Telltale Headshake Could Identify Undiagnosed Concussions, Researchers Say
Early detection can help prevent long-term complications
We know how common and controversial concussions are in contact sports, but the condition is not exclusive to athletes. Anyone can be affected by the injury, and people older than 65 or or anyone with an increased risk of falling are at increased risk.
Some concussions are more obvious, possibly leading to a loss of consciousness or presenting common symptoms such as a headache, nausea, confusion, dizziness or memory problems. Some people may also have sensitivity to light or noise, feel groggy or slow or have changes to their sleep patterns. Now, new research says head shaking may be an additional sign of concussion and key to early diagnosis.
Study identifies new concussion symptom—what is SHAAKE?
Researchers say a newly recognized sign of concussion, exhibited by Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa after a disturbing hit during a game in September 2022, could help identify up to 33 percent of undiagnosed concussions.
Woman's World Answers
Scientists from the Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) and Mass General Brigham say that after a hit to the head, people sometimes quickly shake their head back and forth, which Tagovailoa did two separate times after his head hit the ground. While the movement is common in people who suffer a hit to the head, it hasn’t yet been named or studied as an official sign of concussion.
The new study, published in the journal Diagnostics, labels the movement Spontaneous Headshake After a Kinematic Event, or SHAAKE, and recommends that it be considered a sign of concussion. Researchers suggest doctors would have been equipped with evidence that Tagovailoa’s subsequent imbalance was caused by ataxia (neurological dysfunction that causes a lack of physical coordination) due to concussion, and not a back injury as originally reported, researchers state.
To conduct the study, researchers surveyed 347 current and former athletes ages 18 to 29 after showing them video examples of SHAAKE. Of the respondents, 69 percent reported having exhibited SHAAKE. Those who exhibited SHAAKE reported having a concussion 72 percent of the time.
The relationship was stronger for football players, who reported 92 percent of SHAAKEs associated with a concussion. Athletes reported exhibiting SHAAKEs a median of five times in their lives.
The surveyed athletes also described what they felt were the reasons for exhibiting SHAAKE. Twenty-five percent reported “disorientation or confusion,” 23 percent “a feeling like you needed to jumpstart your brain” and 14 percent “changes to your perception of space or perception of your body in space.”
Other reasons athletes provided for exhibiting SHAAKE were headache, dizziness, inability to keep their train of thought, changes to vision, hearing or balance, which are all also proven symptoms of concussion.
“While caution is needed when interpreting our sensitivity and specificity derived from self-reported data, these measures, in particular the high positive predictive values across all sports and in football specifically, place SHAAKE among the most predictive signs of concussion,” the authors state.
Understanding the long-term impact of concussions
A concussion is considered a mild traumatic brain injury, but it’s more than just a bang to the head. It stretches and injures nerves and blood vessels in the brain, causing chemical changes that temporarily make your brain stop functioning normally.
While not typically immediately life-threatening on their own, concussions require prompt medical attention. While severity varies, not every person who sustains a concussion experiences symptoms immediately, as they can arise as late as days after injury. Additionally, many people don’t associate their symptoms to head trauma or report it to their doctor.
In some cases, they can eventually lead to serious, lasting and even potentially fatal health complications. This may include cognitive decline, changes in personality, emotional (especially depression) and movement disorders, seizures and brain bleeding or swelling.
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