Concussions in Sports

According to the Sports Concussion Institute "An estimated ten percent of all athletes participating in contact sports suffer a concussion each season." If you consider the millions of athletes, from elementary school to professional levels, that are active in contact sports; this is an astounding number. A concussion is defined as "concussions occur when a blow to the head or neck interrupts brain function. The effects of these concussions vary between individuals, and many mild concussions are undiagnosed and unreported."

This common injury is often overlooked because patients can oftentimes recover quite quickly, and with relatively little harm done.



Last night after watching Sunday Night Football, I got caught watching the 60 minutes program that regularly follows, and the show opened talking about new findings about sports concussions. The study that they exposed to the public, had shown a strong correlation between concussions and brain disease. It was estimated on this program that professional football players, based on their speed and weight, clash together similar to a car hitting a brick wall at a speed of 40 mph. This can cause huge problems when players make contact head to head. One former player that they had interviewed named Ted Johnson, used to hit so hard that he once split another players helmet in two through a tackle.

According to the study, a mass amount of concussions in different contacts sports can dramatically increase that athletes chance of having a brain disease in their future, and not necessarily all that late in life. "The study found the players under the age of 50 were 19 times more likely to have been diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer's and other memory related diseases, compared to the general public."

There are some strides being made to protect the athletes including different types of sports equipment and rules that protect against head to head contact. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to avoid the contact; and as the studies come out about the future repercussions for multiple concussions, contact sports could soon undergo some major chances in attempt to protect it's athletes.