Article 1: Football Helmets and Concussions: a New Study Opens Questions

Student: Mr. Khalilian & Ms. Townsend Physics, ______Due Date: Article 1: Football Helmets and Concussions: A New Study Opens Questions

By Melissa Healy February 17, 2014 4:45 p.m.

Here's a novel idea, given that American parents send almost 4 million of their children out to play tackle football every year, despite mounting concerns about youth concussions: Maybe the helmets their kids wear should be tested and ranked on how well they prevent concussion. A study to be presented at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology attempts to do exactly that, comparing 10 of the most widely used football helmets in drop tests designed to measure the kinds off forces that are most likely to result in concussion. The latest research finds that football helmets, which have been designed largely to prevent skull fractures and brain contusions, aren't all that effective against concussion, which happens when the brain bounces and twists around inside the skull. "All of them were terrible," said Dr. Francis X. Conidi, who is to present the new research before the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting April 26-May 3. Conidi, a Florida neurologist who is vice chair of the American Academy of Neurology's sports neurology section, says the helmets' poor showing underscores the importance of emphasizing safety in football culture: Coaches should be teaching football players tackling techniques that limit concussion risk; they should encourage younger football players to follow the example of older ones and strengthen their neck and shoulder muscles; and officials at all levels of play should be enforcing rules against head-first contact, Conidi said. While the differences among the popular football helmets were not great, Conidi and his research collaborator -- John Lloyd of the research and development company Brains Inc. in San Antonio, Fla. -- found that the Adams A2000 helmet provided the best protection against concussion. And the Schutt Air Advantage fared most poorly in protecting against concussion. If you are a parent of one of those 4 million football-playing children, you are probably now saying, "Aha! Here's some science news I can finally act upon!"

Well, not so fast.

This is not the first time that commercially available football helmets have been tested for how well they protect against "rotational acceleration" forces --the twisting, torqueing, sheering forces that result when the brain is knocked side-to-side as well as front-to-back inside the skull. A project at the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences has also sought to gauge the effectiveness of football helmets in blunting the forces that cause concussion. In ratings released early this year, the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest researchers rated the Adams A2000 ProElite "not recommended," giving the helmet the lowest score of 18 helmets it tested for protection against a combination of "linear acceleration," the straight front-to-back forces that can cause bruises and bleeding in the brain; and "rotational acceleration," the twisting of the brain within the skull that causes concussions. For the record, the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest team awarded the Schutt Air Advantage two stars in protecting against brain injury, labeling the helmet "adequate" but well below the five stars it awarded to the Riddell Revolution Speed, the post-2013 Xenith X2, the Rawlings Quantum Plus and the Riddell 360. All these helmets have passed muster with the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, the nonprofit organization that sets standards for headgear. In an interview, Stefan M. Duma, who heads the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, cautioned that the research being presented at the American Academy of Neurology's meeting must be considered preliminary until it's been peer-reviewed and published. But he also took exception to the suggestion that there is little difference among football helmets when it comes to concussion prevention. "Some helmets are much better than others," said Duma, whose team has compared helmets' performance not only in acceleration laboratories but on football fields, by analyzing college teams' helmet-brand use and their concussion rates. If there is one point on which all these researchers agree, it is that better and more realistic testing of helmets will improve helmet design and reduce concussions, just as the plethora of car- crash safety ratings has pushed automobile manufacturers to design and build more safety features into their products. Concussion researchers are getting steadily better at detecting what combination of forces causes lasting disturbances and injury in the brain, they said. "We can and should make better helmets," said John Lloyd, the biomedical engineer who coauthored the research Dr. Conidi will present. "The first step toward doing that is improving the standard testing methods." "In the meantime," he said, "parents and players and coaches should realize that players are not invincible on the field." Article from: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-football-helmets-concussion- 20140217,0,1291164.story

Article 2: With Player Safety Preeminent in College Football and the NFL, More Attention is on Helmets

Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY Sports 11:56 a.m. EDT August 23, 2013

Fossil Ridge High School (Ft. Collins, Colo.) sophomore running back, Chase Jolly wears a Guardian Cap on his helmet at practice July 26. (Photo: V. Richard Haro, The Coloradoan)

When the University of South Carolina opens preseason football practice Friday night, the plan is to have the Gamecocks, including defensive star Jadeveon Clowney, outfitted in Guardian Caps. The padded shells, made of polyurethane fabric, are designed to fit over helmets and reduce impacts to the head. Student: Mr. Khalilian & Ms. Townsend Physics, ______Due Date: There's controversy whether the caps violate helmet certification standards. But South Carolina tried 32 of them on linemen in the spring, liked them, and bought 75 more to go team-wide for practice, says athlete trainer Clint Haggard. "I've talked to our team physicians and discussed all that stuff, and I've talked to a bunch of people around the country," says Haggard. "And we're still going to use them. . . It seems like it will help.” Player safety has become the catchphrase for colleges and pro football, with the NCAA and the NFL also facing lawsuits over concussions. Punishment in college football this season for "targeting" --taking aim, especially at the head or neck, with apparent intent beyond a legal tackle or block --will include ejection. The NFL is requiring players to wear more pads and will penalize running backs who lead with the crown of their helmets. Lee Hansson, founder of the firm making the Guardian Cap, says his product reduces head impacts "up to 33%" in lab tests. He gave out the caps for testing in 2011, sold about 8,000 in 2012 ($55 individually with team discounts) and anticipated about 12,000 being used among youth, high school and college teams across the USA and Canada this year. Thirty-five states have schools and/or leagues using at least 20 Guardian Caps. The Guardian Caps have compartments padded with foam rubber that are arranged on top of the helmets, and Hanson says using these compartments dissipates energy better than a solid shell. One issue is whether soft shells might stick together or be more easily grabbed and cause neck injuries. Hanson says his caps "just slip off of each other." "Our goal," Hanson says, "is to provide the best protection to a kid as possible. ... If you want to protect your shoulders, you wear shoulder pads. And if your want to protect your head, you put more padding. More padding on anything is better." Build a concussion-proof football helmet, and the world will beat a path to your door. Shy of that wishful goal, there’s a surge in the business of trying g to protect the brain. *A Pennsylvania firm offers extra head padding that includes bullet--proof vest material. *Riddell, official helmet of the NFL and a codefendant in the concussion lawsuits, is introducing this season a sensor system in the helmet that transmits when impacts exceed a player's history on hits, geared for youth and high school teams. *Reebok has a new in impact sensor that flash as when impacts exceed certain thresholds. So why does the Colorado High School Activities Association warn that any school using the Guardian Caps in games will not be in compliance with the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), which sets helmet certification, and cautions groups to "seek more information" before using caps at any time. Indeed, Hanson says he has lost an order for 500 caps from a California youth league and other orders from various U.S. school districts, and at least one league is returning its 300 in use. "There are coaches and athletic trainers and parents that have seen Guardian on their children for the last two years, and they've seen the number of injuries decrease on those teams," says Hanson. "Now, you're going to tell them to take them off?" Makers of sensors don't claim they diagnose concussions; the sensors are promoted as screening tools. Makers of extra padding don't claim to prevent concussions, but they say they the padding reduces impacts. NOCSAE recently stated that add-ons to helmets could void certification and warned against "quick solutions." It says the primary focus should be limiting "unnecessary" hits and medical handling of concussions. "Equipment changes are probably fourth or fifth on the list of things that are going to make the biggest difference. Maybe even further down," says Mike Oliver, NOCSAE executive director. NOCSAE sets test standards, which involve using sensors to measure impacts on dummy heads inside helmets. Helmet makers do the tests --Oliver says each model needs its own testing and that changes mandate new certification. "If you talk to any doctor out there, you're going to get 14 different opinions on what causes a concussion," Hanson says. "We don't know if it's a big hit or if it's a whole bunch of little hits. ... We can prove scientifically (Guardian Caps) reduce that amount of impact." But Oliver says the caps are in "a little bit of a gray area" according to NOCSAE's position that a helmet addition that "changes or alters the protective system by adding or deleting protective padding … or which changes or alters the geometry of the shell or adds mass to the helmet, whether temporary or permanent, voids the certification of compliance." Nonsense, says Haggard: "The way that thing was written, anything you put on there, whether it be a face shield or anything like that, falls under that category." Last year, Unequal Technologies of Kennett Square, Pa., introduced helmet padding "fortified with Kevlar." The padding, with a sticky surface, fitted over existing pads. Unequal still has that product. But this year it also has padding designed to be fit inside the helmet but not affixed, the Gyro (at $79.95). There is also a padded skull cap, the Dome ($89.95). Robert Vito, president of Unequal, says Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick will use the skull cap, that roughly100 N FL players use Unequal head padding and about 10,000 players at all levels use it. Vito has issues with NOCSAE. "To blindly say that anything that goes in, on, or around the helmet will now void the certification needs to be recanted," says Vito, who urges NOCSAE to make sure "we're not leaving a lot of great products on the sideline." Haggard says linemen at South Carolina with the Guardian Caps in the spring had no concussions. "They could tell the difference in the perceived impact," he says. "I actually had some of our linebackers and some of our fullbacks come to me and say, 'Hey, I want to try this out, too.’" At the June annual meeting of the National Athletic Trainers' Association, University of North Carolina concussion researcher Kevin Guskiewicz told attendees said there is no such thing as a concussion-proof helmet. He said while Helmets prevent fractured skulls, the brain is still "sloshing around" after a hit. "So those neurons are still being stretched," Guskiewicz said, "86 billion neurons that we have in the human brain. ... There are no studies ... to show that in fact these devices (extra helmet padding) reduce concussions." Assorted devices are designed to sense them and measure them. Riddell's InSite Impact Response System includes a sensor pad in the liner of the helmet that transmits when certain impact levels are exceeded to a handheld "alert monitor" on the sideline. Software stores data on player histories of exposures to hits. It's priced at $150 per helmet (if you already have a helmet) and the monitor is free with 12 helmet units ($200 if bought separately). The product is an offshoot of Riddell systems used by college teams and researchers. X2 Biosystems of Seattle has the X-Patch, a small, sensor-equipped patch to be worn behind the neck. It transmits hits data to a mobile device. Now used by college athletes in research, it will be sold commercially in 2014, says company co-founder Rich Able. "Our tools are not going to make a diagnosis," he said. "Our tools are just giving data to the people who are highly knowledgeable about head injuries." Reebok's new CheckLight ($150) has an impact sensor in a skull cap. An LED light on the rear is designed to flash yellow or red (more severe) when impacts meet hit certain thresholds. It does not transmit data but displays how many hits occur in practice or a game. "It's just an extra set of eyes ... to just pull the athlete off the field as soon as possible after a light is triggered to assess the athlete," says Bob Rich, Reebok director of advanced concepts. Student: Mr. Khalilian & Ms. Townsend Physics, ______Due Date: Chris Nowinski, co-founder of Boston's Sports Legacy Institute, advocates a "Hit Count" to keep head impacts, especially in youths, at a minimum: "Simply trying to get fewer yellows and reds (with CheckLight) is important." Patrick Kersey, medical director of the USA Football national youth organization, says sensors are promising but not yet of proven value. "A lot of the newer products we have out there are very exciting," he says. "The problem we have in the medical world is that we don't have validation that states if they are actually helpful tools --or are they neat and flashy tools?"

Article from: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/07/30/concussions-college-football- nfl-guardian-caps/2601063/ What safety features should high school football leagues require for their student athletes? Evidence from Article #1: Evidence From Article #2: Evidence from HW #4.1: SJ #1: SJ #1:

SJ #2:

Overall, how does Article #1 Overall, how does Article #2 Overall, how does HW #4.1 respond to the prompt: respond to the prompt: respond to the prompt: Student: Mr. Khalilian & Ms. Townsend Physics, ______Due Date: