TORONTO, August 30, 2010 -- The human cost of sport concussion and the science of preventing and managing it will be the focus of a symposium at York University on Tuesday evening.
The event is being held in memory of former York University student Donald Sanderson, a defenceman with the Whitby Dunlops hockey team, who tragically died from injury sustained from a concussion during a hockey game. Dahna Sanderson will speak about her son, who fell during a fight, hit his head and went into a coma, dying a few weeks later.
Retired Canadian professional ice hockey player Alyn McCauley will be a special guest speaker at the Blow by Blow: Sport Concussion Management symposium. McCauley played in the National Hockey League for ten years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings, before retiring with a serious knee injury. However, several concussions almost ended his promising career before he had played a single NHL game, including one that sidelined him for half a season. Now a professional scout for the Los Angeles Kings, he will speak to sports medicine professionals, coaches, athletes, parents and students at the symposium about the difference between dealing with his knee injury and his concussions.
Risk, prevention and management of sport concussion will also be addressed.
Alison Macpherson, associate professor in York's School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health, and an adjunct scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, will speak about the incidence and risk factors for sport concussion, and prevention strategies including the correct use of helmets.
Between 2002 and 2005, more than 6,000 children and youth went to emergency departments in Ontario with sports-related concussions, according to Macpherson. Hockey was associated with the highest risk of concussion, followed by cycling, skiing/snowboarding, and football. Concussions were most common among 14, 15 and 16-year-olds, and previous concussions were a risk factor.
Jason Mihalik, assistant professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will speak about recognition and management of sport concussion. Mihalik’s primary research interest involves the study of sport-related neurotraumatic injuries, with a particular emphasis on youth head and neck injury biomechanics.
Paul Piccininni, a member of the sports medicine staff at York University and team dentist for the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors (Ontario Hockey League), will provide an update on the use of mouthguards in sport. Piccininni, president of the International Society for Dentistry, Sport and Trauma, is a member of both the International Ice Hockey Federation Medical Committee and the International Olympic Committee Medical Commission Games Group and has worked at the past nine Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
WHAT: Blow by Blow: Sport Concussion Management symposium*
WHEN: Tues. Aug. 31, 2010, 6:30 to 8:30 pm
WHERE: Tribute Communities Recital Hall, Accolade East, Keele campus,York University.
MAP: Building 92 at http://www.yorku.ca/yorkweb/maps/keele.htm
TICKETS: Members of the public, $20.
Free for youth under 17 and York University students with ID.
For information and registration, http://www.yorku.ca/health/events/?Event=19734
*The symposium is being offered with assistance from The Donald Sanderson Memorial Trust Fund, which also contributes to the School of Kinesiology & Health Science annual student awards.
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 Faculties and 28 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
Media Contact: Janice Walls, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22101/ wallsj@yorku.ca
