Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Essay

Science says concussions are inevitable; 96 percent of all NFL players and 79 percent of all football players test positive for brain disease (Source: Frontline League of Denial 9/18/15 Concussion Watch Article). Prior to 2002, the NFL’s approach to preventing, treating, and managing concussions and CTE was very different than it is today. My essay will explore what some of those differences were and whether or not changes in the NFL are improving the outcomes and quality of life for current and former NFL players.

Underreporting concussions is a growing issue among young athletes for several different reasons including jeopardizing spot on the field or letting teammates down, do not want to seem weak to their coaches, parents or teammates, want their peers to think they are tough and can “take the hit”, or they do not want to be pulled out of the game or practice. Some athletes believe that if they can get up and walk away from it, they can keep playing but this is not the case. In most cases they do not feel the symptoms until a few hours after the actual impact occurs. In a study conducted by Chrisman (2013), he gave high school varsity athletes 4 hypothetical scenarios of collisions. When giving these scenarios, the “investigators” refrained from

Over the past couple of years, there has been a growing concern for NFL player’s safety and the amount of concussions occurring over the past years. A concussion is a type of mild traumatic brain injury that may be caused by either a fall; a direct blow to the head, face, or neck; or a blow elsewhere on the body that transmits force to the head (JAAPA). There has been a high attention directed towards concussions in many sports, but mainly football. The purpose of the research I will be conducting is to educate the players, coaches, and future players of the NFL on ways to prevent concussions. Several topics I will touch upon my research topic are how concussions associate with musculoskeletal injuries, how long a player should be sidelined before returning to play, the amount of research that has been done to prevent concussions, how teammates can have an effect on whether a player continues playing through a concussion or if they take the safe route, how coaches who are educated annually on concussions can decrease how bad a concussion is and ways coaches have been educated in the past and how effective that method was. I will specifically be paying attention to what is known and what other ways can the members of the NFL be educated on concussions. I want to know what they know and what steps are they taking towards preventing concussions. I also want to know what damage does it cause to the brain over time.

Concussions have been very controversial lately, especially in the youth sports industry, slowly progressing towards high school, college, and even professional sports. The movie “Concussion” has also been an agent of the controversial chaos. Now that the truth is out, that the NFL deceived millions of people, the concussion issue is flourishing. Although, it’s just a Hollywood movie, this movie could make a huge impact on how the nation looks at concussions. Thousands, even millions have already seen the 4 star movie, which can cause a huge change in outlook and perspective on

In medical terms, concussions are described as "a complex pathophysiologic process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces" (Hunt, Paniccia, Reed, & Keightley, 2016, p. 749). Over the past couple of years, the number of concussions in athletics has increased drastically. According to the data released by the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study, in the school year 2005-06 there were 133,000 concussions, which was much less than the recent data of the 2014-15 school year of 292,000 (Brzycki, 2016, p. 57). Not only are concussions becoming more prominent, but they accounted for 24.5% of all the injuries in 2014-15 (Brzycki, 2016, p. 57). Although many advances in concussion protocol have been

“CDC reports show that the amount of reported concussions has doubled in the last 10 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics has reported that emergency room visits for concussions in kids ages 8 to 13 years old has doubled, and concussions have risen 200 percent among teens ages 14 to 19 in the last decade” (Head Case, 2013). It is reported that between 5-10% of athletes will suffer concussion during any given sports season. Football is the most common sport with concussion risk for males with a 75% chance. It has also been found that 78% of concussions happen during games as opposed to during practices (Science Daily, 2014).

Today in the National Hockey League, concussions have become a serious reoccurring problem. Some of the league’s best athletes have had to end their professional careers prematurely, because of concussions. Gary Bettman, the NHL’s President, general managers of each team, and the National Hockey League’s Players Association, have been trying to come up with a solution to reduce the numbers of concussions each year. The NHL’s regular season ended the second weekend of April. Soon after the NHL announced that this year the league recorded the most concussions ever. The NHL is failing to reduce the numbers of concussions each year. So we ask this question, is the NHL doing a good enough job of protecting its players

The sport of hockey is an intense test of power and will, and as a result of the injuries in sport are common realities that players and coaches are faced with. Among these injuries are concussions, arguably the worst injury of all. A significant blow to the head that causes the brain to shake in the skull and sometime even swell causes a concussion. These serious and sometimes life threatening injuries have always been a part of hockey, and up until a few years ago, little was being done to combat the cause. Although great strides have been made to help athletes recover from a concussion, the question arises, why are hockey players so susceptible to these terrible head injuries in the first place?

A vital issue that has made its’ self-prominent are the concussions players get when playing sports. While many have different opinions of how players get concussions or how to prevent them. At the moment, there is not one sure solution to help or prevent concussions. One author Nate Jackson believe in stricter penalties, fines, and suspensions would help with the problem. The other author Lane Wallace thought that changing the culture would decrease the percentage of injuries overtime. These solutions are not a permeant alone but together they can benefit each other immensely.

Over the past couple of years the National Football League as well as other football associations have witnessed a rise in the occurrences of severe head trauma to players resulting in concussions. One of the NFL’s top priorities is the health and safety of their players. These NFL players bring an abundant amount of joy and excitement to their wild, raving, die hard football fans across the nation. However, these mens’ health today and for decades to come is equally if not more important than their careers that often last an average of 4 years playing football. Despite the increase in the number of concussions in football, leagues are doing all they can to prevent concussions by implementing new rules, provide new and improved equipment,

According to the Concussion Foundation a concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head. The impact causes the brain to move back and forth inside a person’s skull, which stretches and damages brain cells. As a result, the brain becomes susceptible to more injuries until it fully recovers. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 3.8 million concussions occur in the United States (U.S.) annually through sports (“What is a Concussion”). Between 2000 and 2004, concussions were the fifth most frequent injury in the National Football League (NFL) (Viano, 2007). However, only five-10% are recognized and eventually diagnosed (“What is a Concussion”). The highest level of football in the U.S. consists of professionals that play for one of the 32 teams that make up the NFL (Yengo-Kahn, 2015). Although football is a sport that has been built on “toughness” it’s become apparent in the last two decades that many of the retired players had debilitating long term health issues, many of which have been related to repeated concussions (Relch, 2013). There have been many lawsuits filed by retired players and their families against the NFL claiming, “head injuries” have impacted their long-term health (Relch, 2013). It has been concluded that most “head injuries” experienced are in fact concussions. Science has linked concussions to long-term cognitive impairment and other health problems. The NFL must do more to protect its players from problems stemming from concussions. One factor, that has not been significantly studied is if a player’s position increases the likelihood of a concussion(s) (Relch, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to take fully reported data and analyze concussion incidence rates for several positions whom experience the highest rates of concussions. This will be done by taking player’s positions and analyzing the occurrence of concussions along with the factors that influence them. A concussion changes the way a person’s brain normally works. A player can experience several long-term consequences from just one concussion. So, multiple concussions are even more worrisome to one’s physical and mental health. For the present

1. Baugh, C. M., Stamm, J. M., Riley, D. O., Gavett, B. E., Shenton, M. E., Lin, A., …

It is amazing to me how people’s brains are so small compared to the whole body, yet it is an exceedingly complex organ that deals with so many mental and physical functions that help regulate our body. The brain is one of our main sources of operation, and so when a person’s brain is harmed or damaged in any way, there can be major consequences for that individual. One detrimental brain injury that has recently been heavily researched and talked is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is a progressive degenerative disease in the brain (Comer, 2014). More light has been showed on CTE in order to raise more awareness and seek solutions in helping prevent and fix the disease. In the following paragraphs, I will explain more in detail about CTE, specifically the causes, symptoms and outcomes, and the importance of being aware of CTE.

Although high impact concussions cause the most damage to the brain’s structure, subconcussive impacts, lower impact jolts, over time can be just as destructive. The most alarming and well known effect of brain trauma is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). As neurons are damaged, tau proteins that support microtubules within the axons are denatured and dislodged. These proteins interact with each other and become tangled and clumped together. As clumps of tau protein build up inside neurons, communication is disrupted and they no longer function. The initial clumps of tau protein act as a catalyst over time, and cause ever more clumps to form, spreading throughout the brain and killing the affected cells. If an individual has

Football is the leading cause of concussions in modern sports and is responsible for more than half of the 3.8 million kids who suffer from concussions in America alone. In a recent study, the gravitational force experienced by the brain of a football player can be up to 289 times that of gravity (Kluger). This number demonstrates just how violent the game of football is when in comparison to the average gravitational force experienced by fighter jet pilots, which is around nine times that of gravity. There is no doubt that hits like those delivered in all levels of football can cause concussions, and that concussions are quite common in the sport of American football. However, questions linger such as what kind of long term affects do