The Cause Of Concussions In Professional Sports

In the true story based movie and the documentary, the dangers of head injuries in football are laid out for the viewer. Dr. Bennet Omalu discovered the brain injury chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE; however, the NFL was in denial about the effects football had on the brain and had on causing CTE. I believe that the NFL’s denial to the accusations were detrimental to many football players and that serious consideration should be taken into the way football is played overall.

Imagine being the MVP of an all star sports team, then suffering a concussion from a very competitive game or tournament. No matter what sport an athlete plays or how skilled they are at it, there is always going to be a possibility of injury. Concussions are an injury with serious side effects and can permanently end any star's career. Today, many young athletes suffer from sport related concussions. An estimated 3.8 million recreational and athletic concussions occur annually in the United States, according to statistics in 2012 (Concussion and Sports). Concussions are high on the rise and make athletes very vulnerable and prone to them. Among male athletes, sports resulting in the most concussions include football, ice hockey, lacrosse, wrestling, and soccer. For female athletes, soccer, lacrosse, and basketball were recorded for the sports that resulted in the most concussions. Youth athletes who have suffered one concussion, onset greater chances of experiencing more.

Concussions have been a serious problem for athletes in the past and continue to be a problem today. From pee-wee football to the professional league, head injuries are the number one safety concern. Years after the injuries, a lot of players develop signs of a brain disease called CTE. This disease has shown up in over 75 deceased NFL players. Some companies have been taking steps towards a brighter future for the game of football, such as creating a safer helmet with updated technology to lessen the overall impact of a hit.

Nearly 21% of all traumatic brain injuries to American children are due to sports and recreational activities. In the US, the most common injuries in youth, collegiate and professional sports is ankle injuries and pulled muscles. However, the most detrimental injury is stress to the brain, also known as a concussion. A concussion is a type of head injury that is most of the time caused by a whiplash or violent shaking of the head which is mainly seen in football, soccer and hockey(contact sports). Injuries in sports can last a lifetime depending on the severity causing many athletes to sit out of sports; therefore, athletes education lives are changed due to the inability to learn.

In the high school sports community, concussions remain a high threat to the athletes who do not receive sufficient awareness and the knowledge they need about concussions. Even though sports, such as football, are implementing penalties and different policies to try to reduce the amount of concussions that occur, high school student-athletes still suffer concussions at an alarming rate. Concussions remain a serious public health concern, as approximately 1.6 to 3.8 million sports-related concussions are estimated to occur each year. (Covassin, Elbin, Sarmiento 2012). However, North Carolina has taken the initiative to increase the student-athlete 's education of concussions within the high school community. Previous research regarding concussion

With the movie "Concussion" appearing in theatre 's last December, I took it upon myself to dive deeper into the subject. This time with the same concept, but with a different group of football players. More specifically, the young football players in which the injuries received, being both minor and major injuries, contributes to the development of their brain structures. Within each hit these young players take, the still growing brain comes to a halt every time the team makes a tackle that damages the brain further than most humans do throughout their lifetime. Many different scientists have been conducting experiments to provide proof of how concussions can cause a decline in lifespan of young football players.

Concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) affect millions of people worldwide. Sport-related concussion represents a significant public health problem, with elite and professional athletes, and millions of youth and amateur athletes worldwide suffering concussions annually. Another most unprotected group is the children of early preschool and elementary school kids. Concussion rates vary by age, gender, sport and type of exposure. An understanding of concussion rates, patterns of injury, and risk factors can drive targeted preventive measures and help reduce the risk of concussion in everyday life, not only in sport. Although traumatic brain injury may seem to concern only a small group of athletes, it really should

Throughout America’s history, football has been well known and a popular sport. Throughout the years, however, the safety of helmets have always been in question. As time went on, the amount of injuries significantly went down the helmets did not solve the problem completely. On November 6, 1869 the first "football" game took place. In my research I found that helmets were not mandatory until the 30’s which left a lot of players open to injury especially when half the players were wearing helmets and the other half were not while playing on the field. A concussion is a disturbance in brain function that occurs following either a blow to the head or as a result of the violent shaking of the head. Common symptoms of concussions include headache, amnesia, confusion, pressure in the head, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, ringing in the ears, slurred speech, sensitivity to light or noise, fatigue.

Imagine yourself running with a football amidst a game, trying to make your way to the endzone and then suddenly, Pow! You are hit by a defender and knocked back down to the ground. The world around you turns blurry as you approach the bench in your dizzy state, as you realize you have suffered a concussion. Football is one of the many popular sports which is officially played in high schools. Many of the young adults that play the game suffer from injuries such as concussions, making the sport a highly debated topic on whether it is safe for young athletes to play the game. Hard Knocks by Gabriel Charles Tyler is an article which provides valuable information regarding the effects of concussions caused in sports like football, how often they occur, and how people suffer from them. “Concussion Hazards in Youth Football” is an interview from CNN, of a renowned

Football is the most common sport for concussions in males. Anywhere from high school all the way up to the professional level concussions are a problem. It is estimated that football players receive anywhere from 900 to 1500 blows to the head during a single season. To make that matter worse, there is a 75% chance that a male playing football will get a concussion during their career as a player. Concussions are a huge problem in the world of sports today with numerous dangerous effects. Although some precautions have been taken to prevent concussions, better safety precautions must be taken.

Stanford football team and the gyroscope allowed them to measure the rotation of the head when they were hit, but the device is only limited in such that it can only measure the skull motion. Due to the research Camarillo concluded that corpus callosum might be one of the most common mechanisms of a concussion, it causes a dissociation between your right and your left brain and could explain some of the symptoms of concussion. Camarillo stated during the video that “what we think is that if we can slow the head down just enough so that the brain does not lag behind the skull but instead it moves in synchrony with the skull, then we might be able to prevent this mechanism of concussion. His team and lab also studied concussions with a neck collar that also had the same sensors in it as the mouth guard, which they found out that it can greatly reduce the risk of concussion in some scenarios compared to a normal bicycle helmet (Camarillo).

Playing a physical sport can turn into a traumatic experience if you end up with a concussion in an emergency room. Recent studies by CPSC data, there were an estimated 446,788 sports-related head injuries treated at U.S. hospital emergency rooms in the year of 2009. Sometimes when athletes are focused in their sports, they sometimes forget about the impact they have on another player which causes the other player to be get severely injured. Head injuries are not new to the world of sports – but what is being done to prevent these tragic trauma? The NCAA has implemented a new football helmet with optimism that it will reduce the numbers of concussions and other head injuries throughout the season. The increase in sports-related head injuries

In the recent years, concussions have become a common accident related to various types of sports around the globe. A concussion is a traumatic injury of the brain, they can also be as a result of a sudden blow on the body. Such a blow may cause the head to jerk back and forth in a rapid motion. This may cause a bounce or twist within the skull, which may over stretch the brain, cause cell damage and alter chemical functioning within the brain. The occurrence of such changes within the brain leads it to vulnerability to injury and increased sensitivity. Concussions in athletes are a common scenario, and some instances may pass unnoticed making such cases to be very dangerous.

Junior Seau, one of the greatest linebackers in the history of the NFL. He played football for twenty years. He started most of those years for the San Diego Chargers. After retiring as a very wealthy man in 2010, he committed suicide on May 2, 2012. After he died scientists examined his brain and found evidence of CTE. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE “is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes with a history of repetitive brain trauma” (CTE Center). CTE was first identified in 1928 and called “punch drunk syndrome” in order to describe the effects several boxers were having. Over the next 75 years, researchers found similar findings in boxers and others with brain trauma. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

A concussion is a very serious brain injury. Concussions are considered a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI). A concussion can happen to anyone. A concussion is caused by something hitting the head and having whiplash. The whiplash causes the brain to shake violently back and forth. The brain may bounce and hit the skull or even twist in the skull creating a chemical change or stretching and damaging brain cells. Concussions are considered a mild brain injuries because most of the time they are not life threating, but can be if very serious (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).