Multiple Concussions In Sports

Concussions in Sports
“You get a concussion. It could take 30, 40 days until that starts to come to life where you 're in agony. Ask any doctor. (Gest, David)” This quote was spoken by David Gest, meaning that it may take 30 to 40 days to be cleared of a concussion, or in some cases it could take a few months or a year. A concussion is a form of traumatic brain injury caused by a forceful movement of the head, for example, a blow or jolt causing the brain to rapidly move inside the skull, resulting in chemical changes in the brain, which may cause stretching or damage to brain cells. Concussions may cause symptoms to interfere with school work, social, family relationships, and participation in sports. Each year it is reported that there are
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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