Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (ALS)

ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease is a classified as a degenerative neurological disorder that inhibits motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain to function properly. This disease eventually results in paralysis and imminent death over a period of time. ALS patients have anywhere from a few months, to a couple years to live after diagnosis since their nervous systems are slowly destroyed, rendering the body useless, and sustaining life impossible.

Concussion is the true gripping story of one man’s decision to stand up to a multibillion-dollar business. Nigerian pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu works at the coroner’s office in downtown Pittsburgh. Here he made a discovery in the body of one of the greatest football players ever to play the game, Mike Webster. He suffered a decline in his body and started to act very strange by living out his car and tasering himself till he was unconscious so he can go to sleep; he was only fifty years old. Omalu discovered that Webster had a disease caused by multiple blows to the head from his football career, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which could affect everyone playing the game. Omalu felt that everyone should know of this and the harm

Concussion is based on the true story of Dr. Bennet Omalu who first discovered the deadly brain disease known as CTE or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. When Omalu first discovered CTE in 2002 during an autopsy of Mike Webster, a Hall-of-Fame Steelers' professional, the NFL largely ignored him. They used to attribute this problem with older patients as having Alzheimer's but that was not the case. In fact, the NFL went on full offense to deny the existence of such a disease, and they did their best to discredit Omalu because they did not want to have to pay for it.

Athletes are required to take a baseline testing on concussion assessment measures to allow them to have a “normal” level to refer back towards (Guskiewicz, 2004). These baseline tests will help identify abnormalities caused by injuries and post injury recovery. Baseline testing is starting to become required for almost all athletes because the brain is a very sensitive part of the body and needs to be monitored for the athlete’s safety. Examinations by methods of testing are done at the beginning of the season and they help to clinically assess functions such as memory, concentration and balance that can be affected by a concussion(Bradley, 2013). These are tests that are done by the athlete’s personal trainer, if the personal trainer

In addition, it is believed that the difference in fitness levels and equipment could increase the rate of concussions in student age athletes. Due to increased susceptibility, high school athletes are three times more likely to experience a second concussion during a season (Iverson, 1999). Failure to properly manage concussions may lead to long-term consequences, such as difficulty learning, emotional difficulty and personality changes (Iverson, Lovell & Smith, 2000).

Contact sports like football, boxing, wrestling, and hockey have health risks associated with repetitive head trauma that can produce concussions. Players of these types of sports are at a significantly higher risk for developing long-term brain damage and cognitive impairment later in life. A concussion is a subset of a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and results from shaking the brain within the skull. The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (the “AANS”) has defined a concussion as “a clinical syndrome characterized by an immediate and transient alteration in brain function, including an alteration of mental status and level of consciousness, resulting from mechanical force or trauma.” (Sports-related

The movie Concussion stars Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu who performs autopsies and looks into why people died. He works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has to look into what caused fifty-year-old former NFL quarterback Mike Webster to die. Dr. Omalu finds that Webster had been pulling his teeth out and super gluing them back in. Dr. Omalu who does not watch football catches a glimpse of it one day and begins to study it. He realizes how hard these players are getting hit when contact is initiated and tackles are made. He begins to do more research and finds that animals like woodpeckers and rams have built in shock absorption that protects their craniums from hitting their skulls, but humans do not have this feature. Human brains sit in a fluid disconnected from the skull so every time a football player gets hit the brain slams into the skull. Dr. Omalu finds that humans will obtain a concussion at a force of 60g and NFL players receive blows at 100g. Players were committing suicide by many different was such as shooting themselves, crashing their cars, or drinking antifreeze. Dr. Omalu found out they were all suffering from CTE, which stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain

There was a new movie released called Concussion, addressing a neurological deficiency called CTE or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE is quoted as a “degenerative brain condition”, in a Newsweek article titled “CONCUSSION: CAN A WILL SMITH MOVIE CHANGE THE WAY WE LOOK AT FOOTBALL?” This disease was first discovered and diagnosed by Doctor Bennet Omalu, during an autopsy on Mike Webster, legendary former Pittsburgh Steeler.

Imagine a Mack truck going one hundred miles per hour and heading straight for one’s head. Professional athletes have described experiences to be similar to this when diagnosed with a concussion. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that is caused by the jarring of one’s head of direct or indirect contact. It is mostly prevalent in high-contact sports, but can be obtained in any type of physical activity. Many short-term effects of concussions that are immediate signs include: headache, nausea, fatigue, dizziness, ringing in the ears, slurred speech, temporary loss of consciousness, confusion, and memory loss. However, the more serious, long-term effect of a concussion is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). CTE has doctors, coaches,

One could even have a brain scan, and it would not be able to detect if one sustained a concussion. Concussions are rated on a mild to severe scale. A mild concussion might result in a small change of consciousness. While a severe concussion could have symptoms ranging from unconsciousness, coma, to even death. A concussion is one of the most common sports-related injuries. Concussions have also been found to be related to CTE. In her book, McClafferty reports that, “17% of people develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy that have had repetitive concussions” (McClafferty 77). This helps support the link between traumatic brain injuries and concussions. Scientists, before brain trauma was considered an exceedingly serious element of sports, expressed their disquiet for football and long-term mental illness. A scientist by the name of Guskiewitz and his research group conclude that their “findings suggest that the onset of dementia-related syndromes may be instituted by repetitive cerebral concussions” (Fainaru-Wada and Fainaru 343). Ultimately, brain traumas known effects are expanding with each study that is done; it raises an even grander amount of concern for the safety of those who participate in sports.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a genetic disorder that has proven

Post-concussive syndrome can ultimately lead to diseases such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). A CTE is a neurodegenerative disease associated with repetitive brain trauma and characterized pathologically by the accumulation of protein in specific areas of the brain (Abreu, Cromartie, & Spradley, 2016). In 2005, Bennet Omalu allowed Americans to become more aware of the term CTE after completing research on a professional national football league (NFL) player and releasing the study to the public. The issue of CTE in the NFL was not easy to uncover during this time due to the hiding and denying of test results ran on cadavers. This finding sparked a chain of events that ultimately forced the NFL to settle a class-action lawsuit from

This scary article shares traumatizing information dealing with repeated, massive hits to the head in vigorous activities, like football, hockey, and even the war. What happens is people take part in too many brain risking activities and don’t stop after the first sign. Ann McKee, a pathologist at Boston Collage, states that a 25 year old man has blurred vision, major headaches and, and memory loss due to over 10 concussions, not including other massive crushes. McKee says that the man kept playing football until he became abusive and angry. Starting at age eight going to age 24 with an injured brain is an extreme risk. Finally, beat down and rugged, the car ran out of gas in the football world for this man.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a fairly recent discovery in medicine, psychology, and sports; even so there have been a number of studies within the last decade focusing on CTE. A recent study published last year by Filley focused on National Football League players who started playing football before they were twelve years old. He also had a control group who started later in life and saw that the earlier the player started playing football more neurologic impairment came with it later in life. A little earlier than this in 2012 Lehman had a similar outlook with focusing only on National Football League players, though his study was much larger with a total of 3,439. Due to CTE only diagnosable after death, Lehman had to get his data

Dr.Bennet Olamu is a Nigerian forensic pathologist who was the first to document findings of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Dr.Olamu found the first discoveries of CTE when investigating the brain of former Pittsburgh Steelers Center Mike Webster. Mike Webster was a player known for playing a hardnosed style of football. This resulted in permanent damage to the brain. When Dr.Olamu investigated his brain he was surprised by the amount of protein that causes CTE called tau. After making this discovery Dr.Olamu made the connection that too much head trauma in football can result in CTE. When Dr.Olamu decided to present this information to the NFL he was under the impression that the NFL would value his info. Instead