Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Problem

“This sport will never die, but it will never again be, as it was until recently, the subject of uncomplicated national enthusiasm.” This thesis statement introduces us to the basis of what this article sets out to convey. Football is a tradition that is loved by America, but previously lacked the issue of concern that it does now. The most concerning issue that the author is talking about is chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Caused by multiple head injuries, over a span of time, this disease results in atrophy of the brain, mood disorders, and dementia. The hidden damage caused by these injuries is taken into consideration when deciding to play football, however it is believed that this risk will deter players from joining in

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or better known as CTE has gained momentum in areas of public awareness and scientific involvement in recent years due to the popularized sport on American Football. During recent years, the media has been swaying and educating the public on the adverse outcomes that CTE can initiate. However, the first discovery of this disease was diagnosed by pathologist Harrison Martland and can be related back to the late 1920’s; the first true cases were identified in the physical sport of boxing. During that time, CTE was commonly known as dementia pugilistica meaning “punch drunk” from the wobbly nature of boxers during repetitive hits to the head.1,2 It was determined that dementia pugilistica (also known as boxer’s

The lead effects in the drinking water have caused a massive public health crisis (“Scientific Opinion on the risks”, 2015). The whole crisis was as a result of poor management practices employed in the Flint water plant. The city decided to switch the

An essential necessity for life is slowly killing residents in Michigan. The town of Flint, Michigan is slowly being poisoned by their water supply. Flint is 70 miles north of Detroit with a population of 98,310. According to the U.S. Census Bureau a little under half of residents live below the poverty line. More than fifty-five percent of the city’s population is African-American (CNN Library). The dangerous lead levels in the water went unnoticed for years, despite the residents’ complaints of discolored and foul-smelling water. The question at hand is how could this happen?

The Flint water crisis is an issue that has been plaguing the state of Michigan for over two years and has no feasible end in sight. The neglect of various government officials and employees has culminated in a public health danger for thousands of Michigan residents, by way of consumption of water with high levels of lead. Though the individuals deemed responsible for this deplorable situation have lost or resigned from their positions, and some criminal charges have been brought about, there is still a lot that has to be done to try and repair the damage that they did.

The article, “Lead Levels Remain High in Flint’s Water” by Matt Davenport explores the increased lead contamination in the Flint, Michigan water source. In April of 2014, high levels of bacteria, and fecal matter were detected in the water of Flint, Michigan. While the levels of bacteria decreased, the city’s water still breaks the federal rule for lead levels. A series of tests conducted by Marc A. Edwards was able to show that the city’s contaminated water was corroding pipes, which leached lead into the water. Because Edwards was able to inform the public about the contaminated water source, Michigan officials have taken steps to improve Flint’s water quality. For example, the water-pipes were re-routed to carry water from Detroit instead

In the article “It’s All Just Poison Now”, Oliver Laughland and Ryan Felton discuss how the lives of the residents of Flint, Michigan have been negatively affected by the city’s tainted water supply. Flint’s aging lead pipes, coupled with its corrosive water sources, have cause a number of contaminants to seep into the water supply. On top of this, the city’s water supply is inadequately purified, which caused many residents to be exposed to these toxins. The main concern to residents is the presence of poisonous lead in the water, which can be deadly even in low amounts. The community of Flint has been unknowingly drinking and bathing in these chemicals, despite being told by city officials that the water was safe. As a result, many residents

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that develops in people that suffer from multiple traumatic brain injuries, multiple concussions, or multiple sub-concussive injuries. It can take several years or decades to before any symptoms may arise. Chronic Traumatic encephalopathy was introduced by Martland in 1928. During that time Chronic traumatic encephalopathy was termed “punch drunk” which was mostly sustained by professional boxers.

“The more we complained about it to those in charge, the more we were told it was fine” is what Bishop Jefferson (2016), along with numerous other Flint residents, is saying about the on going situation with the Flint drinking water. Since April of 2014, many residents living in Flint, Michigan, have been cursed with a number of health effects that were caused by the change of the drinking water source from Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River which has been contaminated with lead. “Lead is a naturally occurring element found in small amounts in the earth’s crust”(2015). Although it is beneficial in some ways, it can be toxic to humans and animals and cause many health problems. So, when lead leached its way into the water

Recently, the residents of Flint, Michigan experienced a water crisis that caused lead to contaminate the water supply of thousands of people in the city. Although, Flint is a developed city within one of the worlds most successful countries, the water crisis of 2014 rocked the nation to its core, causing us to investigate how safe our drinking water really is and how social inequality continues to plague the country. The old pipes that channeled the water from the Flint River is lined with lead that has gone untreated with anticorrosive for many years. The Flint River is filled with iron which in itself is highly corrosive, but when mixed with lead is doubly hazardous to those who consume the water (CNN). As contaminated water flowed to the

Flint, Michigan, is approximately 70 miles away from the largest body of fresh water in the world, the Great Lakes. Ironically, its residents cannot access clean water from their taps. The Flint water crisis began in April 2014, when the state chose to save money by switching Flint’s water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River, a source of water that is apparently filthy. Now, the city is in a state of emergency as they struggle to access clean and consumable water, while there are reports of lead contamination creating a huge epidemic health problem. Since the crisis, children are the primary demographic with high lead counts in their blood. Detrimental health effects include, skin lesions, hair loss, high levels of lead in the blood, depression and anxiety.

Flint, Michigan is in a state of emergency, but help isn’t coming fast enough. The seepage of lead into drinking water pipes has created a widespread public health crisis, prompting President Obama to declare a federal state of emergency. The problem can be traced back to 2014 when the city started to use the Flint River as its water source. Flint needed an alternative water source until its connecting pipe to KWA was complete, so the city switched to the Flint River. In a summary of the Flint crisis, the New York Times stated, “the switch was made as a cost-saving measure for the struggling, majority-black city. Soon after, residents [began] to complain about the water’s color, taste and odor, and to report rashes and

The disease that is gaining more ground in retired football players is Chronic traumatic encephalopathy or better known as CTE. CTE is a disease that can make a person do thing that had not done in the past which will be discussed later. This is a big problem because not many people know about it or they do but they don’t know enough about it to care when they should care. In March of this year Kevin Turner a former player passed away and they had no clue that he had CTE until the doctors could examine his brain. From the day, he retired to the day he died he had no clue he had it or even know about it. With all of this said we as a community should make sure that everybody knows about it. Is there way to make football safer, so the players

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy can be cause by repeated traumatic brain injuries also called concussions. Multiple blows to the head without loss of consciousness, such as professional athletes and football players, are at higher risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy than individuals who have not experienced repeated brain injuries. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy symptoms start slowly and creep up on the patient. At first, there may be concentration and memory problems with some episodes of disorientation and confusion, dizziness, and headache. It is as if the concussion symptoms were starting to return even if there were no head injury. Emotions get altered and the patient can become aggressive and psychotic. As it progresses,

see that my brain is given to the NFL's brain bank” The brain bank that Duerson was peaking of is the Boston University Medical Center for the study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. This is a center that is specifically for the study of CTE (Ezell 1842). There have been over 46 former NFL players whose brains have been tested and 45 out of 46 tested positive for CTE (Ezell 1842). The NFL has been on the up rise of trying to learn more about CTE but with lack of studies around they aren’t really in too big of a rush to get things handled completely. The NFL recently donated 30 million to the National Institutes of Health for medical research of neurological diseases they donated specifically for concussions. Duerson staged his home so when they found him he would have papers and magazines of the NFL, ESPN and sports illustrated so they can see he clearly knew something was wrong and football may have been the cause. The NFL has taken precaution and changed some of the rules like moved the kickoff 5 yards forward to make it safer, this is to reduce the amount of kick return. Reducing the amount of kick return will reduce the amount of head injuries (concussions) due to the speed build up from running 75 yards to the person who is receiving who is