According to the Sports Concussion Institute, with a 75% chance of receiving a concussion, football has the highest concussion risk for male players. For females, soccer is the riskiest sport with a 50% chance of concussion. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 1.6 and 3.8 million concussions occur each year. After a doctor has evaluated an athlete’s head injury and, on the basis of the necessary tests, diagnosed a conclusion, the athlete must rest in order to allow his or her brain to heal. Recovery time varies and a recent study shows that athletes with a certain genetic make-up are predisposed to a longer recovery period after getting a concussion.
Dr. Jane McDevitt from Philadelphia’s Temple University led the study, which followed 52 athletes during their recovery from concussion. McDevitt and her team administered the standardized concussion assessments after the athlete was injured and collected a saliva sample. Both concussion tests and saliva samples were recorded at regular intervals during the recovery period until the patient was fully healed. The team separated the assessments and samples into a normal recovery and a prolonged recovery group, depending on healing time.
After analyzing the DNA from the athletes’ saliva samples, McDevitt found that certain individuals are genetically predisposed toward a longer recovery period.
“We identified that patients with a long allele in the (GT)n genotype were four times more likely to have a prolonged concussion recovery, ” McDevitt said. “Because genes determine the structure and function of proteins involved in the cell’s resistance and response to mechanical stress, it’s not surprising there could be a connection to recovery from a traumatic event like a head injury.”
McDevitt presented her findings at the 2014 American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington. The Philadelphia researchers are the first to explore a genetic association to concussions and their research will help improve the monitoring of concussed individuals.
