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SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

& EVIDENCE

In addition to the extensive study conducted by Lund University in collaboration with the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and HockeyAllsvenskan (HA), below are several other studies that demonstrates the effects of brain cooling for treating concussion. These studies point to the positive effects of cooling treatment for concussions, something that the robust study with SHL now confirms with its strong result.

EXCERPT FROM PUBLICATION
  • "In conclusion, the study demonstrated increased the vulnerability of the mildly traumatized brain to periods of elevated temperature. Elevating the brain and core temperature immediately prior to mTBI produced more severe changes in contusion volume and damage to dentate hilar neurons. This finding would suggest that strategies that include the critical measurement and management of temperatures before or following an mTBI or concussion could be beneficial in limiting tissue vulnerability and subsequent behavioral deficits."

University of Miami

Mild Hyperthermia Worsens the Neuropathological Damage Associated with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats

Atsushi Sakurai, Coleen M. Atkins, Ofelia F. Alonso, Helen M. Bramlett, and W. Dalton Dietrich

SUMMARY

Experimental study from the University of Miami shows that mild hyperthermia in rats (39°C) gives significant more symptoms than at 37 °C. See attached full article.

Effects of variation in temperature management on cerebral performance category scores in patients who received therapeutic hypothermia post cardiac arrest. (Every 5 min delay in induction increases odds of the poor outcome by 6%)

Sendelbach S, et al.

Effects of Therapeutic Hypothermia on Inflammasome Signaling After Traumatic Brain Injury

Tomura S, de Rivero Vaccari JP, Keane RW, Bramlett HM, Dietrich WD.
Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism. 2012 Oct;32(10):1939-47.

Noninvasive Selective Brain Cooling by Head and Neck cooling is Protective in Severe TBI

Qiu W, Shen H, Zhang Y, Wang W, Liu W, Jiang Q, Luo M, Manou M.
Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. 2006 Dec;13(10):995-1000.

Post-Traumatic Brain Hypothermia Reduces Histopathological Damage Following Concussive Brain Injury in the Rat

Dietrich WD, Alonso O, Busto R, Globus MY, Ginsberg MD.
Acta Neuropathologica. 1994;87(3):250-8.

Neuroprotective Mechanisms of Hypothermia in Brain Ischaemia

Yenari MA, Han HS.
Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 2012 Feb 22;13(4):267-78.

A Military-Centered Approach to Neuroprotection for Traumatic Brain Injury

Shear DA, Tortella FC
Frontiers in Neurology. 2013 Jun 12;4:73.

Prophylactic Hypothermia for Traumatic Brain Injury: a Quantitative Systematic Review

Fox JL, Vu EN, Doyle-Waters M, Brubacher JR, Abu-Laban R, Hu Z.
Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2010 Jul;12(4):355-64.

Post-Traumatic Brain Hypothermia Reduces Histopathological Damage Following Concussive Brain Injury in the Rat

Dietrich WD, Alonso O, Busto R, Globus MY, Ginsberg MD.
Acta Neuropathologica. 1994;87(3):250-8.

Post-Traumatic Brain Hypothermia Provides Protection from Sensorimotor and Cognitive Behavioral Deficits

Bramlett HM, Green EJ, Dietrich WD, Busto R, Globus MY, Ginsberg MD.
Journal of Neurotrauma. 1995 Jun;12(3):289-98.

Effects of Therapeutic Hypothermia on Inflammasome Signaling After Traumatic Brain Injury

Tomura S, de Rivero Vaccari JP, Keane RW, Bramlett HM, Dietrich WD.

Noninvasive Selective Brain Cooling by Head and Neck cooling is Protective in Severe TBI

Qiu W, Shen H, Zhang Y, Wang W, Liu W, Jiang Q, Luo M, Manou M.
Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. 2006 Dec;13(10):995-1000.

The effect of sub-concussive collisions on brain integrity in colleagiate football players over a single football season: A multi-modal neuroimaging study

Slobounov SM, Walter A, Breiter HC, Zhu DC, Bai X, Bream T, Seidenberg P, Mao X, Johson B, Talvage TM Neuroimage Clinical 2017
March; 10.1016/j.nicl.2017.03.006

Meta-analysis of Therapeutic Hypothermia for Traumatic Brain Injury in Adult and Pediatric Patients

Crompton EM, Lubomirova I, Cotlarciuc I, Han T, Sharma S, Sharma P. Critical Care Medicine.
April 2017 – Volume 45 – Issue 4 – p 575–583.

Consequences of Repeated Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption in Football Players

Marchi N, Bazarian JJ, Puvenna V, Janigro M, Ghosh C, Zhong J, Zhu T, Blackman E, Stewart D, Ellis J, Butler R, Janigro D. PLoS One, 2013

Association of Acute Increase in Plasma Neurofilament
Light with Repetitive Subconcussive Head Impacts: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial

Angela Wirsching, Zhongxue Chen, Zachary W. Bevilacqua, Megan E. Huibregtse, and Keisuke Kawata
Journal of Neurotrauma. 36:548–553 (February 15, 2019)

Longitudinal Performance of Plasma Neurofilament Light and Tau in Professional Fighters: The Professional Fighters Brain Health Study

Charles Bernick, Henrik Zetterberg, Guogen Shan, Sarah Banks, and Kaj Blennow
Journal of Neurotrauma. 35:2351–2356 (October 15, 2018)

Therapeutic Hypothermia After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Evaluation of a Regional System to Increase Access to Cooling. (Every hour of delayed cooling increases mortality by 20%)

Mooney M, Barbara T, Unger RN et al (2011)
Circulation 124: 206-214

Cold Blooded: Evaluating Brain Temperature by MRI During
Surface Cooling of Human Subjects

Eric J. Curran, Daniel L. Wolfson, Richard Watts and Kalev Freeman
Neurocrit Care (2017) 27:214–219, DOI 10.1007/s12028-017-0389-4

Understanding the Consequences of Repetitive Subconcussive Head Impacts in Sport: Brain Changes and Dampened Motor Control Are Seen After Boxing Practice

Di Virgilio Thomas G., Ietswaart Magdalena, Wilson Lindsay, Donaldson David I., Hunter Angus M.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Dynamic blood brain barrier regulation in mild head trauma

O'Keeffe, Eoin & Kelly, Eoin & Liu, Yuzhe & Giordano, Chiara & Wallace, Eugene & Hynes, Mark & Tiernan, Stephen & Meagher, Aidan & Greene, Chris & Hughes, Stephanie & Burke, Tom & Kealy, John & Doyle, Niamh & Hay, Alison & Farrell, Michael & Grant, Gerald & Friedman, Alon & Veksler, Ronel & Molloy, Michael & Campbell, Matthew. (2019).

Journal of Neurotrauma. DOI: 10.1089/neu.2019.6483.

Further scientific evidence

SUMMARY

The scientific publication is an analysis of data from a 5-year study conducted in a collaboration between Lund University, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and HockeyAllsvenskan (HA). The results from the study show that treated players returned to play significantly sooner when using PolarCap® System, as well as show an immediate relief of symptoms.

 

Most interestingly, the study also found that long-term absence (3 weeks or more) was greatly reduced among treated players, by almost 80 percent.

Journal of Neurotrauma

Lund University

Shorter recovery time in concussed elite ice hockey players by early head-and-neck cooling – a clinical trial

Dr