A newly developed Concussion Test is good News for Accident Victims

The University of Western Ontario (UWO) announced that the Western Concussion Study Group, funded by the Children’s Health Foundation, recently developed a blood test that allows medical practitioners to identify whether an adolescent or adult has suffered a concussion, with more than 90 per cent certainty.  This is good news for victims of concussion injuries, particularly for athletes, in terms of accurately identifying a concussion or a mild traumatic brain injury, before allowing an athlete to safely resume playing the sport or any other activity that may place the injured person at risk of worsening their condition. 

Concussion is a major health concern, as it often causes significant acute symptoms and for some accident victims, long-term neurological dysfunction or even, death.  In the past, identifying whether or not an athlete has sustained a concussion has relied on somewhat subjective assessments based on a person’s symptoms and a health practitioner’s judgement.  Even medical imaging technology, which is sometimes used to diagnose a patient suspected to have suffered a concussion, doesn’t always effectively identify this form of mild brain injury.

Some of the more immediate signs of concussion include: nausea and vomiting, headaches, vision problems, loss of coordination, and sensitivity to noise and light.  However, every injured person does not necessarily suffer the same symptoms and sometimes, symptoms do not immediately appear.  In the past, this has all-too-often resulted in brain-injured persons continuing to carry out physically and/or mentally demanding activities, which sometimes led to re-injury to the brain or worsening of their conditions.

When brain-injured persons are released from medical care because their injury was not properly assessed, there can be catastrophic consequences.   One such tragic incident involved actress, Natasha Richardson, who died after a Quebec skiing accident, when her head injury from what was initially perceived as a ‘minor fall’ was not identified as a serious injury and treated in time, causing massive internal bleeding and irreparable damage.  Most Canadians have long been aware that, until recently, concussion injuries for high-school, university and professional athletes were often not identified and diagnosed, which meant that athletes sometimes did not recover from their injury or developed more serious symptoms.

UWO researchers have shown that this new and relatively inexpensive blood test can accurately diagnose a concussion by means of a type of blood profiling known as metabolomics.  The blood test involves taking blood from a person who may have suffered a concussion from a traumatic blow to the head within 72 hours of the accident.  The metabolites in the blood sample (i.e. small molecules that are products of the body’s metabolism) are measured to search for discrete patterns that show a concussion has occurred. 

A lead researcher for this study at London Health Sciences Centre hopes that the test process can be refined so that the test can be operated outside the laboratory, by use of a small and relatively light machine that may be taken anywhere.  The advantage to a portable machine that accurately tests for concussion are huge, as testing could take place in an athletic facility or locker room, in a doctor’s office or emergency room, and in the front lines of military conflict.  The cost of the test is currently $100, but the cost may become as low as $40, which puts it on par as many other blood tests.

Sources:

mediarelations.uwo.ca/2016/11/07/western-lawson-scientists-develop-game-changing-blood-test-concussions/

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/concussion-blood-test-london-lawson-research-1.3841534