Traumatic Encephalopathy: Article Analysis

Since she grew up as diehard football fan. She was extremely happy when she received the task of researching the brains of former football players. When looking at the brain of one former football player and finding that he has CTE. She came up with the same conclusion Dr.Olamu had that CTE can be caused by head trauma from football. When discovering this she also presented this information to the NFL in a meeting where she was treated the same way as Olamu. That is when her and Chris Nowinzki her so called “Brain bank” at the time deiced to hold a press conference during the time of the super bowl in Tampa. Even though she presented her information it was not heavily publicized due to the lack of media support in attendance. Once she got more brains she had found a remarkable discovery one of the brains she found was the brain of a 20 year old man who played football for Penn State. He had committed suicide by hanging himself in his apartment. Even though he never had a documented concussion injury. He was later diagnosed with CTE. In which she came up with the conclusion that CTE can be received by non-concussive hits as well. Dr.Ann McKee had found over 70 people in the amount of athletes she has

It has been found that the average high school football player receives somewhere near 650 hits to the head each season (Tyler). Imagine the impact this has on the brain. Then imagine how much worse the impact must be when getting hit by highly trained, full grown men. The NFL for the longest time would have liked us to think differently. “According to the doctors in the NFL’s employ, playing a game involving violent, head first collisions had no connection to future brain injuries,” reports “The Progressive” in their article “High Price of Concussions”. Finally, in 2009, “(the National Football League) acknowledged publicly for the first time that concussions suffered while playing football

High impact sports (like football, soccer, etc.) are capable of giving severe concussions and a good amount of long term negative effects. “The NFL revealed that it expects nearly a third of all retired players to develop permanent brain impairments…” (15). People are getting injured in their own careers willingly. More and more

“Concussion,” as defined by Elizabeth D. Schafer and Amy Webb Bull from the Salem Health Magill’s Medical Guide, is “the mildest traumatic brain injuries that impairs neurological functions” (Magill’s Medical Guide). In making this comment, Schafer and Webb suggest that the effects of having concussions may affect or alter the normal functioning of the head causing serious, fatal damages or deaths. Moreover, the numbers of concussion discerned in athletes are increasing drastically. For instance, in the article In Football, Stigma of Concussion Creates Incentives to Hide It from Chronicle of Higher Education, Brad Wolverton, the author, presents revealing evidence about the increasing number of concussion in recent years. His study is based on the data from the Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention. It was concluded by National Collegiate Athletic Association that 4.7 was the average number of concussions per team during 2011-12 season, but it increased to 6.5 in 2013-14 season. These findings show the interesting number of players who incur concussions in recent years. An anonymous study assembled in January of 2014by ESP. it revealed that “320 NFL players play in the Super Bowl with a concussion. Eighty-five percent said yes” (Almond 49). Based on this study, NFL players are putting their lives in risk. They are ignoring the fatal risks that concussion can cause long-term complications. If the

In this article, the writer gives examples of situations where concussions have occurred and ended sports careers. It also gives an overview of what a concussion is and how it happens. It mentions that concussions need to be given adequate time to heal to avoid long term problems. There is information about NFL players and other athletes going before congress asking for legislation to help prevent and treat concussions. This article uses pathos in an attempt to reach the reader’s emotions by telling stories about athletes who have had repeated concussions that have ended their sports careers and left them disabled.

If you do not play super cautiously, you can easily make one mistake and suffer concussions, brain damage, limb damage, and overall destruction to the body. Because of this, we see that football can completely ruin your life. In the first source, “Hard Knocks”, the article showcases a real life example of a boy who, when playing football, hit heads with another individual with a lot of strength. He sustained a concussion, and still to this day, he suffers headaches, memory problems, and so much more. In the video, “Concussion Hazards in Youth Football”, the video shows how the brain is affected when a concussion occurs. Also, it presents how the youth are more capable of sustaining permanent brain damage when hard hits on the head occur. In the last source, “How Many G’s?”, an infographic shows the real dangers of a football hit, when compared to a heavyweight boxers punch, and the force from a roller coaster on the body! Together, all three sources show that football is a highly competitive sport that can tarnish someone’s whole life plan in a couple of

The symptoms of a concussion can vary due to a number of factors. The main variable that will affect the symptoms, post-concussion comes from the severity of the movement of the brain within the skull. After a concussion, a person may or may not lose consciousness. Some common symptoms of a concussion, include headaches, dizziness, fainting, nausea, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, sensitivity to noise, memory loss, confusion, drowsiness, anxiety, irritability, and slurred speech. However, the more severe the concussion, the more severe the symptoms can be. (Myers 2015) A report from Ledwidge in 2016 states, “Long-term effects of concussions are very rare but they happed. Moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause symptoms

The sport of football is arguably one of the most popular sports in the country. The National Football League makes around Nine Billion dollars every season (Isidore). Tickets to each game cost around one hundred dollars per person. However, ticket prices are not the only price when it comes to the sport. Players risk serious injury when competing. Some minor injuries include bruises, scrapes, and burns. More serious injuries consist of muscle pulls, strains, and broken bones. However, one of the most severe and problematic injuries that can occur, happens in the head. It is known as the concussion. Minor and major head injuries, such as the concussion, can lead to problems in a person’s future life, such as depression, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,

Because athletes do not take the responsibility to manage their injuries it leads to long term health concerns over a period of time. “The NFL must go further and clarify the rules even more, Durando contends, especially when it comes to hits on defenseless players, and they should continue to focus on decreasing the number of concussions to players in order to protect a player's long-term health” (par. 1). Stu Durando, a sportswriter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, acknowledges the fact that the National Football League has more work to do in decreasing concussion injuries. He not only stresses the cases of concussions, but shows a motive to help protect players along with their future mental wellness. Given these points, brain injuries tend to display as athletes age. Post Concussion Syndrome is what typically disarrays a former football player in the long run. Post-concussion syndrome is a complex disorder in which a variable combination of post-concussion symptoms — such as headaches and dizziness — last for weeks and sometimes months after the injury that caused the concussion. Post-concussion syndrome can include psychological, physical and emotional problems including headaches, difficulty focusing on tasks, dizziness, or simply a state of mind that some would describe as “not feeling yourself”. “Sleepless nights were followed by partial amnesia. His grades plummeted. As his memory faltered, he grew embarrassed and anxious. Football had been the center of his life, but now he couldn't even exercise. Finally, he withdrew from college. Most players, like Reed, will recover completely after a period of headaches, sleepiness and difficulty focusing in class. Others--one in 10, some experts say--suffer long-term symptoms. They are more likely to develop post-concussion syndrome, where fogginess, headaches, poor

A strong willed linebacker accelerates down the football field. He eyes up his opponent- the running back- both men lower their heads, bracing for impact, while helmets crunch, fans roar. Immediately after connecting, the running back 's head feels undeniably different, but at this point in the game, it would cost the team playoff contention if they lose. This man is young, rich, and famous, but little does he know that each concussion he gets brings him one step closer to his own grave. Multiple concussions relating to sports leads to early onset Dementia and CTE, loss of life, changes in how games are played, lawsuits, and even more unsettling concussion facts and statistics.

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.

If you have the brains when you start, you are aware that banging your head into people is not the best thing for your body,” stated Chris Cooley, tight end and a 2 time Pro Bowler with the Washington Redskins (Do No Harm, 2). Research over the years has gathered extensive data on the mental and physical illnesses of retired NFL football players. It has proved that players who accumulate numerous concussions are at a higher risk of health problems after their football career than players who’ve sustained fewer. This data is proven by various studies that have caused worry for many retired NFL football families. The examples of deaths resulting from past concussions are astonishing, and the stats that show high risks for the possible

Firstly, the longer and athlete participates in a high-contact sport, the greater the risk they have for developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy. It is also believed that this is developed through repeated brain injury and inflammation within the brain. A protein called the tau protein has been discovered, and this is a molecule that forms deposits and distinct tangles in a brain with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This discovery is huge and these molecules that are in the inflammation can actually help to possibly diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy in people who are still living. It is also known that there are different stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The first and least severe stage is associated with headaches and some difficulty concentrating more than anything else. It is not until the second stage of the disease that people struggle with managing their emotions. At this point, people may have mood swings, depression, short-term memory loss and some problems with language. In Stage 3 and 4 of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the emotional, cognitive and memory symptoms that emerge in Stage 2 worsen. In Stage 4, people can experience dementia symptoms that might be confused for those stemming from Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease. Current research is still going on in hopes of understanding more more about issues

While football is enjoyable to watch and loved by people all over the world, it can be a dangerous sport to play. The injuries that football players sustain during their careers can later be the cause of them obtaining a brain disease resulting in their death. For example football players have a higher risk of being diagnosed with ALS, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Some studies have shown that a big percentage of ex-football players that have died, once an autopsy was done, that the ex-football player had had Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The problem is though that CTE can not be diagnosed until after death once an autopsy has

The study published by Solomon Mez this year also looked at one player. Though this player died at the young age of 25 from cardiac arrest and staphylococcus aureus endocarditis, he started playing football at the age of 6 and went up to playing 3 years of Division I college football. His first concussion was reported at 8 years old and he had experienced more than 10 concussions throughout his life without having to be hospitalized for them. His first year of college football, he had a concussion with loss of consciousness that led to symptoms such as headaches, blurry vision, insomnia, anxiety, and deficits in concentration. His symptoms began to worsen, and other symptoms appeared such as depression and suicidality. He also became very aggressive towards his wife by the of age 23. After death the tests showed hippocampal atrophy, there were also signs of tau plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles. They also noticed taupathy in the parietal lobes, hypothalamus, substantia nigra, and median raphe all which are pathologies of