from that.
“We started five years ago and when I get back from Harvard I will start to see the people we saw at the beginning for a five-year follow-up, to see what the difference is, so that we’re conducting a prospective longitudal study.’’
“We can’t collect no information in life, slice the brain up, have a look at it and then say, ‘oh yeah - it’s because of this’.
“We need to be drawing information from the under-16s, right through and keeping a concussion database.’’
Gardner and Levi said the data obtained included the many variables which made up a person’s health including diabetes, vascular health, alscolohol conumpsion, blood pressure, heart condition and affliction for pain medication.
“That’s what our study has done, look at all those areas - and not just hone in on concussion,’’ Gardner said.
“In the clinic, we’re asking about all of those things.
“Our study is similar to what has been undertaken in Boston, so it will be interesting to see what we can bring back.’’
Concussions are traumatic head injuries that occur from both mild and severe blows to the head. A concussion is typically caused by head trauma during which the brain moves violently within the skull.
Immediate symptoms can include:
■ Disorientation
■ Memory loss
■ Unconsciousness
■ Unequal sized pupils
■ Headache
■ Dizziness
■ Tinnitus
■ Nausea
■ Vomiting
■ Vision changes
Long-term symptoms can include:
■ Memory disturbances
■ Poor concentration
■ Irritability
■ Sleep disturbances
■ Personality changes
■ Fatigue
Doctors dig in mental minefield
A 36-year-old from Newcastle is about to put Australia on the map - and attempt to change lives in the process.
Forget Ben Simmons, Jarryd Hayne or Jordan Mailata.
Newcastle’s clinical neuropsychologist Dr Andrew Gardner could become Australian sport’s greatest US export.
Without fanfare or ego, Gardner and fellow quiet achiever, Professor Chris Levi, have been working on their days off to provide a free concussion checks to anyone that walks in off the streets of Newcastle to their Sports Concussion Clinic.
In the process, they’ve assessed 150 athetes who otherwise would be struggling for answers.
Consider the many family members too who would be riddled with uncertainty.
Among the many who have undergone an assessment at the clinic are not just elite-level rugby league players, but rugby union, netball, basketball, ice hockey and even roller derby skaters.
Each first-time patient receives a two-hour assessment.
Gardner and Levi look at the athlete’s medical history before they conduct 90 minutes of cognitive testing.
Then there’s a second session in which the athlete undergoes an hour-long MRI scan.
It provides some of the most sophisticated imaging in the country.
A lunch was held at Wests Leagues Club on Friday, organised by Tracey MacPherson, whose husband was a patient.
“The aim is to raise as much money as we can so we can get these doctors to continue running the clinic for free,’’ MacPherson said.
“They don’t do it for the credit - they do it because they know the impact they can have on the wider-community.’’
- David Riccio
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Originally published as Concussion data from 85 retired NRL stars to be compared with NFL players’ data
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