IOM to study youth sports concussions

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) will probe sports-related concussions among young people as concerns mount that the injuries cause mental distress later in life.

The IOM, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences, will study concussions among people of elementary-school age through young adulthood over the next six months.

The study will incorporate related federal research. It is expected to come out in late 2013. 

The instance of sports-related head injuries among young people has risen sharply in the last decade.

The trend has prompted concerns from parents, especially in light of a spate of suicides by former professional football players attributed to injury-related mental illness.

The National Football League currently faces a major lawsuit from former players who argue the league downplayed risks of long-term neurological damage from the game.

The new IOM study will be the most comprehensive of its type, officials said.

"You start talking about, 'Is it safe for Sally to be playing soccer?,' you get lots of public interest," said Robert Graham, a health expert at George Washington University who will lead the effort. 

Read more at Reuters. 

—This post was updated Tuesday at 6:14 pm.

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