Posted on Babycenter.com

How do you feel about this? I sure do not play with any bumps or bruises on anyone head! Do you take this concussions serious enough?

Mon, Jan 18, 2010 (HealthDay News) — Children who suffer a concussion don’t just have a minor head bump, but a brain injury that parents, coaches and teachers need to take more seriously, Canadian researchers warn.

Parents often believe that concussion injury is mild and doesn’t involve damage to the brain, said lead researcher Dr. Carol DeMatteo, an associate clinical professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario.

However, “concussion really is a brain injury — there’s no question about that,” she said.

“The term concussion is used frequently, but there are no real guidelines in using it with children,” DeMatteo said. “This means that many different types of injury of different severity can be called a concussion. This leads to misconceptions by families and coaches and teachers and children themselves.”

Instead of using the word “concussion,” these injuries should be called mild brain injuries and that may help these children get the care they need, DeMatteo added. “We only have one brain, so let’s help kids look after theirs.”

The report is published in the Jan. 18 online edition of Pediatrics.

For the study, DeMatteo’s group reviewed the medical records of 434 children seen at McMaster Children’s Hospital for a brain injury. About a third (32 percent) were diagnosed with concussion.

The researchers found that, compared with other brain injuries, children diagnosed with concussion spent less time in the hospital and fewer days out of school. They were also more likely to go back to school shortly after leaving the hospital.

If children go back to school or sports too soon after a concussion they are at an increased risk of having another head injury, DeMatteo noted. “Kids are twice as likely to have another head injury within a year if they have [already] had one,” she said.

DeMatteo believes that children should see a doctor if they are showing signs of a concussion, such as fatigue, headache, memory problems, disturbed sleep or mood changes.

These symptoms can affect school performance, and returning too soon to sports can increase the risk for another injury, she said.

Most importantly, having a subsequent head injury can boost the odds of doing permanent damage to the brain, DeMatteo noted.

Gillian Hotz, director of the Pediatric Neurotrauma Program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said parents are often relieved to hear that their child has “only” suffered a concussion.

But concussion is only a catch-all term for a spectrum of non-structural brain injury, Hotz said. “Most kids who have a concussion, rest — the headache goes away, the symptoms go away, and they’re fine,” she said.

“But, you have to be very careful,” Hotz said. “If there is damage on a CT [scan] or prolonged unconsciousness then it’s in another category, not a concussion.”

Concussions do need to be taken seriously, and injured children need to be seen by doctors before they are allowed to return to school or sports, Hotz said.

“If a kid goes down and has symptoms during a game they are pulled. They need to be cleared by a medical professional before they return to play, and not that game,” she said.

“Concussions are cumulative so we are going to have a lot more severely injured kids if we don’t start putting some of these policies into place,” Hotz said.

– Steven Reinberg

Posted on BabyCenter.com

Fri, Jan 15, 2010 (HealthDay News) — Oral contraception may decrease bone density in young women, a new study suggests.

Those taking birth control pills for more than two years, and those on the low-dose estrogen pills appear to have the greatest risk of decreased bone density in the spine and whole body, according to the researchers.

“I think the evidence is still emerging on this association, but our findings suggest that low-dose oral contraceptives with long-term use have some impact on bone density,” said study author Delia Scholes, a senior investigator at the Group Health Research Institute of Group Health Cooperative in Seattle.

The findings were published in the January issue of Contraception.

What isn’t entirely clear from this study of women under 30, explained Scholes, is what the long-term impact might be. Researchers don’t know if the lower bone density findings are easily reversible just by stopping the use of oral contraceptives. They also weren’t able to study if the lower bone density in these young women would translate to a higher fracture risk later in life.

But, “if oral contraceptives are indeed causing the approximately 5 percent lower spine bone density for oral contraceptive users versus non-users that we observed in our study, and if that impact is not reversed with oral contraceptive discontinuation or with other factors that may occur across the life span, a 5 percent lower bone density after menopause is associated with approximately 50 percent more osteoporotic fractures,” said Scholes.

Almost 12 million American women are currently using oral contraception, according to background information in the study. And, the use of oral contraception is highest in women under 30, reports the study. That’s important because the 20s are generally a time of peak bone mass production.

However, little is known about the effects of oral contraception on bone density. Previous studies have had conflicting results, with some showing no effect or a benefit on bone density while others suggest that oral contraceptives may inhibit bone mass accrual.

The current study was comprised of 606 woman between the ages of 14 and 30. The researchers reviewed oral contraceptive use, the duration of use and the estrogen dose in the contraception, and compared this to bone mineral density tests. The bone density test measured bone density in the hip, spine and whole body.

When the researchers compared oral contraceptive users to non-users they found that women taking oral contraception had average bone mineral density levels that were 5.9 percent less for the spine and 2.3 percent lower for the whole body. There was a trend for lower bone density in the hip as well, though this trend didn’t reach statistical significance.

The researchers also noted a trend toward lower bone density in women taking oral contraceptives containing lower doses of estrogen, with the lowest readings in women taking formulations containing less than 30 micrograms of estrogen.

The researchers found no effects in the 14- to 18-year-old age group. However, Schole said it’s important to note that contraceptive use was less in this age group than for the women between 19 and 30.

Scholes said the researchers suspect that the hormones in birth control pills are likely affecting normal hormone levels — perhaps lowering normally circulating estrogen levels — which then affects bone production.

“The studies on oral contraception and bone density have been conflicting,” said Dr. Beatrice Chen, director of the Center for Family Planning Research at Magee-Women’s Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. “Although this study adds to that information, I don’t think young women should be scared into stopping birth control. Talk with your doctor about your own risk factors, and the risks and benefits of using oral contraception.”

Chen said that studies on longer-term birth control, such as Depo-Provera, have shown that when the contraception is stopped, bone levels quickly return to normal.

If you’re concerned about your bone health, Chen said that there are steps you can take to help prevent bone loss, including: consuming adequate calcium and vitamin D, participating in weight-bearing exercise and quitting smoking.

– Serena Gordon