Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries Increasing on Slopes
A team of Canadian researches have suggested that the increasing popularity of ski and snowboard related acrobatics and high speed have expanded the incidents of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries that have occurred worldwide. An article published in the British journal, Injury Prevention, encourages skiers and snowboarders to wear helmets to reverse the trend of these types of injuries. “We feel that every skier and snowboarder of every age, of every skill level should be wearing a helmet,” said senior author Dr. Charles Tator, a neurosurgeon at Toronto's University Health Network and the founder of ThinkFirst Canada, a charity devoted to prevention of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. “We really strongly recommend helmets. There's very good evidence that helmets provide protection.” Tator and his colleagues did a systematic review of medical literature spanning January 1990 through December 2004. They found 24 articles linking traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries with skiing and snowboarding. One U.S. study they used showed an increase in ski related deaths over a 21-year period. Another article reported that the incidence of spinal cord injuries rose by 130 percent in children and 407 percent in adolescents. The studies further showed that snowboarders were substantially more likely than skiers to suffer serious head and cord injuries. The authors of the study strenuously encourage increased helmet wear and call for the ski and snowboard industries to promote helmet usage.
