I just recently saw a movie trailer advertising the newest movie scheduled to come to theaters on Christmas Day. It is called Concussion and stars Will Smith who plays Bennet Omalu in the movie. The movie is based off of a true story about the NFL trying to suppress Omalu’s research and experiments that shed light on just how dangerous concussions can be for professional football players. You can watch the trailer here.
The trailer got me thinking about the actual severity of concussions in football players. There are so many athletes that get up and go right back to playing shortly after they get surgery. So then how many players are there that go right back to playing after getting a concussion? Most likely a lot. And so I did some research and I found a study conducted by Johns Hopkins University that tested 9 former NFL players by preforming PET scans and MRIs to their brains to calculate physical and internal damages.
How concussions work.
The players were first asked how many concussions they have had in their football career and they also implemented a control group of normal people who have had no former history of brain damage. They scanned all of their brains and preformed memory tests. The results were that the former NFL players who had high internal and physical damage to their brain from their reported past concussions, scored low on their memory tests. But the control group with no history of brain damage scored high on their memory tests. This obviously means that concussions have a long-lasting effect on the brain and can lead to significant memory loss. Many people argue with this study saying that the sample size was too small and, therefore, we can not come to a concrete conclusion of whether or not concussions are as dangerous as the experiment makes them seem.
Please understand that before these kind of studies were done, there were only anecdotal accounts of damage to the brain post-concussion as well as an unknown biological mechanism that could possibly cause damage to the brain. So it is understandable that some people are still skeptical about just how much damage a concussion can actually do. However, other studies have been conducted where they test adolescents for brain damage after their concussion and they came to the conclusion that concussions in children that young can stunt brain growth and maturity. And these are not the only two studies that can be found testing how dangerous concussions are for the brain. There are many other studies to be found and all them reach relatively the same conclusion. And so, I think it is about time we open our eyes to the severity of this problem. Football and other high contact physical sports need to come up with a systematic way of protecting the brain from concussions as well as healing the brain after it has suffered a concussion.
This systematic handling needs to be done in accordance with existing studies on the issue so that way the handling actually works. Right now, football is handling the soft end points of concussions such as fatigue and headaches. They deal with it by advising the patient to rest and “relax it off”. But we need to be looking at the hard end points such as physical damage to the brain that can lead to memory loss and decreased cognitive performance. Maybe they could add something inside of football helmets that would make it harder to get a concussion. Or maybe certain plays should be ruled illegal depending on if it contains way too much hard physical contact. The bottom line is, concussions are very serious and can be detrimental to the brain the more they are contracted. The sooner something is implemented in sports to help protect the players from them, more studies need to be done in order to show people just how serious concussions are.
SOURCES:
http://hub.jhu.edu/2015/01/26/nfl-players-concussion-research
Well written post! I liked how you added information from class onto your post like soft end points and hard end points. I forgot all about those since we discussed it so many weeks ago. Even though technically the studies were observational, I think it is safe to say that concussions have a negative impact on your brain. I could see why the NFL was trying to suppress Omalu’s research. At the end of the day, it is a business and if potential athletes are persuaded to pick a different and safer sport, the NFL will ultimately lose its fan base and money. I could understand why players are quick to rush their recoveries too. “Resting it off” is not as easy as it sounds. Players are always aching to be on the field. Whether they are playing for a new contract or they want to desperately help their team win, the circumstances are situational. Why doesn’t the NFL have stricter rules regarding concussion protocol? How much buzz/controversy will Will Smith’s new movie get? It is definitely a topic that must be stressed more.
I have had concussions before from snowboarding and it was horrible. I felt very out of it, unable to think clearly and be in bright lighting for weeks. I never had a concussion before that point and afterwards I was very interested in finding out what caused them. I realized quickly just how badly they are for your brain and how much of a negative effect they can have on your future as far as memory and brain function goes. I watched a video in one of my psychology classes where they interviewed football players who had concussions, years after their football days were over. Sadly enough, most of them couldn’t speak for themselves, as they had little recollection of who they were, let alone the fact that they even played football. I do think there should be stricter rules to prevent concussions.
I had a minor concussion back in 10th grade and it wasn’t fun at all. Clearly, concussions vary in severity. Although, it is also crystal clear that concussions have not been handled in sports with severity. Unfortunately, we see athletes like Mike Tyson who have been suffering from the aftermath of concussions. Whether its implementing new rules to protect athletes within their given sport or simply providing the best possible post concussion treatment, more attention should be given to preventing them in the first place.
Concussion research is on the rise and experts are finding new ways to combat concussions constantly. Helmet companies like Schutt and Riddell have been working for years to develop the most protective football helmets as possible. This ABC news article discusses a Riddell helmet called SpeedFlex and explains how it reduces the risk of concussion. Additionally, both the NCAA and the NFL have put rules in place to protect players against receiving concussions and to punish those responsible for giving them. The NCAA made a rule that if you lead with your head when making a tackle or when making helmet-to-helmet contact when making a tackle, there will be consequences. Number 8 of this PDF explains that rule and the consequences. The NFL has enforced extensive fines and the possibility of suspension if found to be targeting.
I saw your post and was immediately interested in reading about it. My brother got a (double) concussion while playing football and it took almost a full month for him to regain his full memory. He got hit in the head when going in for a tackle, sat out for a little due to his head hurting, and went back in later in the game only to make it worse. Concussions should definitely be taken more seriously especially in sports such as football and soccer. Although the mayo clinic says to just rest it off in an article, I think people who have had one concussion should not put themselves back in a sport where they could have a high chance of getting another concussion. Your brain and memory is too important. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/concussion/basics/treatment/con-20019272