Episode #128 - Concussion

VGS It’s a wet and rainy day in Geneva but Science in 5 crew is very determined. It’s an all-women crew today. So come rain and shine, we’re going to shoot this. We’re going to talk about concussion today. If you have children who play sports or you play sports, you need to know about concussion. What is it? How will you know if you have concussion? And what can you do to prevent it? And here to talk about it today is Dr Tarun Dua. Welcome Tarun.

TD Hi!

VGS Tarun, talk to us about what is concussion.

TD So, concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury. So, if you have a bump, blow to the head or even to the body. What happens is, the forces can lead to your brain moving and bouncing around, leading to damage to brain cells. And any activity can cause concussion. So, for example, you fall in this wet, rainy field or you are playing sports, like football, It also happens during road traffic accidents. For example, in Australia, one in five people who presented to the hospital with concussion, they had it while playing sports.

VGS So, we’ve just established that these are pretty perfect conditions for a concussion that we are filming in. But, actually, I fell down a little while ago and I was wondering if I had concussion. I didn’t know what the symptoms would be. Can you talk about that?

TD So, concussion is not something that you will see outside and the other thing is, it’s not that symptoms are going to happen immediately. They can actually also happen up to 72 hours after the injury. So common symptoms are you will have headache or pressure sensation, nausea, feeling dizzy, loss of balance, memory, unable to focus, sleep problems. So these are very common problems. Then sometimes you have severe symptoms, like convulsions. You can have loss of consciousness or weakness or numbness and that means you need to, in any case, you need to go immediately to get any help. So, did you have any of those symptoms, Vismita?

VGS Well, no, I think I felt a little bit of brain fog or a little bit of confusion which is what worried me. But also, its about sometimes, when you take a fall you’ve also not really thought about the fact that with, as you age, you need to work on your balance better and stuff like that. So talk to us also about the prevention of concussion.

TD There are many things all of us can do. So, for example, riding a bicycle, wear a helmet. Home environment, make sure that your carpets and cables are not interrupting. And especially for older people, they’re very important, that we make our homes friendly and fall free as much as possible. Playing contact sports, ensure that you are wearing protective equipment, you are aware of your surroundings. So I’m looking around, the ball is not going to come and hit me. And do not take unnecessary risk. This is especially true for young people. So, these are many things that we can do to prevent concussion.

VGS Talk about the treatment of concussion. Sometimes you hear that, ‘Oh, it’s okay, it will just go away.’ Is that true, for instance?

TD One of the things about concussion is not everyone is aware about it and so very often it goes undetected. People don’t know and they don’t go to seek medical help. So it’s very important, that if you have had a fall, just ensure that you seek medical help. Go and show it to the doctor. That evaluation is extremely important and the second is that you need to take rest, both physical and mental because it will help you recover quickly. And the third thing that you need to do is avoid repeat injuries. Avoid repeat concussion because we know repeat concussions can lead to long-term damage, including dementia.

VGS Okay, that sounds very scary, especially because senior citizens will also experience, sometimes, increased falls and that can actually contribute to dementia, you said, right? Talk to us about some other long-term impacts of concussion.

TD You can have long-term memory problems, you can have long-term sleep problems. It can impact your education, learning. I’m thinking about the young people and also, especially if you’re thinking about sports, because, you know, you’re getting it at a young age we are worried about the risk of neurocognitive issues such a dementia.

VGS We’re going to wrap up, but give our audience a few tips for how to avoid concussion.

TD Important is that wear protective equipment, you are riding a bicycle, you are playing a sport. When you are in your home, just ensure that you are keeping your carpets, your cables, so that you are not falling down on any of those surfaces and be aware of your surroundings.

VGS Thank you, Tarun. That was Science in 5, today, from a wet and rainy Geneva. Until next time then, stay safe, stay healthy and stick with science.