Karen Olorunfemi
Dr.Jones
Topics Anatomy and Physiology
December 4, 2015 Long Term Effects of Concussions in Athletes
On the morning of December first of two thousand and twelve, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher took a .40 caliber gun and shot his girlfriend 22 times inside his master bedroom. He then drove down to Arrowhead Stadium, the Chief’s home stadium, to express his appreciation to his team’s general manager and coach for everything they had done for him, walked away, and then shot himself in the head. This tragic recollection of the murder-suicide case executed by the 25 year old football player paints him as a monstrous and willfully violent man but what if one was to acclaim all of these fatal incidents to too many bumps in the head? Well it has been. Years after this incident, after medical examiners conducted an autopsy on Belcher and they found that his brain showed signs of CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease caused by repetitive traumatic head injuries, also denoted as concussions. There have been many documented cases where after contact sport athletes experience excessive concussions, they then seem to develop a seemingly new character as they come to be ill fully violent, overtly aggressive, or even deeply depressive. Many times this may lead to the diagnosis of a mental disorder or may end tragically, as in Belchers case, in the death of others and/or the athletes themselves.
As a result of so many cases of mental decline in
This paper highlights the effects of concussions on the body. This results are from eleven published articles that report on concussions from research. The articles, do however, vary in how the define concussions. Groce and Urankar (2016) define concussions by using the centers for disease control and prevention definition, concussions are defined “as a mild form of brain injury that can be caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head.” Other articles differ in their definitions but all of them do have one thing in common they involve a blow to the head that ends in damage. This paper will examine the results gathered by the articles as well as spotlighting their results. It is important educate everyone on concussions because the impacts could
Concussions can cause long term effects if not treated properly. A player can recover from a concussion in a few weeks, but the lasting effects of a concussions still prove relevant. Retired players that have suffered from concussions during their careers and were not treated properly felt the long-term effects of sustaining head injuries that caused many to commit suicide, which has led to the NFL investigating their concussion protocol to keep the players safe. As the NFL uses its lead doctors to investigate and understand more about the brain it will lead to gains in the safety of athletes
Every year thousands of athletes are effected by the sports-related concussions. There are three types of concussions, they are classified as grades which is a special term medical professionals use to classify the severity of a traumatic brain injury. Grade 1 concussions are minute in terms of the severity of damage to the athlete’s brain. This is when there are in a brief daze, slight headache, and their head sometimes rings. (Cunha 581-585). The grade 2 concussions are the moderate concussions were an athlete completely fades to black, there’s no seeing anything, and they don’t know their location, name and various other important pieces of information (Cunha 581-585). Last, we have the grade 3 concussion which is the most severe, and
Getting a concussion in NFL football is completely different than concussions in high school, Middle school, or little league football. After getting a concussion myself and watching “League of Denial” I realize how serious they are and how poorly the NFL treated them. The NFL never had any professionals researching what the long term effects of getting concussions over and over were, They just assumed that it wasn't that big of a deal. They would put people back into the game even after they knew that they had a concussion which put them at a bigger risk than before. This makes me scared because they started to say that high school and middle school football players are allowed to go back into the game after their
A lot of sports that athletes play are contact sports. When you play contact sports, you run the risk of being injured. One of the more serious injuries that occur is a concussion. A concussion, according to the Virginia
In the sports world today, there are many different injuries that athletes experience and one of the most devastating injury is a concussion. Concussions can happen to anyone, in any sport, but we tend to see most concussions in contact sports (Świerzewski 1). While having an informal conversation with my dad about football, he told me it was common for athletes to receive a head injury in a game and continue to play as if nothing was wrong. While watching SportsCenter, I found that some of the greatest retired athletes don’t remember the best moments of their careers due to the lack of treatment. The worst aspect of concussions is that the symptoms can be delayed; in some cases, it’s only a headache so athletes don’t seek medical treatment. Multiple concussions over time can lead to life-threatening complications due to the damage they cause to the brain. Concussions can happen to anybody at anytime, but there is more to concussions than meets the eye.
“Meh, what’s some brain damage gonna hurt”, was a quote that ultimately lead to the death of John McCrae athlete, Rowan Stringer. She was known to be a “leader” and an “amazing rugby player” on her school varsity rugby team according to various sources. The concept that shocks me the most is that she died from second impact syndrome, revealing her brave, yet poor decision that resulted in her unfortunate death. As you can see, concussions can be life threatening. In order to appropriately handle a concussion, one must be aware of the symptoms of a concussion, how to deal with concussions, and the consequences of concussions.
How many people believe what they hear and see on television or the internet? It is astounding to believe that some members of the population will believe anything that is reported in the media without any scientific research or backing. With the popularity of the National Football League, it is easy to believe that any information given by ESPN or other sports broadcasting stations are providing accurate information. However, more scientific studies and research should be provided to fans based on the health of the players. Ever since the death of former National Football League star Junior Seau, which was caused by a concussion, there have been multiple reports to come out about the causes and effects of concussions. However, there are still aspects reguarding concussions that need to be clarified and studied regarding concussions: what are the long term effects of one concussion compared to many concussions, are the people who receive more playing time worse off in the long run, and will repeated concussions lead eventually to a complete mental collapse in everyone.
If concussions are related to permanent brain damage, then the amount of time spent in recovery should be increased, as supplying ample amount of time will provide reassurance that the brain has healed for athletes who recover quickly and for athletes who naturally need more time to recover.
Multiple studies have shown that concussions can lead to severe, debilitating, and permanent brain damage. With these consequences in mind, athletes should be required to be evaluated by a physician and sit out longer after receiving any sort of head trauma. Studies have also shown that concussions are cumulative. After someone receives one, their brain is more susceptible to further injury.
Concussions lead to many different symptoms and are caused by many hits to the head. Any ages can suffer from a concussion. All players found to have C.T.E have committed suicide and hundreds more suffer from long term brain damage. While television can be educational, start kids later on in age because your brain is still developing till age 14 and it can shorten your attention span.
two concussions, then a third is 2-4 times more likely, and if they 've had three concussions, then
How fast can a player be back and ready to play after an injury? What are the consequences of returning too early to play? These are just some of the questions asked by players, coaches and parents. The player generally does not care about his or her injury they just want to be playing again and helping their team. The importance of player health is more important than finishing a season. The athletes don’t get new bodies. So what is the importance of athlete recovery and health?
Lastly, having multiple concussions produce long term effects on athletes. This was proven by a study performed that compared athletes with a history of concussions to athletes with no concussion history using a concussion test known as: Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT). This is a computerized test that measures memory capabilities to determine if an athlete has a concussion. It was taken by the athletes prior to their season to find a baseline level. This baseline would then be used to determine if someone has a concussion by comparing it to a post-concussion result of the ImPACT. Every athlete in this study was given the ImPACT test within five days of sustaining a concussion. The results from this
After the suicide of NFL player Junior Seau last May and the murder-suicide of Kansas City Cheifs player Jovan Belcher, the issue of head trauma and the long term effects it has on players in the NFL has become a very hot topic in the sports and medical field. While the cause of Belcher’s depression has not been diagnosed as caused by any specific disease, the official diagnosis of what made Seau end his life has been cited as CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) (Zeigler, 2012). CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative brain disease which is caused by repetitive head trauma, such as concussions (SLI, 2012). CTE is known to cause depression, severe mood swings,