Concussion tied to poor youth academic, emotional and behavioral outcomes

Several recent studies shine a light on the deleterious impact of concussions on our youth.  In one of the studies, researchers from Seattle-based, University of Washington found that those having one or more concussions within the past 12  months had a 25% risk of poor academic standing “experiencing multiple concussions could be particularly harmful on student outcomes.” 

Another study by researchers at the University of Rochester’s Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience revealed that children who suffered a traumatic brain injury have more emotional and behavioral problems than those that do not experience a concussion.  Even those who had mild traumatic brain injuries (also known as a concussion) showed an increased risk (15%) of an emotional or behavioral problem. The risk was the most pronounced in those children that were around 10 years old.

For parents making the decision about whether to allow their children to play a sport is not clear cut.  On the one hand these and other studies about the short- and long-term impacts of concussions warn us away from youth sports, yet on the other hand, studies have consistently shown the physical, mental and social benefits of sports, including  physical health, improved self-confidence, reduced stress, greater concentration, teamwork and peer acceptance.

So, do you allow your child to participate in sports or not?

Neither option is satisfactory.

We have found cures for countless diseases, yet not for concussion.  We can take precautions to minimize the risk of concussion in sports, but concussions don’t only occur on playing fields.  They are commonplace and take place as a result of falls, playground collisions,  motor vehicle accidents, bicycle crashes and more. 

Our company, Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals, is one of a number of companies in the race to find a treatment for concussions, and we support the efforts of all that are searching for a cure.  Oxeia’s drug, OXE103, is being tested in a Phase 2 clinical study at the  University of Kansas Medical Center.  OXE103 is synthetic human ghrelin, an endogenous hormone. OXE103 freely crosses the blood-brain barrier and is now being tested in humans to potentially treat concussions by addressing underlying neuro-metabolic dysfunction and axonal injury. OXE103 uniquely targets the hippocampus region of the brain, an area important for cognition and memory.

We recently reported positive interim results of our Phase 2 trial and are hopeful that our drug will be successful.  However, we are still at least three to five years from when we can expect to see any our therapy approved by the FDA. 

The mostly small clinical stage companies working to develop successful concussion drugs do not have the resources to move the race for the cure along as quickly as we would like.  We need investment from individuals, institutional investors and from the government to bring a treatment to market.  The sooner we get a reliable, proven treatments for concussions, the better not only for parents of young athletes, but for all of us.