Just in time for the Super Bowl, a new report shows the NFL had a 58 percent increase in concussions this season over the previous season.

Rams team physician Matt Matava of Washington University says new rules and protocols are designed to reduce brain injuries.

“We like to think these various tools are coming out will be effective,” Matava says. “We just don’t know yet…it’s a big difference in taking a medical device or medical product or technique from the laboratory and putting it at the bedside or on the field and showing that it has proven long-term effects…”

Matava says they also do not know yet if the rise in concussions is a result of more violent hits, faster recognition or because players are more likely now to go to team doctors than in the past.

“There’s a difference in medical science between causation and association,” Matava says. “What we are looking for to see if there is actually a causation. In other words, does playing football at any level really, cause these findings or is it merely an association.”

The NFL is hoping for better diagnostics, safer helmets and playing surfaces will help as well.

Source: http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2016/02/05/new-report-shows-increase-of-concussions-in-nfl/