Lou Gehrig's Disease In Sports

Recently over the previous decades, concussions have increasingly received attention in the world of sports. A concussion is a serious head injury that can happen to any player, and in just about any sport. Indeed, it has been happening to a countless number of athletes for centuries. However, it is also important to note that a concussion can also take place outside of sports, meaning it can happen to anybody. For instance, there have been incidents where a person tripped while running, fell, and the impact of their head’s contact with the ground has caused a concussion. Or, in a car accident many front-seat passengers, or even the driver, have slammed their heads against the dashboard/steering wheel, also possibly resulting in a concussion.

“CTE is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes (and others) with a history of repetitive brain trauma” (BU “What is CTE”) This has been especially found in athletes linked to football and boxing with a long history of concussions. However CTE cannot be diagnosed until death, so players will never know they had it. The other reason for the publicity of concussions is SIS. Second Impact Syndrome is if a player has been injured and they sustain a second, even mild, blow to the head. “(SIS) occurs when a person with a concussion, even a very mild one, suffers a second blow before fully recovering from the first. The brain swelling and increased intracranial pressure that can result is potentially fatal” (Davidson, Atkins, and Longe). 95% of repeat concussions occur within 10 days of the first, and 75% within 1 week (“Head Injuries”). Because the vessels in the brain take about 15 days to heal, the player is at higher risk for another concussion or the vessels bursting. A burst vessel can result in death. Without thorough evaluation, athletes are especially vulnerable to much more serious

Many varying kinds of head injuries can cause epileptic seizures, or other traumatic diseases, disorders and maybe even paralyzation. The most usual form of head injury is a concussion. A concussion can cause many forms of disorders of the brain that are potentially fatal. The most common way to receive a concussion is from contact sports, such as football, basketball, hockey, and even baseball. But the most prevalent sport that causes the highest amount of concussions is in football. The National Football League, or the NFL, is a league that consists of 32 teams from North America, averaging 53 people per team. In modern day society, the sport of American football is known as a violent and barbaric type of sport due to the reputation of the

Over the previous decades, concussions have increasingly received attention in the world of sports. A concussion is a serious head injury that can happen to any player, and in just about any sport. Indeed, it has been happening to a countless number of athletes for centuries. However, it is also important to note that a concussion can also take place outside of sports, meaning it can happen to anybody. For instance, there have been incidents where a person tripped while running, fell, and the impact of their head’s contact with the ground caused a concussion. Or, in a car accident many front-seat passengers, or even the driver, have slammed their heads against the dashboard/steering wheel, also possibly resulting in a concussion. Concussions when treated can be healed in a timely manner. Unfortunately, throughout history, there has been a tendency for people to overlook a concussion as a serious injury, therefore, making it more problematic than it already is. In the times to come, there will certainly continue to be dangers for athletes in just about any sport, as they are unavoidable. However, focusing strictly

identified a pathology consistent with CTE in a NFL player who succumbed to atherosclerotic heart disease, 12 years after he had stopped playing in the NFL. He had depicted memory deficits and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (Galgano, Cantu and Chin). Strong blows to the head are commonplace in professional football, and 87 of the 92 former NFL players had developed CTE, as disclosed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (Schumaker). Strong blows, including concussions, to the head can trigger CTE. This was concluded Boston University’s researchers, who observed that brain trauma, resulting from head injuries, activated protein build-up (Schumaker). As such, it has proved difficult to establish causal associations between behavioral changes, hemorrhaging and concussion (Harrison

Earlier in the paper I talked about the signs and symptoms of CTE. The signs are very hard to notice because they commonly get confused with normal aging. There are four stages to this dangerous disease that affect people in different ways. These stages can lead to death or Dementia. Then finally I talked about the two NFL players that ended up committing suicide because of CTE. The two football players were a big surprise to everybody. Junior Seau was a big surprise because of his success in the NFL. He is going to be a hall of famer in the NFL. CTE is a very dangerous disease that affects a lot of

Football, although fun and exciting, plays an immense role in many long term health issues especially for people who start at a young age. The sport’s injuries include long term health issues such as chronic encephalopathy, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia; it also can be a reason for domestic violence, and on some occasions, unnecessary death. There are many factors that can persuade parents to believe that football is a safer sport than it was before, but the long term effects of a simple injury from the sport outweighs it all.

In a study on concussed athletes the ones who continued to play had worse scores on both mental function tests performed eight days after the concussion and 30 days after the concussion. Medical records showed mental function had been similar in all players before their concussions (Tanner 2). In April of 2016, A study presented at an American Academy of Neurology meeting revealed that “more than 40 percent of retired National Football League players had signs of traumatic brain injury based on sensitive MRI scans called diffusion tensor imaging ("Concussions in Sports"). A study published in the journal Neurology tracked 3,439 retired players with at least 5 seasons in the NFL found that those players are four times as likely as other men their age to die of Alzheimer 's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) ("Concussions in Sports"). Return-to-play policies are widespread, especially in youth athletics, and they usually recommend sidelining players after a suspected concussion until symptoms resolve. One of the main reasons of sideling an athlete with a suspected concussion is to prevent a rare condition called second-impact syndrome, a potentially fatal brain swelling or bleeding that can occur when a player still recovering from a concussion gets hit again in the head (Tanner 2). Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a degenerative disease in the brain, primarily found in athletes who have had repeated brain trauma. In September 2002, a former NFL center: Mike Webster, 50, died. Webster was a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1974 to 1990. After his retirement from football he had suffered from amnesia, dementia, depression and a host of physical ailments. He becomes the first former NFL player to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) ("Concussions in Sports"). A

An article in “The Week” magazine states that in a recent study about 95% of NFL players that have died due to illness were in fact victims of the football related degenerative disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) (“Should Kids Play Football?” 3). CTE is a found in people who receive repetitive blows to the head, and results in memory loss, social instability, erratic behavior, and unfortunately death. CTE is the most commonly found in retired football players more than any other sport. Not to mention, CTE can affect people of all ages, so it is important to be mindful of the acts you let your child participate in. Including CTE many other diseases have been found to stem from playing football. According to Weller, after football plays resign from the game is when these diseases have been shown to arise. Diseases such as diagnoses of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, ALS and chronic traumatic encephalopathy have resulted from the repetitive head blows during football (Weller 1). Retired players today are all still trying to raise awareness to inform parents and current players on the dangers of football and their personal experience. From slowed motor skills to the brain being paralyzed, these players are living proof of the traumatic incidents that occur in football. Not only does football cause present and instant injuries it can cause someone to have a continuous struggle with disease or

Some of the symptoms include: headaches, dizziness, difficulty concentrating or completing tasks, Irritability, and the sense that you “just don’t feel like yourself”. According to Dr. Maryse Lassonde, “even when the symptoms of a concussion appear to have gone, the brain is still not yet 100 percent normal.” In a study done on athletes that had concussions 30 years past then now have symptoms of parkinson's. Also further tests showed that past athletes who had a concussion experienced a thinning of the cortex in the same part of the brain that Alzheimer's

Football is an enormous part of American culture, and people/kids start playing when they are pretty young. Fathers have their sons play football, and the trend usually continues down the generational line. Unfortunately, injuries are common in football just like they are in many other sports, yet football has a past of extreme violence. Injured football players will push themselves through injury and rehab to get back on the field, because that is just the nature of the game. Occasionally athletes try to get back to playing too soon, and risk further and potentially more severe injuries. One of the main injuries people receive from football, and something that has been a big deal lately, is injuries with the head. In recent years, concussions

Concussions are a problem. They are a life changing injury, which have been around for a very long time but not a lot of people take them serious.This happens because we have not known about them for that long and a lot of people have a misconception of what a concussion is. Concussions are a traumatic brain injury that alters the way your brain functions (M.C.S). Most of the time it makes the person who got the concussion feel very disoriented and also gives out constant headaches. Concussions are a silent killer because later in life they cause Parkinson’s Disease which is a moving disability, Alzheimer 's which causes memory loss , Dementia which as well causes memory loss, and CTE which is known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and this

Many concerns have centered in on the possible links between repeated concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CPE. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a serious, degenerative brain disease that affects a person’s ability to think. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy involves the progressive brain damage, particularly in the frontal region of the brain, which controls many functions including people’s judgement, emotion, impulsive control, social behavior and their memory. A signature feature of the disease is abnormal deposits of a protein called tau that accumulates around small blood vessels in brain crevices. Researchers believe that multiple blows to the head may dislodge the tau protein from the cell structure and cause it to form in clumps inside nerve cells. This may damage or ultimately kill nerve cells, and spread as the disease progresses; one of the advanced stages is that brain shrinkage may occur. Researchers are working to refine brain scan techniques to identify Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy tau deposits in living brains. They are also looking for clues in people’s blood or cerebrospinal fluid that would allow them diagnose the disease before death. A large-scale study found that concussions in adolescents can increase the risk of developing multiple sclerosis later on in life. There are hints that head trauma may also be linked to the development of many other conditions, including multiple sclerosis. Health professionals are not entirely sure whether or not concussions are linked to these diseases or not. Past studies in animals have shown that trauma to the central nervous system, including the brain, may jump-start the kind of autoimmune reactions that are underlined with multiple sclerosis. Other risk of concussions are chronic headaches, amnesia and neurological disorders like Alzheimer 's disease or Parkinson 's syndrome. These can also lead to second-impact

Head injuries and concussions are what scientist believe have caused these brain diseases in young athletes. These injuries are sustained by serious blows to the head to the point when the brain slams back and forth against the inner head. Traumatic brain injuries are long term effects that are sustained through various blows to the head which scar the brain itself. Unlike TBIs, concussions can be healed in due time as long as the person who has experienced the concussions has followed the necessary procedures and has received enough rest to further help the brain heal. Some head injuries although can lead to these brain diseases. As a professional Italian soccer player Stefano Borgonovo had a successful career of a striker for Fiorentina, Milan and

More now than ever athletes are being watched out for when there is trauma to the brain. After multiple cases of poor treatment to concussions parents and doctors are cracking down on letting concussions not be a big deal. As more studies advance, it is discovered that every case is different. The range is created by severity, past experience with trauma, and how the patient heals. Concussions in sports can range in severity, and how they affect each individual over time depending on times of impact.