Dr. Daniel Amen introduces and summarizes his recent breakthrough study of nearly 100 retired NFL football players’ brains using SPECT scans at his Amen Clinics. This summary chronicles some of the time line and history of how the study came about and the subsequent negative reaction from the NFL. Scientific evidence continues to mount for the case linking brain concussions to long-term brain damage and we can only hope that brain health finally gains a prominent place in all professional sports.
Here are some pictures from my second visit to the Amen Clinic this past December. I wanted to let some of the other guys see the entire process is actually painless and simple.
Dr. Daniel Amen has just allowed us to post a great interview in which he discusses his interest in studying the current debate and issues, how his clinic is studying the problem, as well as some of the new findings that have started to come out of these ongoing studies. (The entire interview is only 13:00 minutes long and covers a lot of topics so please take a few minutes to watch this for yourself and your loved ones.)
Last Thursday, I made the trip down to the Amen Clinic in Newport Beach for my scheduled brain scan. Dr. Kristen Willeumier was there to greet me and helped me to understand the entire process involved with my brain scan. They did some tests on mental acuity and Dr. Amen happened to be at his main clinic between road trips for his current book tour and managed to take some time to meet personally with me as well. The entire experience was easy and relaxed and I was back on a plane heading home to Seattle that evening.
We’ve been following the story of a young local junior high school athlete who got hit hard in a football game. 16-year old Zachery Lystedt was sent back in twice after getting what turned out to be a major concussion and he collapsed minutes after the game was finished. As a result of Zach’s injury, Washington State passed one of the strongest pieces of legislation to protect minors from additional injury following severe head trauma.Read our earlier post about Zachery and the new Washington law by clicking HERE.
