
Why is Research on Animal Models?
When it comes to concussion management, there are a lot of nutrients (vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids) and herbs used in treatment. As naturopaths we have good history with certain things, and some patients report great improvement with certain supplements.
When you dig into things deeper – there isn’t always a gold standard human randomized controlled trial on every intervention we may use. We’ll dig into why this is the case.
RCT – The Gold Standard of Research
The Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) is considered the gold standard when it comes to research, which means it's considered the best type of research you can have. Both the study participants and the researchers don’t know which group is getting a real treatment and which is getting a placebo. The purpose of this kind of study is to test one treatment option on half the group (giving the other half a placebo), just to compare the effect on the treatment compared to placebo. The goal is to NOT allow for other things to interfere with improvement.
It's Hard to Control Concussion Management
Ideally, in an RCT, if a person took fish oil – we would try to NOT allow them to do other things that could help or hinder their recovery. As such - they wouldn’t be able to do things known to help recovery – like rest, rehab, vestibular training, or other supplements.
Ethically it would be impossible to subject a group of people with a known concussion to prohibit them from doing anything else which can help recovery. This is the reason they test these things in animals – which allows for more testing – both objectively and subjectively.
Book In with Us to Help Navigate the Supplement Aisle after Concussion
There are a lot of supplements marketed for concussion management, some work better than others. Historically we use certain things at certain times when it comes to concussion management – so ask a naturopath before taking things over the counter.
References
Interested in learning more?
Read on in our series of articles on Concussions!
About the Author - Dr. Johann de Chickera

Dr. Johann is a fully licensed Naturopathic Doctor. His approach emphasizes the importance of living a healthy lifestyle and improving one’s health naturally. Dr. Johann obtained a Doctor of Naturopathy at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM). Education at CCNM is a vigorous four years, with a curriculum involving biomedical sciences, physical diagnosis, clinical nutrition, traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, botanical (herbal) medicine, physical medicine, homeopathy and lifestyle management.
While Dr. Johann has a general practice, he focuses on fertility, hormonal imbalances, gut health, and autoimmune disease.
To book in please call us at (519) 442-2206 or click here.