Persuasive Essay On Concussions Research

Head injuries, including concussions, particularly in the game of American football, have become a subject of deep concern, much study and even Congressional hearings in the United States.

While in recent years there has been increasing awareness of the topic of concussions there is still much to be accomplished in the way of education of youth sport participants including

Surveys were conducted among athletic trainers to see their institution’s policies. Approximately forty seven percent of trainers stated that their institution had a scripted policy regarding concussion management. Forty percent admitted that they did not have any policy regarding concussions. Fewer than one-third of respondents reported academic policies at their clinic. Institutions with more trainers are more likely to implement academic accommodations for injured athletes. The NCAA provides policies regarding concussions and its athletes. It is required that an athletic trainer inform the athletic teams of concussions and how to prevent them. The trainer will also provide them with the signs and symptoms to help identify a

Concussions are a rising issue in the daily life of many athletes in the sports of hockey, soccer, football, and skateboarding. Every 21 seconds, someone in this country encounters a brain injury. Concussions are brain injuries caused by jolts or hard hits around the head. When the tissue of the brain slams against the strong, thick skull in your head, a concussion is very common. This leads to either swelling of the brain, “torn blood vessels, or injury to the nerves.” (Haas) Eventually, the result will be immediate, delayed, or even permanent loss of your own brain. In the next four paragraphs, I will describe to you how a concussion is important to you and others, what the world can do to stop this issue, and what you can do to prevent

Along with typical symptoms, athletes should be aware of ways that the injury can be avoided. In concussion education classes, athletes would be educated on how to wear the proper headgear for their sport, ways to avoid head to head collisions, and what conditions are safe to play in. For many sports, headgear is required and athletes cannot practice or compete without it. Sports involving a possibility for high impact such as football, wrestling, baseball, softball, hockey, horseback riding, skateboarding, skiing, and cycling all require some type of helmet or headgear to be worn while playing (Concussion). While not every sport that requires headgear is a contact sport, head injuries are still likely to occur in all of them. All athletes, even athletes playing non contact sports, should be

Concussions are becoming more and more commonplace in today’s world. Some say it is because of the aggression of play, especially in hockey and football. Others will argue that “an increase in the recognition and reporting may be primarily responsible for the increase in incidence since 1997” (Minigh 42). With the increase in concussions in the sports world today, it is imperative that sports medicine physicians and athletic trainers have a standardized way to diagnose and treat traumatic brain injuries. Providers believe standardization is important because it will help teach upcoming physicians how to go about treating concussions generally, as well as giving patients an idea of what to expect from their treatment. This is where technology gets put in the game.

However, in 2013, the NFL and the NFLPA entered a dispute on how to allocate the $100 million. The NFLPA vetted several research proposals and invited the NFL to participate in the entire process, so they believed the NFL would comply with the research proposal they selected. The NFLPA decided to allocate the funds towards a 10 year Harvard initiative that would examine at least 1,000 retired players to use as long-term subjects on a wide range of health issues. The project aimed to discover approaches to diagnosing, treating and preventing injuries and in both active and retired players. However, the “joint contribution” would not pan out as the NFL refused to sign off on the grant. The two sides would eventually agree to allocate their $50 million funding towards separately selected medical research. The NFL has allocated most of its medical research funds to entities such as the National Institute of Health, the U.S. military and private companies. Examining the allocation of medical research funds from the NFL and examining how the NFL refused to allocate money towards the Harvard initiative, suggests the NFL is steering away from research specifically from the link between football and CTE. Although, the NFL is now addressing brain trauma as a health hazard for players and are trying to diagnose and mitigate the impact of brain injuries, the NFL is also not addressing the link between CTE and playing football, perhaps because the

Football is a sport loved by so many people, that a whole corporation was made for fans to enjoy it, the NFL. But do the fans know the risk that football players put themselves in when they step onto that field? It doesn't matter if you have experience there is always that risk for a concussion. Even kids playing youth football or teens playing high school football are at a high risk for concussions. Obviously, whatever guidelines out there that are meant to protect football players from concussions aren't working so something needs to be changed. Personally, if I was a parent I would never let my child play football unless the helmet, tackle guidelines, and penalties for late hits were improved. However I do understand why parents allow their children to play football, it is a sport like I said, loved by many and just fun to watch.

My first research project was the dangers and preventions of concussions in sports. Concussions can be very dangerous if you are not wearing the proper equipment and do not treat them properly. For those of you who don’t know “a concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull”. There are many symptoms of a concussion. “You may be suffering from a concussion if you experience dizziness, headache, off-balance, amnesia for what occurred before the head trauma, anterograde amnesia (a loss of ability to create new memories after the head trauma), difficulty concentrating, irritability and vomiting”.

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.

People are beginning to blame the NFL and football leagues for their concussion. The NFL has been set afire over the past few years. Former players are beginning to sue the league because of concussions they have received throughout the years for playing. There are 4,500 ailing retirees who, in 2011, sued the NFL over a perceived negligence to warn them of the sports risks. In return that cost the National football league $765 million dollars. So, over the next 65 years, all retired NFL players can receive baseline medical exams, educational services and a payout formula based on illness and age. This lead a spark to college football players who in return have filed lawsuits against the NCAA (National College Athletic Association) for concussions they allegedly sustained as student players.

Bone-crushing hits and flying tackles are all part of what makes football exciting to watch, but they are also part of the reason why the sport is now facing heavy criticism over the serious head injuries that it can bring. In response to concerns from both the public and players about injuries, research into making this head-crushing sport safer has become a leading concern for the NFL and many other sports medicine organizations across the country.

A recent study of college football players has shown that those who participate in high contact sports and have had a concussion before have a 300% higher chance of having another one in comparison to athletes that have never had a concussion before (Jolicoeur et al, 2007). The NFL and NCAA have enacted several rule changes in order to minimize the occurrence of concussions. These new rules, like many before them, have come under the scrutiny of the very athletes that they were meant to protect. The NHL and NHL Players Association in 1997 together created a program in order to get a better understanding of concussions and how to prevent them (Burke et al, 2011). According to Covassin (2008), athletes who have had more than one concussion take a longer time to recover with each concussion that they suffer from.

Concussions are all too common in contact sports not only at the professional level but at an amatuer level too. “The updated guideline recommends athletes with suspected concussion be immediately taken out of the game and not returned until assessed by a licensed health-care professional trained in concussion, return to play slowly and only after all acute symptoms are gone. Athletes of high school age and younger with a concussion should be managed more conservatively in regard to return to play, as evidence shows that they take longer to recover than college

Just recently, a large group containing thousands of current and former NFL players agreed to a court settlement of over $750 million with the league itself. The case was brought up by the players who claimed they suffered side effects of concussions during their NFL playing careers. They brought in third-party doctors and administrators to help determine how to split up most of the money in a manner that gives the most money to the most qualified and so on. When this is complete, the first half of this settlement will be dispersed over the first three years, and the remainder within twenty (Heitner).