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Concussions And Their Impacts On Life

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Concussions and Their Impacts on Later Life

Once flippantly referred to as having one’s bell rung, mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) or concussions are no innocuous contusions. Annually in the United States, approximately 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury that is confirmed through diagnosis. Of these, roughly 75% are categorized as mTBIs or concussions, although the total number of concussions may be slighted considering 81-92% of these injuries do not result in loss of consciousness. Recent controversy concerning professional athletes and their mental health has brought to light evidence that concussions may cause severely deleterious effects on a person’s wellness in later life. This poses the question, to …show more content…

The reticular activating system (RAS) accounts for the level of people’s involvement with their surroundings ranging from sleep to full attentiveness, so if that region of the brain is ineffective a person will have trouble paying attention (“Attention”). Attention deficit problems can be exceedingly detrimental to a student because they are unable to focus on the assignments at hand, constantly having unrelated thoughts or performing other tasks. Coupled with the cognitive problems caused by mTBIs, the adolescent’s grades will continue to suffer especially when they return to their studies before the brain has had adequate time to recover. In a separate study led by Doctor Steven Broglio, a professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois, previously concussed athletes and athletes with no prior brain injuries were asked to perform several tasks and were timed. The majority of athletes with history of brain injury took more time to perform each task and devoted more of their mental reserves than that of their non-injured counterparts. Dr. Broglio also observed that the previously concussed group had slight balance problems or a different way of walking where they keep their feet on

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