Concussion data

One in 10 high school athletes who play contact sports sustains a concussion each year — 63 percent of the about 62,000 concussions this year will be to football players.

Doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program want athletes, coaches, trainers, team physicians and parents to know about new research data on concussion symptoms and the effects and the dangers of returning concussed athletes to the playing field before the brain has had time to heal. Most concussions will not result in long-term effects, as long as the brain is allowed to heal completely.

They published the results of six separate research studies in major medical journals in the last year.

Among major findings:

— Amnesia, not loss of consciousness, may be the main indicator of concussion severity and predictor of post-injury, long-term neurological problems. Research shows an athlete can have a severe concussion without ever losing consciousness.

— Seemingly mild concussions can have serious effects. Even with mild concussion, there's significant decline in memory processing and other deficits in many athletes.

— The effects of multiple concussions are cumulative.

— Headache symptoms probably signal incomplete recovery.

— It may take high school athletes longer to recover than college athletes.

A concussion is defined as any change in mental status from an injury where the brain is rocked violently back and forth inside the skull because of a blow to the head, neck or upper body, the research says. Symptoms may include amnesia, confusion, disorientation, headache, nausea, uncoordinated hand-eye movements and, sometimes, loss of consciousness.