ROCHESTER, Minn.
Plenty of football and hockey players will say that they've had "their bell rung" during play or practice.
In light of a growing recognition of the devastating effects of sports-related head trauma, many of the world's leading concussion experts are meeting at Mayo Clinic this week for the "Ice Hockey Summit: Action on Concussion."
They include authors of the major concussion-assessment protocols for the National Hockey League and National Football League, neurologists, epidemiologists, coaches, players and referees from the United States, Canada and Europe.
"This is an incredibly diverse group -- for a purpose," said Dr. Michael Stuart, co-director of the Mayo Sports Medicine Center.
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By the end of today's final session, the 250 audience members will vote for the top "action items" -- priorities for better prevention, recognition and treatment of concussions.
Presenters have acknowledged that concussions affect athletes from youth to professional, and in all sorts of sports.
This summit is not for the faint of heart.
Even concussion experts gasped Tuesday when a video of an inline skater ended with the youngster smacking his head against the pavement after falling from a hand-rail trick.
Shortly after the video ended, the presenter showed an image of the teen's brain, leaking blood in an onion-sized region.
Ann McKee, co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy in Massachusetts, described in detail the effects of repetitive head trauma.
She presented photos of the brain of several deceased athletes, pointing out dead areas affected by long-term head trauma.
One was of the brain of Minnesota Vikings football player Wally Hilgenberg, who had a successful banking career after his days in the NFL ended, but died at age 66. His brain, like the others, showed a potentially telltale hole in the third ventricle.
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McKee also showed brain photos of an 18-year-old football player who died of causes unrelated to the sport.
"This is a very, very dramatic, striking abnormality, the likes of which should never be seen in an 18-year-old," McKee said as she pointed out dead regions of his brain.
Concussion secrecy among young athletes was once encouraged by the actions of college and professional athletes who would return to play as a mistaken sign of toughness.
During the past few years, though, that veil of secrecy is falling and even professional athletes, managers and team owners have begun to talk.
Multiple high-profile concussions during the past week in particular have moved the National Football League to consider the possibility of suspending football players who intentionally cause helmet-to-helmet hits.
"I think we're seeing a cultural shift, and I think we're still at the beginning of the cultural shift," said Kevin Guskiewicz, director of the Center for Retired Athletes at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
