Protecting the brain against concussion | Kim Gorgens | TEDxDU
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0:10 - 0:12So, a funny thing happened
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0:12 - 0:16on my way to becoming a brilliant,
world-class neuropsychologist: -
0:17 - 0:18I had a baby.
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0:19 - 0:20And that's not to say
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0:20 - 0:24I ever went on to become a brilliant,
world-class neuropsychologist. -
0:24 - 0:26Sorry, TED.
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0:27 - 0:30But I did go on to be a reasonably astute,
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0:30 - 0:32arguably world-class worrier.
-
0:34 - 0:36One of my girlfriends
in graduate school, Marie, -
0:36 - 0:39said, "Kim, I figured it out.
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0:39 - 0:42It's not that you're more neurotic
than everyone else; -
0:42 - 0:45it's just that you're more honest
about how neurotic you are." -
0:45 - 0:48So in the spirit of full disclosure,
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0:48 - 0:50I brought some pictures to share.
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0:50 - 0:51Awwww.
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0:51 - 0:52(Laughter)
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0:52 - 0:55I'll just say: July.
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0:55 - 1:00(Laughter)
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1:00 - 1:01Zip!
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1:01 - 1:02(Laughter)
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1:02 - 1:04For safety.
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1:04 - 1:05(Laughter)
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1:05 - 1:07Water wings --
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1:07 - 1:10an inch of water.
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1:11 - 1:13And then, finally, all suited up
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1:13 - 1:15for the 90-minute drive
to Copper Mountain. -
1:16 - 1:19So you can get kind of a feel for this.
-
1:20 - 1:23So my baby, Vander,
is eight years old now. -
1:23 - 1:28And, despite being cursed
with my athletic inability, -
1:28 - 1:29he plays soccer.
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1:29 - 1:31He's interested in playing football.
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1:31 - 1:34He wants to learn how to ride a unicycle.
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1:34 - 1:36So why would I worry?
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1:36 - 1:39Because this is what I do.
This is what I teach. -
1:39 - 1:41It's what I study. It's what I treat.
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1:41 - 1:44And I know that kids
get concussed every year. -
1:45 - 1:48In fact, more than four million people
sustain a concussion every year, -
1:48 - 1:51and these data are just
among kids under 14 -
1:51 - 1:53who were seen in emergency rooms.
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1:53 - 1:56And so when kids sustain a concussion,
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1:56 - 1:59we talk about them getting dinged
or getting their bell rung, -
1:59 - 2:02but what is it that
we're really talking about? -
2:02 - 2:03Let's take a look.
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2:04 - 2:06[Concussive Force]
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2:08 - 2:11"Starsky and Hutch"? Arguably, yes.
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2:11 - 2:13So, a car accident.
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2:13 - 2:15Forty miles an hour into a fixed barrier:
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2:15 - 2:1635 Gs.
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2:20 - 2:23A heavyweight boxer punches
you straight in the face: -
2:23 - 2:2558 Gs.
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2:26 - 2:31(Music)
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2:31 - 2:34In case you missed it, we'll look again.
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2:34 - 2:36So look to the right-hand
side of the screen. -
2:36 - 2:41(Music)
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2:41 - 2:42What would you say?
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2:43 - 2:44How many Gs?
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2:47 - 2:48Close.
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2:48 - 2:50Seventy-two?
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2:50 - 2:52Would it be crazy to know:
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2:52 - 2:55103 Gs?
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2:55 - 2:57The average concussive impact
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2:57 - 2:59is 95 Gs.
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3:00 - 3:04Now, when the kid
on the right doesn't get up, -
3:04 - 3:05we know they've had a concussion.
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3:05 - 3:07But how about the kid on the left,
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3:07 - 3:09or the athlete that leaves
the field of play? -
3:09 - 3:13How do we know if he or she
has sustained a concussion? -
3:14 - 3:15How do we know
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3:15 - 3:19that legislation that would require
they be pulled from play, -
3:19 - 3:21cleared for return to play,
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3:21 - 3:22applies to them?
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3:23 - 3:25The definition of concussion
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3:25 - 3:27doesn't actually require
a loss of consciousness. -
3:27 - 3:30It requires only a change
in consciousness, -
3:30 - 3:33and that can be any one
or a number of symptoms, -
3:33 - 3:36including feeling foggy, feeling dizzy,
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3:36 - 3:37hearing a ringing in your ear,
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3:38 - 3:40being more impulsive
or hostile than usual. -
3:41 - 3:44So given all of that and given
how darn neurotic I am, -
3:44 - 3:47how do I get any sleep at all?
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3:47 - 3:51Because I know our brains are resilient.
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3:52 - 3:56They're designed to recover
from an injury. -
3:56 - 3:58If -- God forbid --
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3:58 - 4:01any of us left here tonight
and sustained a concussion, -
4:01 - 4:05most of us would go on to fully recover
inside of a couple hours -
4:05 - 4:06to a couple of weeks.
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4:06 - 4:09But kids are more vulnerable
to brain injury. -
4:09 - 4:12In fact, high-school athletes
are three times more likely -
4:12 - 4:14to sustain catastrophic injuries
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4:14 - 4:17relative even to their college-age peers,
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4:17 - 4:21and it takes them longer
to return to a symptom-free baseline. -
4:22 - 4:24After that first injury,
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4:25 - 4:28their risk for second injury
is exponentially greater. -
4:28 - 4:33From there, their risk for a third injury,
greater still, and so on. -
4:34 - 4:37And here's the really alarming part:
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4:38 - 4:42We don't fully understand
the long-term impact of multiple injuries. -
4:43 - 4:46You guys may be familiar
with this research -
4:46 - 4:47that's coming out of the NFL.
-
4:48 - 4:51In a nutshell,
this research suggests that, -
4:51 - 4:56among retired NFL players
with three or more career concussions, -
4:56 - 4:59the incidence of early-onset
dementing disease -
4:59 - 5:02is much greater than it
is for the general population. -
5:02 - 5:05So you've all seen that --
New York Times, you've seen it. -
5:05 - 5:07What you may not be familiar with
-
5:07 - 5:12is that this research was spearheaded
by NFL wives who said, -
5:12 - 5:15"Isn't it weird
that my 46-year-old husband -
5:15 - 5:17is forever losing his keys?"
-
5:17 - 5:20"Isn't it weird that
my 47-year-old husband -
5:20 - 5:22is forever losing the car?"
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5:22 - 5:25"Isn't it weird that
my 48-year-old husband -
5:25 - 5:27is forever losing his way home
-
5:27 - 5:30in the car, from the driveway?"
-
5:31 - 5:35I may have forgotten to mention
that my son is an only child. -
5:36 - 5:39So it's going to be really important
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5:39 - 5:43that he be able to drive
me around someday. -
5:44 - 5:45(Laughter)
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5:45 - 5:50So, how do we guarantee
the safety of our kids? -
5:50 - 5:55How can we 100 percent
guarantee the safety of our kids? -
5:55 - 5:57Let me tell you what I've come up with.
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5:58 - 6:03(Laughter)
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6:05 - 6:06If only.
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6:06 - 6:09My little boy's right there,
and he's like, "She's not kidding. -
6:09 - 6:10She's totally not kidding."
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6:11 - 6:14So in all seriousness:
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6:14 - 6:15Should my kid play football?
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6:15 - 6:17Should your kid play football?
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6:17 - 6:18I don't know.
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6:18 - 6:22But I do know there are
three things you can do. -
6:22 - 6:25The first: study up.
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6:25 - 6:29You have to be familiar with the issues
we're talking about today. -
6:29 - 6:31There are some great resources out there.
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6:31 - 6:33The CDC has a program, HEADS UP.
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6:33 - 6:35It's at CDC.gov.
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6:35 - 6:38HEADS UP is specific
to concussion in kids. -
6:39 - 6:42The second is a resource
I'm personally really proud of. -
6:42 - 6:44We've just rolled this out
in the last couple months -- -
6:44 - 6:46CO Kids With Brain Injury.
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6:46 - 6:49This is a great resource
for student athletes, -
6:49 - 6:53teachers, parents, professionals,
athletic and coaching staff. -
6:53 - 6:57It's a great place to start
if you have questions. -
6:58 - 7:00The second thing is: speak up.
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7:01 - 7:03Just two weeks ago,
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7:03 - 7:05a bill introduced by Senator Kefalas
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7:05 - 7:09that would have required
athletes, kids under 18, -
7:09 - 7:11to wear a helmet
when they're riding their bike, -
7:11 - 7:12died in committee.
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7:14 - 7:15It died, in large part,
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7:15 - 7:18because it lacked constituent buy-in;
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7:18 - 7:20it lacked stakeholder traction.
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7:21 - 7:22Now, I'm not here to tell you
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7:22 - 7:25what kind of legislation
you should or shouldn't support, -
7:25 - 7:28but I am going to tell you
that, if it matters to you, -
7:28 - 7:31your legislators need to know that.
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7:32 - 7:34Speak up also with coaching staff.
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7:34 - 7:37Ask about what kind
of protective equipment is available. -
7:37 - 7:39What's the budget
for protective equipment? -
7:39 - 7:40How old it is?
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7:40 - 7:44Maybe offer to spearhead
a fundraiser to buy new gear. -
7:44 - 7:47Which brings us to: suit up.
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7:47 - 7:49Wear a helmet.
-
7:50 - 7:53The only way to prevent a bad outcome
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7:53 - 7:56is to prevent that first injury
from happening. -
7:57 - 7:59Recently, one of my graduate
students, Tom - -
7:59 - 8:02I know you're watching right now, Tom -
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8:03 - 8:08Tom said, "Kim, I've decided to wear
a bike helmet on the way to class." -
8:09 - 8:13And Tom knows that that little bit
of foam in a bike helmet -
8:13 - 8:16can reduce the g-force of impact by half.
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8:17 - 8:22Now, I thought it was because I have
this totally compelling helmet crusade, -
8:22 - 8:24this epiphany of Tom's.
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8:24 - 8:28As it turns out, it occurred
to Tom that a $20 helmet -
8:28 - 8:32is a good way to protect
a $100,000 graduate education. -
8:32 - 8:34(Laughter)
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8:34 - 8:35So ...
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8:37 - 8:39Should Vander play football?
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8:40 - 8:42I can't say no,
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8:42 - 8:46but I can guarantee that every time
he leaves the house, -
8:46 - 8:48that kid's wearing a helmet --
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8:49 - 8:51like, to the car,
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8:51 - 8:52or at school.
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8:53 - 8:56So whether athlete, scholar,
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8:56 - 8:59overprotected kid, neurotic mom,
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8:59 - 9:00or otherwise,
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9:01 - 9:02here's my baby, Vander,
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9:02 - 9:04reminding you
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9:04 - 9:06to mind your matter.
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9:07 - 9:08Thank you.
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9:08 - 9:13(Applause)
- Title:
- Protecting the brain against concussion | Kim Gorgens | TEDxDU
- Description:
-
Neuropsychologist Kim Gorgens makes the case for better protecting our brains against the risk of concussion -- with a compelling pitch for putting helmets on kids.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 09:14
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for TEDxDU - Kim Gorgens - 05/13/10 | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for TEDxDU - Kim Gorgens - 05/13/10 | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for TEDxDU - Kim Gorgens - 05/13/10 |