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September's Physician Focus TV program to highlight concussions
Sept. 4,
2012 |
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September's Physician Focus discusses concussions with (left to right) Dr. Bruce Karlin, Dr. Lauren Smith and Dr. Alan Ashare. Reminder Publications submitted photo
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WALTHAM — The severity and long-term health effects of concussions — mild traumatic brain injuries — are now being recognized by coaches, parents, players and fans at all levels of sports, from the professional ranks down to youth leagues.
The injuries have become a widespread concern: in Massachusetts alone, an estimated 36,000 student athletes each year experience a possible concussion according to state public health officials. Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control estimates that as many as 1.7 million traumatic brain injuries occur annually, some 75 percent of which are concussions.
To raise awareness about this injury, the Massachusetts Medical Society, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Hopkinton Community Television, HCAM-TV have collaborated in producing "Concussions," the September edition of the Medical Society's monthly patient education program, Physician Focus.
Guests for the program are Lauren Smith, M.D., M.P.H., medical director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Alan Ashare, M.D., a physician at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, chair of the Massachusetts Medical Society's Committee on Student Health and Sports Medicine, chair of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's Sports Medical Committee, and chair of the Safety and Protective Equipment Committee of USA Hockey. Hosting the show is Bruce Karlin, M.D., a primary care physician in Worcester.
The program is intended to serve as a primer on concussions, examining their causes, health consequences, and actions being taken to prevent and reduce their incidence. The discussion also includes the basics of the new regulations from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to protect players in school-based activities. "Concussions" is being distributed to public access television stations in the Commonwealth and is also available online at www.physicianfocus.org/concussions.
Physician Focus is a noncommercial production of the Massachusetts Medical Society and Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV. Now entering its ninth year, the monthly half-hour program brings viewers health and medical information on timely topics from physicians and other healthcare experts. The show reaches more than 260 communities across the Commonwealth.
HCAM-TV was founded April 1, 2004 by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Hopkinton as a non-profit corporation to manage local access to cable broadcast facilities.
For information on HCAM, visit www.hcam.tv.
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