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Several studies have found that concussions can negatively impact brain functions. Some researchers have found evidence that concussions last longer than the symptoms reveal. In a new study, researchers set out to examine the relationship between concussion and location of the incident. The researchers discovered that altitude appeared to play a role in the frequency of concussions.

"This is the first time any research has linked altitude to sports-related concussions," said Dawn Comstock, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health and co-author of the study reported by Medical Xpress. "It appears that when you are at altitude there may be a little less free space in the skull so the brain can't move around as much."

For this study, Comstock worked with David Smith, MD, from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center looked at the concussion data from 497 high schools throughout the United States. The high schools were siting at altitudes ranging from seven feet to 6,903 feet with a median of 600 feet. Even though the researchers looked at data on multiple sports, they categorized data on football players separately. The data was provided by the National High School Sports-related Injury Surveillance System, which was also directed by Comstock.

The researchers fond that high schools that played sports at a higher altitude had a lower concussions rate. The team calculated that schools playing multiple sports at altitudes higher than 600 feet had roughly a 31 percent decrease in concussions. For football specifically, the reduction was 30 percent.

"We did see significant differences in concussion rates with elevation changes," Comstock said. "This could mean that kids in Colorado are less likely to sustain a concussion playing sports than kids in Florida."

Even though the researchers did not find out why the relationship exists, they reasoned that blood vessels tend to swell in higher altitudes. The minor swelling could be preventing the brain from moving around too much in the skull during head impact.

"Vasogenic edema in the brain leads to increased extravascular water," the authors wrote. "These two adaptations would also lead to a tighter packaging of the brain with increased blood cell content surrounding the brain."

The study was published in the Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine.