Brain Injuries

A strongly worded editorial in the Canadian Medical Assn. Journal calls for the end of fighting in the National Hockey League, saying the risk of intentional head trauma is too great to stand by and watch these guys pummel each other. In "Stop the violence and play hockey," neurologist Dr. Rajendra Kale, the journal's interim editor-in-chief makes the case that allowing fighting in the sport and risking major, permanent head trauma is not worth it, despite how popular it may be with spectators.

The brain of former National Hockey League player Derek Boogaard showed signs of early chronic traumatic encephalopathy, researchers report, shedding light on the neurological condition that may affect some athletes who sustain brain injuries during play. Boogaard died at age 28 from a drug overdose in May, and his brain was autopsied by Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist at the Bedford VA Medical Center and co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University.

"The Descendants" Ad Hominem Enterprises U.S. release: Nov. 18 The premise Elizabeth King (Patricia Hastie) is in a water skiiing accident off Waikiki Beach. She suffers severe head trauma, falls into a deep coma and is maintained on life support for more than three weeks. Her husband, Hawaiian land baron Matthew King (George Clooney), must now assume full care of their two daughters while coping with the news that his wife had been having an affair and was preparing to leave him. Elizabeth's physician, Dr. Johnston (Milt Kogan)

Heading a soccer ball can lead to moments of glory, but it could also lead to a future of pain. Radiologists reported Tuesday that repeated heading could cause brain injury and cognitive impairment characteristic of concussion. A study followed 38 amateur soccer players who had been playing the sport since childhood and found that using your head more than 1,000 to 1,500 times within a 12-month period could cause symptoms of cognitive dysfunction similar to those seen in patients who have suffered from a concussion, said study leader Dr. Michael Lipton, director of radiology research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York.

Avery Reynolds was born with barely a whimper, black and blue from lack of oxygen, on Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. The umbilical cord encircled her legs. Doctors wrapped her in a cold blanket to induce hypothermia. Amanda Reynolds recalls her daughter was hooked up to numerous machines; she couldn't hold her baby for more than a week. But when she finally did, "we looked each other right in the eye .... I felt, she's going to OK," recalls Reynolds, who lives in Santa Monica. Avery would spend more than six weeks in the hospital and would need physical therapy afterward.

Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas on Monday said that he's seen no evidence so far suggesting Fullerton police officers intentionally tried to kill homeless man Kelly Thomas, but that his office is still trying to determine whether the officers used excessive force in his death. Rackauckas, speaking about it publicly for the first time, said the investigation is in its early stages and his office has yet to get a cause-of-death determination from the Orange County coroner's office.

San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow tried to escape a violent man attacking him and his friends outside Dodger Stadium, but his assailant pursued and assaulted him again, according to a court document filed Monday that provides new details about the beating that left Stow with serious brain injuries. Prosecutors allege that Louie Sanchez shoved Stow and punched one of Stow's friends after the Dodgers' opening day game against the Giants. After the assault, Stow, who was dressed in a Giants shirt, continued to walk with his friends toward the edge of the stadium parking lot, with Sanchez and his friend, Marvin Norwood, in pursuit, prosecutors wrote.

Botox-maker Allergan Inc. was ordered by a federal court jury to pay $212 million to a Virginia man who alleged that use of the drug left him severely disabled. The verdict awarded Douglas Ray, 67, $12 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages — the largest penalty ever in a Botox injury case. Ray was injected with the drug in 2007 to treat hand tremors. He quickly fell ill with a fever and rash, said his lawyer, Ray Chester. Ray suffered brain damage and now requires round-the-clock care, the lawyer said.

It is the "signature wound" of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars: traumatic brain injury from the blast of the enemy's improvised explosive devices. Now two researchers say that minor changes in the military's combat helmet could reduce the incidence and severity of these injuries. Using complex computer modeling to determine the impact of such blasts on helmets, physicist Willy Moss and mechanical engineer Michael King of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California concluded that soldiers and Marines would be better protected by wearing a slightly larger helmet with 1/8 inch more foam padding.

Soldiers who suffer a traumatic brain injury should be fed at least half their normal calories and higher-than-normal levels of protein within 24 hours of injury, according to a new report released Wednesday from the Institute of Medicine. The report said that feeding the injured soldiers at least 50% of their normal calorie intake and increasing their protein intake to up to 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight (their typical amount being about 0.9 g/kg) gives the soldiers energy, reduces inflammation and improves survival.