Severity of a Concussion May Soon be Able to be Determined with New Test

The severity of a concussion is currently not able to be determined. When a concussion brain injury occurs the medical field is very limited on determining the extent of a concussion but an ongoing study at Harvard has been yielding result that may result in a new way to exam a concussion after a brain injury occurs and should be able to offer better insight into the extent of a brain injury that someone sustains. 

The study includes five athletes from various sports including football players, wrestlers, and boxers. From the study shows when a concussion occurs the brain releases an increased amount of two chemicals, glutamate and choline. Increased choline is a marker for damaged tissue and glutamate is toxic at high levels, which could be the result of multiple concussion injuries to the brain. 

If successful the findings of this study will be able to result in a new way of testing people suffering from concussions by a Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy which will be able to determine how severe of a concussion the person suffered from and how it has effected the brain. This test is similar to an MRI but measures chemicals in the brain. The test if approved for usage will be able to help determine when and to what extent a brain injury has been caused especially in situations where multiple concussions are present over time.