A concussion is a form of Traumatic Brain Injury. Of the 2.8M cases about 80% are diagnosed as concussions (or mild TBI’s).
Between 1.7 and 3.8 million sports and recreation-related concussions happen each year.
About 300,000 (20%) of those are from football. The rest are basketball (10%), cycling (7%), hockey, lacrosse, skiing, soccer(10%) and snowboarding. 5-10 concussions go unreported or undetected.
Last year, a study found that a history of playing football was associated with 61% higher chance of having Parkinson’s symptoms or being diagnosed with the disease. A 2018 study similarly found that repetitive head impacts from years of playing contact sports were associated with precursors to Parkinson’s disease.
Current blood diagnostic tests for concussions must be used within 12 hours of the concussion even though many concussions are not manifest for 72 hours. Fully 33% of concussions take up to four weeks to resolve. A simple saliva based test to monitor recovery is very much needed.
ATED’s tRF saliva test may aid and confirm a concussion diagnosis and possibly be used to follow the patient’s progress to recovery. Clinical trials are needed.