What Are The Effects Of Concussions In Sports?

Tim Shaw is a former football player who was recently was diagnosed with ALS. He plays for the Tennessee Titans. Shaw, age 30 revealed his diagnosis in a video posted on the Titan's website. He is the latest NFL player to be diagnosed with ALS. Dave Mirra a BMX Star who had CTE died due to a gunshot on February 4. He is the very first action sport athlete to be diagnosed with CTE. An autopsy technician found out that he had CTE. Scientist believe repeated head trauma can cause CTE.

On the morning of December first of two thousand and twelve, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher took a .40 caliber gun and shot his girlfriend 22 times inside his master bedroom. He then drove down to Arrowhead Stadium, the Chief’s home stadium, to express his appreciation to his team’s general manager and coach for everything they had done for him, walked away, and then shot himself in the head. This tragic recollection of the murder-suicide case executed by the 25 year old football player paints him as a monstrous and willfully violent man but what if one was to acclaim all of these fatal incidents to too many bumps in the head? Well it has been. Years after this incident, after medical examiners conducted an autopsy on Belcher and they found that his brain showed signs of CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease caused by repetitive traumatic head injuries, also denoted as concussions. There have been many documented cases where after contact sport athletes experience excessive concussions, they then seem to develop a seemingly new character as they come to be ill fully violent, overtly aggressive, or even deeply depressive. Many times this may lead to the diagnosis of a mental disorder or may end tragically, as in Belchers case, in the death of others and/or the athletes themselves.

Other times when sitting to watch a sports game, the last thought that crosses through the mind is whether a player will be injured or will have consequences later in life. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is gaining awareness because of current uprise in athletes developing it at a very young age such as Lou Gehrig a famous baseball player. This disease affects the body by causing loss in muscle movement. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a disease affects the mind not the body and is a progressive degenerative disease. CTE has many diseases that fall under its category such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson’s, Huntington's disease and Dementia. The most common factors for these diseases are concussions and head trauma because athletes

According to James Bukes of the Pittsburgh Post, “The physical manifestations of CTE are a reduction in brain weight with atrophy of the medial temporal lobe, the frontal and temporal cortices, the brainstem, cerebellum hippocampus and other parts of the brain” (Bukes). This reduction in brain weight and brain size is caused by repetitive hits to the head, which is most often found in sports such as boxing, hockey and most notably, American Football. Due to the reduction of brain size, CTE has become known as an extremely debilitating disease, as well as life threatening. In an article from the Northeastern University the symptoms of CTE have been stated as, “depression, anger, memory loss and suicide” (Polnerow). There have been several cases reported of football players committing suicide, and then later being found to have been afflicted by this disease, most notably Dave Duerson, who donated his brain to CTE research after having committed suicide. Even though CTE has been proven through repeated studies, the general public is still in conflict over the true dangers of CTE and even if CTE is a true disease. In one study, 90 brains that had been examined of football players postmortem, 86 of them had cases of CTE (Storin). This is nearly 96 percent of examined brains that were found to contain CTE, meanwhile only 10 percent of the public are reported

If an athlete was to be impacted on the head on the playing field and was to gain a concussion they should sit out until they are able to fully recover. During the time period after one concussion athletes are more vulnerable to gain another. If a player were to get another concussion during this time period, permanent brain damage may be evident in the future. Also, If the player doesn't let their concussion heal properly it may lead to permanent brain damage in the future.

In "Concussion recovery is slower in girls, mounting evidence suggests" by Diana Kwon, the passage states that concussions occur in female athletes more than twice the time as male athletes. Occuring in the sport of hockey, soccer, and football, where heads are continually clashing. I honestly do not believe that girl or boy impact sports should be banned; i do believe that the athletes should wear helmets. Helmets should be necessary when playing high-risk sports. Female sports do not have as many rules as males do which is why concussions occur more within the female population.

Many people hear the word “concussion” and think of it as being just a simple headache; however, not many know the significant health consequences associated with receiving a concussion. Concussions can have a variety of adverse effects on a person, some of which include sensory changes and deficits, emotional difficulties like depression, and an overall reduction in cognitive functioning. Abnormal eye movements and a reduced sense of touch are examples of sensory changes and deficits that are common with concussions. Individuals on the receiving end of concussions also deal with emotional difficulties including depression and even certain forms of guilt. Reduction in overall cognitive

Following the diagnosis of ALS the main goal of treatment is focused at relieving the symptoms. The most important matter in managing ALS patients is that they continually sustain the highest amount of movement and activity as possible and remain comfortable while doing so. Although a cure for ALS has not yet been developed, effective treatments do exist to assist the patients in their fight with the disease. Physicians urge the patients to carry on with their everyday lives doing all the activities and physically exerting themselves as they would normally do. But, they also recommend the patients to limit their amount of physical exertion

Concussion the most common head injury that can occur while participating in sports. There are over 250,000 concussion injuries reported each year in football players. High school football players experience at least one concussion during their season each year. Sport related concussions are most likely to witness, they usually mild, sometimes to never be associated with any other injuries, and they are usually treated initially by a non-medical person. Athletes who participate in contact sports like football, boxing, hockey, lacrosse, rugby, and all snow sports are at high risk for a sport related concussion.

    Concussions in sports are a very serious subject, including it’s recovery and prevention. Concussions have affected many athletes and even normal people and too many concussions could end up having serious consequences later on in life. Sports leagues and doctors should be taking more precaution in making sure everyone stays safe and healthy.

Concussions are currently one of the most debated, studied and controversial subjects among all levels of athletics. This dangerous brain condition has only been properly studied and monitored for a brief period of time, and until recently, the dangerous side effects of concussions were not among the public eye. Issues such as dementia, migraines and depression are among the issues that those who suffer concussions are at risk for. Looking into the culture of athletics, the mindset that is driven into young athletes from an early age all the way throughout their entire athletic career, no matter the level, to see if there is a correlation between the values that they are taught and their history of possible concussions and concussion

One of the most controversial discussions in sports today is concussions and how the athletes who play sports are being protected. Concussions in the NFL has been a constant argument over the past decade because of not only the number of players who were diagnosed with concussions but also in addition to the number of retired NFL players that reported having depression problems, drug addictions and eventually taking away their own lives by suicide. Football is know to many as “Americas game” and because of this fans live for and look forward to these hard hitting brut athletes that suit up and take the field for battle each week not knowing the facts on how concussions not only ruins the athletes chances of playing again but affects the brain

Most of these studies have been conducted in the sport of football because of the vicious nature of the game. These studies have shown that the long-term effects of concussions are far worse than expected and in many cases, have resulted in the brain disease called CTE or Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE is a neurodegenerative disease which causes the tau protein to form around small blood vessels in the brain. CTE causes cell death and has been linked to erratic behavior and dementia. The symptoms of this vicious disease range from headaches and dizziness to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, severe depression and dementia. Former NFL Patriots player Aaron Hernandez who recently committed suicide, found by analyzing his brain showed classic signs of Stage 3 CTE. It was also found in the brain of Patriots Junior Seau, who also killed himself in 2012. Contrary to widely held belief concussions are a problem in many other contact sports such as hockey, lacrosse, boxing, wrestling and rugby. Athletes that have participated in baseball, soccer and even basketball have been diagnosed with concussions as well. Many cases of concussions have gone unreported in these non-contact sports due to the rarity of athletes who receive them. Although concussions may be rare in these sports, parents could still factor in the risks when

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS is a disease caused by concussions and head trauma. ALS is a rare neurological disease that mainly involves nerve cells, which control voluntary muscle movement, such as breathing, talking, or chewing. With this being a progressive disease that has no cure it has made a tremendous impact for check ups after blows to the head. A hit to the head does not always mean you have a concussion, but with symptoms and side effects the athlete should not take a chance and get it checked out immediately. This is more of a physical incapacity disease. ALS has become a common disease for athletes in the mid-twenties, and life expectancy is very slim once the diagnosis has taken place. The main reported life periods for ALS athletes has been 3-5 years, but with medication and treatments it has had higher life expectancies about 20% have 5 years, 10% have 10 years, and 5% have 20 years. The athletes lives have changed from the beginning of the diagnoses till the end of the lives they do live with the disease. Being a scary thing to think about athletes do tend to have the ability to walk away at retirement perfectly clear from ALS, which is a win.

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