Mar 22, 2024 04:29 PM
https://slate.com/technology/2024/03/con...dvice.html
EXCERPT: For years, doctors had been told that concussion patients needed total rest in order to recover. But around the time of Gormally’s concussions, which occurred between 2013 and 2016, the science was beginning to indicate the opposite—patients who “cocooned” themselves in a dark room, even for only a few days, consistently took longer to get better than people who stayed engaged with their daily activities.
Since then, study after study has shown that the concussed brain requires active rehabilitation—activities like exercise, reading, and screens—to heal. The most up-to-date Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport, a report prepared by an international panel of experts, recommends “active rehabilitation” and discourages total rest. As with most injuries, the specifics of what that rehabilitation looks like varies from case to case; researchers and specialists have an arsenal of protocols and therapies at their disposal.
You’d think that this would have meant a revolution in how doctors understand and treat concussions. It hasn’t. For many patients, not much has changed at all. A report published in 2018 found that more than half of patients with concussions—millions a year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—are still leaving the doctor’s office without actionable, evidence-based information or referrals to specialists. Instead of that crucial step, many patients, to their detriment, are still being told to simply cocoon... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: For years, doctors had been told that concussion patients needed total rest in order to recover. But around the time of Gormally’s concussions, which occurred between 2013 and 2016, the science was beginning to indicate the opposite—patients who “cocooned” themselves in a dark room, even for only a few days, consistently took longer to get better than people who stayed engaged with their daily activities.
Since then, study after study has shown that the concussed brain requires active rehabilitation—activities like exercise, reading, and screens—to heal. The most up-to-date Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport, a report prepared by an international panel of experts, recommends “active rehabilitation” and discourages total rest. As with most injuries, the specifics of what that rehabilitation looks like varies from case to case; researchers and specialists have an arsenal of protocols and therapies at their disposal.
You’d think that this would have meant a revolution in how doctors understand and treat concussions. It hasn’t. For many patients, not much has changed at all. A report published in 2018 found that more than half of patients with concussions—millions a year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—are still leaving the doctor’s office without actionable, evidence-based information or referrals to specialists. Instead of that crucial step, many patients, to their detriment, are still being told to simply cocoon... (MORE - missing details)