CNN utilized the expertise of UW–Madison’s Julie Stamm, a clinical assistant professor in the School of Education’s Department of Kinesiology, in an article reporting on new research identifying a common sign that could help signal possible concussions in athletes.
According to the article, researchers at Mass General Brigham and the Concussion Legacy Foundation found that a quick lateral shake of the head, dubbed a “spontaneous headshake after a kinematic event” (SHAAKE), may indicate a concussion. This gesture is a recognizable movement often seen after an impact, and researchers believe it could help “identify up to a third of undiagnosed concussions” if added to concussion protocols.
Stamm, who was not involved in the study, said it was “long overdue” to recognize this headshake in a more formal way.
“Going back a few decades, we used to think that you had to lose consciousness to have a concussion,” she said, adding that more subtle symptoms, such as a headshake or disorientation, are now understood as common indicators.
“People would try to shake off a ‘bell ringer’ or shake off ‘seeing stars’ and kind of reset,” Stamm added. “We didn’t always consider some of those injuries to be concussions, and now we do.”
Stamm explained that recognizing symptoms like SHAAKE in concussion protocols could help reduce the number of concussions that are unreported.
“It really gives the clinicians the power to say, ‘No, this is real,’” she said. “It both gives the clinician more reason to take them off the field, and if the athlete understands that shaking their head is happening because they’re having symptoms, maybe they’ll actually realize it’s a concussion if they didn’t know that before.”
For more details, read the full article at cnn.com.