We Need More Than Awareness of Concussions, We Need a Cure

September 15th is National Concussion Awareness Day.  Awareness of concussions (also known as mTBI or mild traumatic brain injury) and their potential for long-term consequences has heightened over the past decade.  Much of this is thanks to the media coverage about concussions from sports; falls, military blasts, workplace accidents, domestic violence, as well as motor vehicle, bicycle, and e-scooter crashes.  Yet despite this increased understanding of the potential for long-term and often debilitating effects of concussions, we have made remarkably little progress in finding effective treatments. 

An estimated 7 to 21 million reported and unreported people sustain concussions a year in the U.S. Twenty percent of these – or 1.4 to 4.2 million – have ongoing post-concussion symptoms for months and years following their injury.  These debilitating symptoms require ongoing physical, speech, cognitive, vision, occupational and/or drug therapies.   Studies have also linked mTBI with depression and PTSD, and repeated mTBIs with various neurodegenerative diseases.  For example, studies have shown that veterans with a history of mTBI have a 56% higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease within 12 years of their injury,

Concussion awareness is essential to preventing concussions,  recognizing and reporting a concussion and getting medical care. But since we’ll never be able to eliminate concussions, we need more than that. The tangible and intangible costs to patients, their families and the larger community are significant.  The American Association of Neurological Surgeons puts annual direct and indirect costs of the full spectrum of TBIs – from mild to severe – are $76.5 billion.  Approximately 75% of all TBIs are mTBI. 

To date, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved any drug that is specifically indicated for concussions. However, several companies, including our company, Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals, are actively developing and testing new drugs to treat this devastating indication.  Small bioiopharmaceutical companies like ours need funding to advance research so we can develop treatments not only for a concussion’s immediate symptoms, but for the underlying damage.  Perhaps those with a vested interest in finding a cure, such as sports organizations, the media, the military and others should step up to the plate to help accelerate efforts toward finding an effective therapeutic for this unmet medical need. Rest is not enough.