Protect hockey players

As the National Hockey League’s biggest and best pound each other into the boards this playoff season, a new study should give both comfort and concern to squeamish fans.

An ongoing study by the Rotman Research Institute at Toronto’s Baycrest Health Sciences on the effects of head injuries on hockey players has produced an unexpected and welcome result.

On objective tests of cognitive functions such as memory, attention and processing information, the NHL alumni do about as well as the study’s comparison group, no matter how many concussions they had during their careers or whether they have the gene associated with increased dementia.

Amid increased concern about the potentially devastating effects of the sorts of head injuries that hockey and football players all too often incur, this finding represents a positive glimmer.

It should in no way, however, discourage the NHL and junior hockey leagues’ important efforts to prevent brain injuries and treat them immediately when they occur. The good news is outweighed by reasons for caution. This same study found that 59 per cent of the former players reported problems with depression, anxiety, and alcohol and substance abuse. That was well above the 19 per cent found in the control group.

The NHL has begun to take action. For example, it now has spotters who pull players from games when the players suffer a head injury, so they can be tested.

These are good first steps to protect players from the repeated head injuries that have prematurely ended careers and ruined lives. These necessary, but modest measures should be just the beginning. Toronto Star