ALISO VIEJO, Calif.,
Jan. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/
-- New research shows 99 percent of former professional
football players surveyed by the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund,
Inc., have suffered a head injury, repeated concussions, or a blow
to the head sometime during their football career. More concerning
is that a third of these players admit to experiencing symptoms
consistent with a little-known neurological condition caused by
brain injury called Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA); and most were
unaware that PBA symptoms may result from head injury. To help
educate the community, legendary football Hall-of-Famer,
Barry Sanders, has teamed up with
Gridiron Greats and Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to launch Tackle
PBA, a new educational campaign to increase awareness of PBA as a
potential consequence of brain injury.
"There's been a lot of attention recently on the consequences of
sports-related brain injuries, yet PBA – a neurologic condition
that can impact people with brain injury – is absent from the
dialogue," said Mr. Sanders. "There's low awareness for PBA and
many people don't know they have it. That's why I'm
thrilled for the opportunity to be a part of the Tackle PBA
campaign and help educate my peers as well as the larger sports
community and beyond."
An estimated two million Americans suffer from PBA, a neurologic
condition characterized by uncontrollable, sudden outbursts of
crying and/or laughing that don't usually match what a person is
feeling on the inside. PBA is not limited to sports-related brain
injury; it can also occur in people with brain injuries from other
causes like car accidents or falls, or certain other neurologic
conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke or multiple
sclerosis.
Additional findings from the "Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund
Survey" include:
- The majority of the former players surveyed were aware of
symptoms like memory loss (73 percent), difficulty thinking (60
percent), and headache (60 percent) as a result of brain injury.
However, few were aware of PBA symptoms
- Among former players surveyed with PBA symptoms, the greatest
impact of these symptoms appears to be on spending time with
family, maintaining a marriage, working and being able to
participate in social activities
- Only 16 percent of former players reporting any PBA symptoms
had discussed their symptoms with a healthcare professional and
just over half of them received any diagnosis or explanation for
their symptoms
- Common reasons for not reporting crying or laughing episodes to
a physician were "thought it was just depression" (29 percent) or
"too embarrassed to mention" (25 percent)
"People who suffer from PBA may find their symptoms challenging,
and suffer an emotional toll. PBA can negatively impact social
interactions and sometimes these crying or laughing episodes are so
interpersonally disruptive for people that they may interfere with
their normal activities," said Dr. Greg
O'Shanick, National Medical Director Emeritus of the Brain
Injury Association of America. "The good news is that PBA is
treatable. People who have, or think they may have PBA should talk
to their doctor about ways to manage their symptoms."
The Tackle PBA campaign activities include an online resource at
TacklePBA.org where people can learn more about PBA and take a
self-assessment test. In addition, shareable, educational content,
including a public service announcement, will be distributed
through the website and @PBAInfo to help ensure PBA remains in the
national dialogue. People are encouraged to join the dialogue
through #TacklePBA.
"We are honored to be joined by our Tackle PBA partners to help
us raise awareness and ensure that people with PBA have the
appropriate knowledge and support to manage their condition," said
Rohan Palekar, chief commercial
officer of Avanir Pharmaceuticals.
About PBA
PBA is a neurologic condition characterized
by uncontrollable, disruptive laughing and/or crying outbursts that
are often contrary or exaggerated to the patient's inner mood
state. As a result, many of those afflicted with PBA show
significant impairment on standard measures of health status, and
impairments in occupational and social function, often leading to
social isolation. PBA occurs secondary to a variety of neurologic
conditions such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), multiple sclerosis
(MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's
disease, stroke and Alzheimer's disease. When these disorders
damage areas of the brain that regulate normal emotional
expression, they can lead to uncontrollable, disruptive episodes of
crying or laughing. For more information about PBA, please
visit www.TacklePBA.org and follow @PBAinfo.
About the Survey
The 2014 "Gridiron Greats Assistance
Fund Survey" examined the types of head injuries that occur in
football and the possible after effects of those injuries. For
purposes of this survey, head injury, concussion or traumatic brain
injury included skull fracture, being knocked unconscious, having a
head injury requiring hospitalization, feeling wobbly or
disoriented after taking a hit to the head and experiencing
temporary memory loss after being hit.
All respondents were required to be at least 18 years old, have
played professional football or be the family member or person who
lives with or helps care for someone who has played professional
football. Of the 7,000 members of Gridiron Greats emailed to take
the survey, 516 people responded including 474 former professional
football players and 42 family members or caregivers of former
players. GfK, a leading market research organization, executed the
study which fielded in November of 2014. Avanir Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., was not identified as the sponsor. The prevalence of PBA
symptoms was determined using the Center for Neurologic
Study-Lability Scale (CNS-LS), a validated measure of PBA
symptoms.
About Barry
Sanders
Barry Sanders
is a former American football running back and considered to be one
of the greatest of all time. He won the Heisman Trophy while
playing football for Oklahoma State
University in 1988. Sander's played professional football
for 10 years and won Most Valuable Player in 1997. In 2004, he was
inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Today, Barry's time is
focused on his family, community and charitable projects.
About Gridiron Greats
The Gridiron Greats mission is
to assist dire need retired football players and their families.
These men were pioneers of the game and have greatly contributed to
making pro football the most popular sport in America. Gridiron
Greats provides hands-on assistance to help retired players and
their families deal with hardships they face after football. The
services include medical assistance, transportation costs for
medical evaluations and surgeries, dental assistance, housing
assistance, financial assistance for utilities, medication, and
coordination of services for food and other day-to-day
necessities.
About Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Avanir
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on
bringing innovative medicines to patients with central nervous
system disorders of high unmet medical need. As part of our
commitment, we have extensively invested in our pipeline and are
dedicated to advancing medicines that can substantially improve the
lives of patients and their loved ones. For more information about
Avanir, please visit http://www.avanir.com.
Avanir is a subsidiary of Otsuka
America, Inc. (OAI), a holding company established in the
U.S. in 1989. OAI is wholly owned by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co.,
Ltd. The Otsuka Group employs approximately 42,000 people globally,
and its products are available in more than 80 countries worldwide.
Otsuka welcomes you to visit its global website at
https://www.otsuka.co.jp/en.
Avanir® is a trademark or registered trademark of Avanir
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in the United
States and other countries.
©2015 Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Avanir Investor & Media Contact
Ian Clements, PhD
ir@avanir.com
+1 (949) 389-6700
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SOURCE Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc.