What we are working on, looking at, thinking about, and inspired by. 

BIAMD's #5ThoughtsFriday - 12/23/2016
Here are the 5 things we thought were worth sharing with you this week:


My brain injury Christmas list was composed because I wholeheartedly feel the need for all of the things on my list to be realized and accomplished in years to come.
 
To check it out, click on Santa above or  
  CLICK HERE
4)  This holiday season, don't forget the helmet...

Lucas Zarebinski for TIME

Morpher / $119

Like many cyclists, Jeff Woolf has been involved in a serious crash-one that might have killed him were it not for his helmet. So why, he wondered, do so many of his contemporaries refuse to wear one? 
 
Turns out, it's mostly because they're hard to carry around; they're thick and bulky, and don't fit into bags or backpacks. And that was a problem that Woolf, an engineer, knew he could fix. 
 
The result: Morpher, a bike helmet made from interweaved plastics that is just as strong as its traditional counterparts (it meets general safety requirements in both the U.S. and Europe), but flexible enough to fold almost totally flat, making it easier to transport. Woolf recently shipped the first units to his Indiegogo backers, who helped raise almost $300,000; he's now in talks with stores too. "It's inevitable that as more people take to the road on a bicycle, more people will have accidents," Woolf says, adding that he hopes Morpher will save lives.

To see the indiegogo video, CLICK HERE.
To find out more, 
   
3) Remember last year's 
Chocolate Milk  "concussion controversy"?

On December 22, the University of Maryland published a remarkable press release about some research it had conducted. According to the release, a study conducted by a professor at the  UMD School of Public Health had shown that a product called Fifth Quarter Fresh - basically, a fancy, fortified chocolate milk - "helped high school football players improve their cognitive and motor function over the course of a season, even after experiencing  concussions." 

Given the current focus on youth concussions, it's no surprise that this news traveled fast and that the claim appears to have benefited the company in question. Motivated by what appeared to be sturdy scientific evidence, a rural school superintendent in Maryland said he's "planning to buy $25,000 worth" of the stuff next year to help protect his kids,  reported STAT News. The claim also caught the eye of an editor at HealthNewsReview.org, who asked Andrew Holtz, a writer there, to dig into the details. So he did something science journalists do every day: He reached out to Maryland to get a copy of the study the press release was written off  of...

To read the rest of the story,  CLICK HERE.  
To read UMD's investigation into the research which was
 
2)  What we're reading that you might enjoy ...

Long, long ago, in a land far away, lived a perfect little tree named Small Pine. Small Pine hoped to maintain its perfect form and be selected by the Queen as her Christmas tree. 

But as the warm-hearted little tree gave shelter to birds, rabbits, and deer in the forest, its branches became damaged.  Fortunately, the Queen had a different idea of perfection...

Young readers will want to read and reread the story of how Small Pine's love and charity for its friends helps make it the most "perfect" Christmas Tree of all.

To Have this book read to you,(like we did),  CLICK HERE.


(If you decide to buy it, don't forget to use Amazon Smile and select the Brain Injury Association of Maryland as your donation beneficiary.) 
1)  Quote we are contemplating... 

"Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see." 
Hey, Did you Miss this Quarter's Edition of BIAMD's Headway Newsletter?
No worries.  Click HERE! 

Did you enjoy 5-Thoughts Friday?  If so, please forward this email to a friend!  Got a story we need to follow or share? Send it to info@biamd.org

Want to find a story from a past 5 Thoughts Friday, visit the archive by clicking HERE

Please let us know your requests and suggestions by emailing us at info@biamd.org or contacting us on Twitter.   

Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Let us know! Just  send a tweet to @biamd1  and put #5ThoughtsFriday in there so we can find it.

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend.
BIAMD LINKS | Brain Injury Association of Maryland  | 800.221.6443 | info@biamd.org | www.biamd.org
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