Brain Traum Football 's Final Fight?

Hello everyone. I am aware that many of you in this room participate in collegiate sports and many of these facts that I will inform you one you may not like to hear but I feel that it is important for people to know. According to NCAA.org, 10,500 brain injuries have occurred, 3,400 of which have been from football alone. In addition to this, 30% of these have been in females. Brain injuries are extremely hard on the body and can result in life long damage or even death, and it is very important for the student athletes to be aware of these risks and what they can do to prevent them.

While examining his brain, they found the first case of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) in a football player (Ezell). Dr. Omalu continued into the brains of football players. He diagnost another player with CTE. After that, two other doctors connect concussions to dementia. Dr. Bailes and Dr. Guskiewicz wrote, “that the onset of dementia-related syndromes may be initiated by repetitive cerebral concussions in professional football players” (Ezell). This was the first major finding connecting football to brain injuries.

Did you know that 99% of the dead NFL players had signs of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) when scientist looked through their brain (Ventras)? Most people wouldn’t know this fact, but scientist do and have known this since 2002. Even though they are making improvements, there is still an alarming rate of concussions happening. This report will discuss who is affected, how it can be prevented, how it is affecting sports today.

Concussions are thought to be one of the main contributing factors that lead to the development of CTE. If you break down the word to its Latin origins, concussion stems from the word conutere, which means to shake violently. A concussion is a type of brain injury that occurs when a patient receives trauma to the head, causing the brain to shake. It is believed that players receive concussions when they are exposed to either linear or angular forces (Cantu, 2012).

Even with the advancements of equipment and rules, CTE is still effecting athletes. Athletes that have suffered significant trauma to the brain are at a severe risk for CTE. CTE has caused countless deaths, dozens of suicides and even

Attention for traumatic brain injury has grown over the years and programs have been created to help try and prevent the injuries. As this is an injury to the brain the literature is vast with insight into what part of the brain injured resulted in what change in the individual. Children and athletics have been the main focus in recent years for studies as research have shown that undiagnosed injuries can have long lasting effects.

Concussions have been shown to be the cause of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or “CTE”, which has led to player suicides and other debilitating symptoms after retirement, including memory loss, depression, anxiety, headaches, and also sleep disturbances. “In CTE, a protein called Tau forms clumps that slowly spread throughout the brain, killing brain cells. CTE has been seen in people as young as 17, but symptoms do not generally begin appearing until years after the onset of head impacts.”(What Is CTE). This is why people are studying and trying to understand concussions fully in order to prevent and treat future ones. Concussions are very serious and shouldn’t be taken lightly which is why it has become a major topic in football. As much as professional and young athletes want to prove their toughness and continue to play, new research is proving that concussions are far more dangerous than anyone could have predicted.

In the article, “Sports and Brain Injury,” Michael McCrea, Lindsay Nelson and Julie Janecek report on the surprising prevalence and effects of sport-related concussions (SRCs). Concussions are among the most frequent injuries experienced by athletes participating in contact and collision sports (McCrea, Nelson and Janecek, 2014). Neurologists have increasingly studied the short and long-term effects of these brain injuries on athletes.

Concussions are becoming less of an issue due to better procedures and management. Many kids who are into contact sports will receive a concussion at some point in their career. This became a serious issue around the early 1990s and is now one of the most serious issues in today 's sports. The main concern is trying to know when kids are ready to get back onto the field. Coaches, doctors, and parents are getting worried about the safety of their kids and are skeptical about letting them continue in sports. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and disability in children around the world and accounts for approximately half of all trauma deaths (Di et al. 2). Only about ninety-percent of traumatic brain injuries are considered mild injuries, but the effects from them are still severe. Traumatic brain injuries are any type of head injury such as concussions or even contusions. Most kids and their parents do not know the basic facts about traumatic brain injuries which is hurting them in the long run. However, doctors are aiming to improve diagnosis, treatments, outcomes in the long run, and trying to get adult familiar with the process so they can help their children as well.

These risks in sports were understood to be dangerous, and science has evolved to make sports safer. So much has changed and been updated in concussion protocol in American sports within the last few years, giving credence to the group that believes that the status quo is adequate in addressing concerns for CTE among sports. The National Football League, NFL, believes that they have been earnestly seeking answers as far back as the 1990’s when they launched a committee on “mild traumatic brain injury” after “two star offensive players retired before the age of 30 due to concussion concerns” (Lartey). Their conclusion then was that concussions were a minor concern. Since then, as new research has brought new revelations of CTE and former players, the NFL has acknowledged this and has taken steps “to warn players about the potential connection between concussions and long-term brain injury” (Florio).

Over the past several years, concussions and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) have become hot topics in the world of football. The long lasting effects of concussions and CTE experienced

“CDC reports show that the amount of reported concussions has doubled in the last 10 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics has reported that emergency room visits for concussions in kids ages 8 to 13 years old has doubled, and concussions have risen 200 percent among teens ages 14 to 19 in the last decade” (Head Case, 2013). It is reported that between 5-10% of athletes will suffer concussion during any given sports season. Football is the most common sport with concussion risk for males with a 75% chance. It has also been found that 78% of concussions happen during games as opposed to during practices (Science Daily, 2014).

Football was something I knew I loved in the matter of a play, but I didn’t know how life threatening it could be. Not only at the moment, but also the effects it can cause in the future. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year U.S. emergency rooms care for an estimated 135,000 children ages 5 to 18 for sports-related brain injuries. As a youth playing football, you have cuts, and bruises. But most of the injuries playing football is are concussions.

After watching the movie “Concussion,” you will see and walk away with a kind of a important and, in all likelihood, consistent worry and also anxiety attacks about the act of playing football or any sport of the fact. Given the fact that, our brains, and the known sport football (the frequently served opportunity for an important sub-concussive and concussive hits), there is a huge yet clear debate for a plausible medical crisis in the long term it was always happening but we have only just started to realize it recently.

The disabilities that result from moderate to severe TBI differ depending on the area of injury, but they may include difficulties in speech, coordination, bilateral function, memory, complex thinking, and other areas (Murrey, 2006). Emotional and social areas are also affected by TBI due to changes in familial roles, lowered self-esteem, and hopelessness brought on by the injury (Murrey, 2006). Because of this, suicide rates in these patients are remarkably high, with 33% of patients at risk (León-Carriòn et al., 2005). Recovery in TBI patients may occur spontaneously throughout the two years following the trauma (León-Carrión et al., 2005). Beyond this point, remaining disabilities are usually permanent (León-Carrión et al., 2005).