Serious head injuries -- including concussions, swelling and bleeding on the brain -- are nowhere more apparent than in the world of professional sports. Indeed, stories of such injuries, a good many of which have resulted in athletes' deaths, have done much to accord head injuries center stage in media stories and to highlight generally the symptoms and treatments associated with head blows, as well as the increased risks of contracting a head injury for any person playing a contact sport.

Within the past year, there have been numerous stories of traumatic brain injuries suffered by athletes across the entire spectrum of sports activities. We have told many of those tales to our readers, given, especially, the applicability they have for child athletes as well as their older heroes.

Just recently, for example, we noted the death of a former Chicago Bears football player with a history of head-related hits during his career, and the effect that his passing has had on National Football League policies and educational efforts regarding head injuries. We followed that story up with the efforts of Little League Baseball to develop a new and more protective helmet for its young players. We noted in yet another blog post the tension that currently exists between the National Hockey League -- notorious for head blow incidents -- and one of its sponsors, Air Canada, with the airline stating that it may pull the plug on its marketing association with the NHL if the league does not get a better handle on "irresponsible accidents" involving head hits.

And now professional baseball enters into the arena, having just announced last week a new league policy regarding player concussions. In a move welcomed by the players' union, MLB will now require that any player diagnosed with a concussion will be placed on a seven-day disabled list and be unable to play for at least that period of time following a head hit.

In addition, the league will require its players to take a baseline neurological exam every spring and every time they join a new team.

Related Resource: Los Angeles Times "MLB adds 7-day DL for concussions" March 29, 2011