Concussions In Sports Essay

A nationwide epidemic is occurring throughout the United States and is on the rise. Although many know about it, they fail to realize the side effects and diseases that can that lay dormant, waiting to be awakened and devastate their lives and potentially end them. Concussions are increasing annually among athletes in contact sports. Children and adults participating in these particular sports are potential victims of concussions and the long lasting side effects. The concerns of athletes receiving concussions is rising because as studies progress, many are leading to the conclusion that concussions impose future health complications.

Shumko and Toto’s article provides information on symptoms and recovery time while even putting together true stories about athletes who have had concussions. The article starts off with a story of a boy who suffered a concussion while playing soccer. Shumko and Toto expand from that story by following it up with statistics on how many people have concussions to offering information on how health assessment centers for athletes have concussions programs. The author’s gives a broad view on concussions and the positive outcome’s of making more people aware of the injury.

Athletes from over one-hundred high schools and one-hundred-eighty colleges were studied in order for researchers to investigate the epidemiology of concussions and to compare the rates of concussions among high school and collegiate athletes. Two injury surveillance systems, High School Reporting Information Online (RIO), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance system collected data and this data was analyzed to calculate concussion rates, describe patterns, and evaluate potential risk factors for sports-related concussions. It was then discovered that 8.9 percent of high school athletic injuries and 5.9 percent of collegiate athletic injuries were concussions. Rates of concussions for both collegiate and high

In recent years an abundance of brain injury research has provided evidence of the lifelong impairments affecting children who have sustained a sports related concussion. Although the information on and how to prevent sports related concussions have been distributed among both athletic coaches, faculty and parents alike, sports related concussions often go unreported. Lack of proper education has lead parents and coaches to believe sports related concussions as being “minor injuries” (Macdonald).

We have all heard of the term “sports injury”. Usually an accident that occurs when engaged in a sport, the ideal can apply from something as frustrating as a rolled ankle to the more debilitating shock of a broken arm. Yet the fact remains that these physical ailments will heal, and properly, if they are treated properly. But what about concussions? What are the long term effects? In her brief editorial in TIME magazine, Alexandra Sifferlin explores the effects of concussions and specifically how they affect children if they aren't disclosed.

Overall, this article explores the connection between youth concussions and long term degeneration of cognition and motor skills. Athletes who were concussed as late-teens have a high rate of Alzheimer’s and cognition impairments, as early as 30 years after the concussion. Two groups were compared, one who had sustained concussions at this late teen stage, and those who had never been concussed. Various neurological tests were conducted such as the Mini-Mental State Examination, and the Rey-Osterreith Complex Rigure Test, along with a test for motor skills. The MMSE test found no substantial differences between the two groups. However, the concussed group scored lower on the RCFT test, and a lower response time in the motor skills test. They

The participants that was selected for this research were athletes that were practicing and competing during the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 academic school year. A total of fifty seven concussed college athletes were selected from five northeastern universities active in basketball, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, football, wrestling, gymnastics, softball, volleyball, and cheerleading. From the fifty seven collegiate that were selected 36 of them did not have any history while 21 of the athletes have two or more history of concussion. This study did not include athletes with a history of one concussion due to the fact that their sample size provided inadequate data.

Sports hold tremendous value in American society and all athletes have at least one thing in common: the risk of getting a concussion. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that results from a direct/indirect action or force that causes the brain to shake rapidly within the skull (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016). This injury can mildly or severely affect the brain’s function by damaging brain cells and producing chemical alterations (CDC, 2016). Throughout the years, concussions have been more prevalent not only in professional sports, but among youth, college, and recreational sports as well. Despite the remarkably high statistics on concussions in the U.S., many cases still go unreported (Groce & Urankar, 2016, p. 22). Sustaining this injury can significantly set a person back physically, mentally, and emotionally. Due to the risks and health issues associated with concussions doctors, athletic trainers, coaches, and lawmakers are getting involved to protect athletes of all levels from receiving concussions.

Knowing these policies and being up-to-date on the most current concussion recovery research is necessary for those involved in any way with youth sports. As coaches, parents, and players become aware of the research, it will be possible to determine the most effective way to help athletes understand the severity of concussions. Current post-concussion return-to-play policies for high school-aged youth do much to ensure that the youth has recovered enough to return to play, but stricter policies must be implemented. These changes should be made due to how easy it is to miss the symptoms of a concussion and the dangerous effects of returning too early, the long-term effects of concussions, and the unique differences among individual

In America, the sports industry is one of the largest and most powerful country; whether the sport is football, baseball, basketball, or any of the other sports the country has. Recently reports and documented cases have risen involving some of these sports’ greatest athletes, as well as current players, dealing with concussions (Famous sports concussions, 2012). Numerous athletes, some of them being the sport’s highest profile players, were found to have several mental illnesses and diseases, that have been attributed to head injuries sustained while they were playing their sports. The biggest and most predominant of these injuries is concussions. They can cause not only immediate issues, but also a lifetime of health problems (Smith, 2009). Sports related concussions lead to brain deterioration, which leads to long lasting effects throughout life.

The sports communities that require concussion education include the players themselves; their parents, the coaches, trainers, therapists, and referees; sports organizations/leagues; the media; teachers; and health care professionals. Several gains in recognition and management that impact upon concussion prevention can only be made through widespread of knowledge about concussions. Concussions are a serious issue in many professional sports. Concussions affect multiple sports in many ways. Many sports today are affected by the medical condition of concussions. Today, multiple leagues and professionals are learning how to prepare and prevent these career shattering injuries. With hundreds of medical advancements and a better understanding of the knowledge that the science has, we are assisting athletes to recover from these injuries. In order to understand concussions that lead the role on the games, one must look at the symptoms, injuries, and side-effects of this

A concussion is a mild type of traumatic brain injury, caused by a blow to the head. A Concussion is a common injury in high school sports. Doctors consider them to be a mild injury, because they are rarely life threatening. However, a concussion can range in severity and it can be difficult to determine how serious the injury is, even with a CT scan. The student 's ability to recover is greatly impacted by the severity of the injury. Each student 's recovery is different, and often students are cleared to practice before they have fully recovered. Alarmingly, if a concussed student athlete returns to their sport without fully recovering, they are at risk for life threatening second-impact syndrome. Head injuries are finally being addressed on the news, and getting the attention they deserve. Now is not the time for naivety, the health of student athletes needs to be priority. What exactly is second-impact syndrome and how is it being prevented in high school sports? Every coach, player, and parent needs to be aware of the risk involved in making hasty return to play decisions.

Head injuries are on the rise for athletes at all levels of play. Reports show that the number of children seeking emergency medical care for sports concussions incurred while playing competitive athletics has more than doubled. In 2015, 11 high school football players died from head related injuries. According to “The game’s tragic toll” written by Kalyn Kahler and Dan Greene eight deaths happened in game during regular play and 3 deaths happened outside of game time. Eleven  deaths may not seem like a lot in a year but numbers start to add up though years. This is enough information to definitely prove that it is a bad idea to still play these sports. Is it really worth it to risk your life over something that otherwise would only take up about fifteen percent of your life otherwise? Unlikely, yet these sports are still played every single day. The medical effects have recently caught media attention appearing on fox news and has spread rapidly. Nobody is saying anything good about them which is what needs to happen in order to protect people from being hurt. Many athletes receive concussions then still return to the sport again!  A “second impact syndrome” is a situation in which an individual sustains a second concussion previous to full recovery according to “concussion / mild tbi”. A second brain injury, or cumulative concussions can be more dangerous than the original. A concussion victim, Anne Frank says

Julie Stamm, a PhD in anatomy and neurobiology, proves with experimental data that athletes who play football prior the age of 12 have increased critical impairment in memory, flexibility, and intelligence (Moran). In contrast to adult athletes, children have heightened risk of long term neurological damage because the development of adolescent’s brain peaks at the age of 12, exposing the individual to a “window of vulnerability” (Moran). Throughout a brain’s development, the rates of myelination spike, blood flow to the brain increases, and neurons begin to communicate at a rapid speed, therefore severe head trauma can prohibit the development process. Additionally, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have estimated that between 1.6 million and 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur annually (Emmons), accounting for 5% of football injuries (Saal).

Recent studies have brought into question whether or not the number of concussions each person has endured is an issue for people to worry about. Doctors do not believe that athletes realize how serious a concussion can really be. “Powerful head injuries and chronic blackouts from repeated pummeling or sports injuries inevitably lead to serious brain damage, but most manage to avoid such constant concussions.” The average concussion, rather than one that causes long-periods of unconsciousness, is not likely to haunt you for the rest of your life. Along with proper treatment, most can recover anywhere from about two to four weeks, but there are still a small proportion of people that still experience long-term effects.” Reports state that approximately “twenty percent of teenagers in the U.S. have had at least one concussion.” Although, only six percent have had more than that, because of the fact that “it is easier to treat a one-time injury as a past problem.” Anthony Kontos, Research Director at the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, studies this issue. Kontos says, “Most people assume that the only treatment for concussion is prescribed rest.” Despite that, much of his and others’ research show that “rest might actually have negative consequences for some people,” especially those who might have a more benefit from active rehabilitation. This does not mean that all people that have been concussed should seek exercise, but it intends to show that concussions is not a