THE long-term impact of sport-related concussions can "no longer be ignored", according to the Scotland rugby team doctor.
Dr James Robson has published a report in this month's Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine in which he, along with two other co-authors, calls for a cultural change in the public perception of head injuries in sport.
The paper discusses the long-term cognitive, psychiatric, and neuro-behavioural problems associated with concussion, while highlighting the flippant response to these concerns from the sporting community at large.
It said: "Concussion has long been viewed as a benign occurrence, 'part and parcel' of sport, and for some even considered as a 'badge of honor'.
"Convincing society of the importance of recognising concussion is particularly challenging because most athletes who experience concussion seem to recover without readily apparent consequence."
With a focus on rugby, hockey and other 'collision' sports, the academics outlined the 'life-altering consequences' which could result from the mismanagement of concussive injuries.
The risk of young sportsmen is of particular note as they found that almost half of all rugby players under the age of 20 have sustained a concussion.
Such an injury is now the third most common match injury in amateur and professional rugby.
Though some measures have been put in place to mitigate the impact of serious head injuries, the paper argues that only a substantive cultural shift will safeguard the health of modern sportsmen.
The report added: "Attempts to stem this epidemic, including the wearing of headgear in rugby...have made no difference to the incidence. The key problem is that, until now, concussion has not always been taken seriously enough by players, coaches, and medical staff.'
"Although considerable steps have been taken to improve management and educate all involved, a fundamental cultural change in the perception of this condition is needed."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article