My Memories Of The Day I Sustained My First Concussion

As the coming years approach, I want my future to hold both the passion to explore new opportunities and the strength to overcome new challenges. With the experiences of my high school career, I aspire to take all the things I learned to transition into a college environment where my ideas can be challenged and shared. Where I can learn from others; where I can seek the opportunity to make a direct impact towards saving lives. I believe I can do great things. Through tenacity I will not only be gratified in becoming a doctor, but also be able to share my compassion for others through

As I began college, I decided not to choose a major at first. It was not until the beginning of this semester that I declared Biology as my major. I have always been interested in science, and it has always been one of my best subjects. Since I was little, my dream has been to become a doctor. As I have taken more classes, trying to weed out what I do and do not like, I have discovered that sciences are what interest me the most. Currently I have an emphasis in pre-professional studies which means that my major is leading me to attend a medical school after I graduate from Arkansas State University.

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.

Did you know, that someone suffers from a brain injury every 21 seconds (Haas)? Children get concussions all the time, and most of the time they go unnoticed. The majority of concussions happen when one is playing a sport such as football, hockey, or lacrosse. Many famous athletes have had their careers, even their lives cut short due to concussions. Brain damage and death can result from serial concussions (Schafer). When one suffers from a concussion, one’s brain needs time to recover physically and mentally. Between 2002 and 2006, statistics showed that 52,000 people died from concussions and about 275,000 were hospitalized (Fundukian). Everyone’s recovery process is different (“Injury and

Concussions can have severe effects on an athlete. They can lead depression, memory loss, and event death. However, with growing research, it is possible to take preventative measures, identify the likelihood of a concussion and engage in treatment. Undiagnosed concussions can lead to more severe injuries and athletes should be concerned about, aware of them and treat them. With new technology, greater awareness, and growing acceptance that concern should be less on winning a game than preventing and treating a concussion, it is possible that one day, concussions may be a rare thing of the

In recent years concussions have become more and more of a topic due to their effects on the people who receives them. Concussions can cause a multitude of problems for a person later in their life whether they suffered from a major concussion or just a minor concussion. These problems can occur if a person ended up with multiple concussions over a lifetime or if they only have had one single concussion The problems a person can encounter are all somewhat connected but very diverse at the same time. Most of the problems a person will encounter will be due to a change in that person's brain but they can range from simple memory problems to suicidal problems.

In Grade 10, I began my high school football career, already having suffered two diagnosed concussions. My new coach we were told, did not ‘believe’ in concussions and made it clear that we as his team, were to follow suit and play through pain. This resulted in me being plagued by all sorts of concussion symptoms such as memory loss, sensitivity to light, and an inability to focus throughout high school. I began doing my own research in Grade 10 into neuroscience because of this experience, and so I began learning all about the different lobes of the brain and their functions, what can happen when they are damaged, and how that affects someone’s behaviour, like with Phineas Gage. This interest very quickly escalated to me being totally captivated

During the time I’ve had to do this project I have come upon many interesting things that involve concussions. In my project I have researched what a concussion is, what the symptoms are, how more then one can affect you, and how you can receive them in different sports. On the right side of my trifold the section named “By the Sport” will show current research as to how and why concussions occur in various sports, how to prevent them, and finally what positions sustain the the most concussions in that sport. I've done all this research with sources to back the findings. Then, I will explain how concussions are different in adults and in children. In addition, I will share with the reader how concussions are treated at different ages. The learner profile I used in the summary of my project is Globalization and Sustainability. This is because I am explaining facts about concussions to the reader and showing them how concussion impact sports today.

As a summary of the book, Concussion revolves around Dr. Bennet Omalu’s research that discovered the Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Omalu is a forensic neuropathologist from Nigeria who came to America to fulfill dreams as a doctor and researcher. Omalu’s

With an average of 300,000 cases a year in the U.S alone, concussions have become a major topic in the athletic world. (Gessel et. al 2007) In the mid to late 1900’s many people were under the belief that a concussion was not that big of a deal and kids were rarely checked for an injury. It wasn’t until recent years that doctors actually researched concussions and realized that they were a big deal just like any other brain injury. The rise in concussions awareness has happened because of the lasting effects that numerous concussions can have on the brain. These effects can include an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer's, and Dementia. Because of these new studies professional

A concussion is a mild form of traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by a sudden or violent blow, bump, or jolt to the head. Concussions can also occur from a fall or a blow to the body that causes the head to move rapidly back and forth. These types of sudden or violent impacts make the brain accelerate inside of the skull, in movements called coups and contrecoups. These movements lead to the brain striking the front and back of the skull, damaging the delicate and vital organ. The Hippocratic Corpus, a collection of medical works from ancient Greece, is the first written work to mention concussions, and it discusses loss of functions such as speech, hearing and sight that can result from "commotion of the brain"2. The idea of a disruption of mental functions by a "shaking of the brain" remained the accepted understanding of concussions until the 19th century. The Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi was the first person to use the term "cerebral concussion" in the 10th century A.D., and his definition of concussions as a transient loss of function with no physical damage, paved the way for the medical understanding of the condition for centuries. Since then we have come a long way in our understanding of concussions, and since concussions are common injuries, a lot is known about how they occur, and what their effects are upon the human body. According to the CDC, 1.6 million to 3.8 million concussions occur each year in the United States and 5-10% of

The purpose of this review paper is to learn about the relationship between concussions and the human brain. This is relevant because if people learn about concussions and are aware of the effects of a concussion, they may be more careful and avoid activities that could cause concussions.

Concussions can be considered the “invisible injury.” While the injury is there, it cannot be seen without looking at the symptoms and performing tests (Concussion Facts). A concussion, sometimes referred to as a mild head injury, is defined as “a traumatic brain injury that alters the way the brain functions.” It is caused by a blow to the head or as a result of the head and upper body being violently shaken (Mayo Clinic, 2014). A concussion can be a result of a large number of activities. These activities can range from a car wreck to a hard hit to the head in a sports game or even just falling

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” As a child, we have all been asked this question; and as unrealistic children, we all had dreams of being a superhero, princess, cowboy, or astronaut. Later on in life, as time went by, and as we became more knowledgeable, our answers became more serious. Some of us wanted to be teachers, business owners, or a veterinarian. However, I have always wanted to be a doctor, but not just any doctor. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a pediatrician. Now, half way through my junior year in high school, I have started to question the details of this career, and all the hard work it takes to become a part of the medical field.

Throughout my life, I have worked towards one goal which is to become a doctor. Medicine offers the opportunity for me to integrate different scopes of science while trying to improve human life. Medicine has intrigued me throughout all my life because it??s a never ending