During a meeting this week in Pittsburgh around 37 concussion clinicians and researchers gathered for a discussion on concussion. The experts produced a consensus that prolonged rest does not help in recovery of patients and rather worsens the situation.

Dr. David Okonkwo of UPMC said in a statement that experts during the gathering in Pittsburgh accepted how critical it was to bring top experts together and finally reach a conclusion.

“This is paradigm shifting. People may underestimate the impact of this, but on a global basis, every single person who sustains a concussion is told prolonged rest”, he said.

The experts gathered during the meeting reached at conclusion that the previous beliefs about concussion and its treatment are wrong and concussions are treatable.

The experts reached at a conclusion during the two-day UPMC Concussion Conference, ‘Targeted Evaluation and Active Management’. Attendees of the conference believe that this consensus of experts and researchers will help research move forward.

The summit was sponsored by UPMC and was received funding in the past from the NFL, also some doctors had links with a sports team or league that proved helpful.

Nicole Fisher founder and CEO of HHR Strategies, a health care and human rights focused advising firm said that several people in health and policy circles are calling it a PR stunt. She even criticized the conference for not allowing reporters and other interested parties observe the meeting.

Ms. Fisher during a phone interview said that people who were invited and who were not had a hesitation, primarily because of some of the other concussion summits. The NFL has remained silent.