The film “Concussion” directed by Peter Landesman starring Will Smith is based on the true story of Dr. Bennet Omalu’s medical research into concussions, then discovering Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and his struggles with the NFL’s (National Football League) uncooperativeness upon learning of CTE Dr. Bennet Ifeakandu Omalu was born in September of 1968 in Nnokwa, Nigeria. He was the sixth of seven children to a civil engineer and seamstress. Bennet was admitted to the Federal Government College in Enugu, Nigeria at 12-years-old and wanted to become a pilot. Although, at 16-years-old he started medical school at the University of Nigeria. He earned his degree in 1990. Also in 1990 Bennet started an internship at Jos University …show more content…
Webster had displayed patterns of distressing behavior before his death from a heart attack at age 50, and Omalu was curious as to what the former player 's brain would reveal. Omalu sent the brain to be cut into paper thin slices to be examined later under a microscope. Under further investigation Omalu found clumps of tau proteins (Tau proteins are proteins that perform the function of stabilizing microtubules. These proteins are abundant in nerve cells and are present to a much lesser degree in oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. When Tau proteins become defective and fail to adequately stabilize microtubules, pathologies of the nervous system can develop such as Alzheimer’s disease.) Which impair brain function when grouped together. Omalu spoke about his findings with top faculty members at the University of Pittsburgh, and went on to name the condition Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE for short. Shortly after, omalu submitted a paper titled "Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in a National Football League Player" to the medical journal Neurosurgery. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease that afflicts the brain of people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Though Bennet Omalu first discovered CTE in the brain of NFL Hall of Famer Mike Webster in 2002, it was previously …show more content…
As CTE progresses, it can cause memory loss, impulsive and erratic behavior, difficulty with balance, impaired judgment, and behavioral disturbances including aggression, depression, and increased suicidality. Ultimately, CTE progresses to the onset of dementia. A similar accumulation of tau protein is also seen in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. CTE symptoms can manifest months or years after brain trauma, and a definitive diagnosis of CTE can only be made after death by analyzing brain tissue at autopsy. The CDC estimates that up to 3.8 million concussions occur each year, with up to ten percent of high school athletes suffering from post-concussion syndrome. Trauma is also often repeated: an athlete who sustains a concussion is four to six times more likely to sustain a second concussion. It’s not well understood how these incidents of trauma progress to CTE and currently there is no cure. After the paper was published in July 2005, Omalu was informed by Neurosurgery 's editorial board that the NFL 's Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) Committee was demanding a retraction. Omalu instead pressed forward with his examination of Terry Long, another former football player who had committed suicide at age 45, and discovered the same buildup of tau proteins. His follow-up paper to Neurosurgery was published in November
He Appeals to Logos when he writes, “Over the past two decades it has become clear that repetitive blows to the head in high-impact contact sports like football, ice hockey, mixed martial arts and boxing place athletes at risk of permanent brain damage….Why, then, do we continue to intentionally expose our children to this risk?” He continues by writing, “If a child who plays football is subjected to advanced radiological and neurocognitive studies, there can be evidence of brain damage at the cellular level of brain functioning…. If that child continues to play over many seasons, these cellular injuries accumulate to cause irreversible brain damage, which we know now by the name Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,” a disease founded by Dr.Omalu in 2002. C.T.E can cause “major depression, memory loss, suicidal thoughts and actions, loss of intelligence as well as dementia later in life.” C.T.E has also been linked to “drug and alcohol abuse as children enter their 20s, 30s, and 40s.” Dr.Omalu Appeals to Ethos when he writes, “As physicians, it is our role to educate” and “protect the most vulnerable among
CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which has not been found in football players until recently. It was stated in the episode, “Repetitive brain trauma starts this cascade of events in the brain that changes the way tau [protein] looks and behaves. It goes awry, it starts destroying the integrity of the brain cells.” Doctor Omalu’s discovery was the first hard evidence which proved playing football could cause permanent damage. This finding was not well received by the NFL and Omalu was met with attacks by the MTBI committee and the NFL as a whole.
Uncle Benjy took pride in all of Lennie’s achievements. The medals, the scholarships, and ultimately his acceptance by the McGill University faculty of medicine. He paid the boys fees, gave him a weekly allowance, and was certainly prepared to set him up in practice when the time came.
A concussion is indeed a captivating, nonfictional book that explores the life and story of a thirty-four-year-old doctor, living in Pittsburg. He was born in Biafra, Nigeria, but went to study in America. Dr. Omalu is not a football fanatic until he stumbles upon the body of Mike Webster. He then strives to unleash what exactly happened to Mike Webster. It is the death of Mike Webster that leads to a series of scientific researches for Dr. Bennet Omalu. When Omalu performs an autopsy on Webster to find out what exactly kills him, he suspects that Webster did not die of a heart attack as earlier speculated, but rather due to a serious brain injury. He soon finds out that Webster’s brain is full of sludge- like proteins, called tau. The
Kremer, Andrea. "Health of the Game: Brain Injuries beyond Concussions 0." NFL.com. N.p., 7 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. (Online Video)
In recent years, there has been an increase in research investigating the long-term effects of repeated head trauma on the brain, especially in athletes. Following his discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), Dr. Bennet Omalu inspired a movement of research aimed at establishing better safety standards and protocols in football. It was not until 2002 that the initial connection between repetitive head trauma, such as concussions, and brain injury was suspected (Ott, 2015).
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a degenerative disease of the brain linked to symptoms of dementia and depression. Some other symptoms of CTE include: amnesia, aggression...
Did you know, that someone suffers from a brain injury every 21 seconds (Haas)? Children get concussions all the time, and most of the time they go unnoticed. The majority of concussions happen when one is playing a sport such as football, hockey, or lacrosse. Many famous athletes have had their careers, even their lives cut short due to concussions. Brain damage and death can result from serial concussions (Schafer). When one suffers from a concussion, one’s brain needs time to recover physically and mentally. Between 2002 and 2006, statistics showed that 52,000 people died from concussions and about 275,000 were hospitalized (Fundukian). Everyone’s recovery process is different (“Injury and Pain Care”). Although concussions seem minor, they are very serious brain injuries that may result in severe damage to one’s brain.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease attributed to single, sporadic, or repetitive brain trauma, including concussions and subconcussive hits (Baugh et al., 2012; Wortzel et al., 2013). This disease was originally referred to as dementia pugilistica, and nicknamed “punch drunk,” because individuals suffering from this disorder would present symptoms that were similar to someone’s mannerisms while being intoxicated (Wortzel et al., 2013). This “drunken” behavior is thought to be attributed to the cognitive, mood, and behavioral alterations as a result of the repetitive hits to the brain over an extended period of time. Because individuals suffering from this disease are often exposed to conditions that allow them to sustain blows to the head multiple times, the populations most often examined in these studies are athletes (football, boxing, rugby) and/or individuals in the military (McKee et al., 2009). Individuals can be symptom free for several years (Baugh et al., 2012). The onset of symptoms are sometimes seen about eight to ten years after an individual retires from their sport, which roughly equates to someone aged thirty to fifty yeas old (Baugh et al., 2012; Wortzel et al., 2013; Karantzoulis and Randolph, 2013). As with all diseases, symptoms can range from mild to severe. Researchers have found a positive correlation between the number of brain injuries sustained during a length of time playing a sport and the severity of symptoms (McKee et al., 2009).
Concussions occur regularly on the football field and have always been an injury associated with football. They occur at all levels from little league to the NFL. One of the earliest reported concussion...
USA Today 26 May 2011, Virginia ed. : 1 C. Print. The. The "Concussions" - "The 'Concussions'" WebMD.com - WebMD.com - WebMD.com - WebMD.com - WebMD.com - WebMD.com - WebMD.com - WebMD.com - WebMD, 23 July 2010. Web.
An anonymous person once said, "He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything." Ever since I was a young girl, I always knew I wanted to do something with helping people. But as I grew up, I also took an interest in sports, which leads me to where I am today. I would like to be able to help people in the sports ' world. In this essay, I plan to research concussions and how the long-term effects can impact people for the rest of their lives. Through research, I have learned exactly what a concussion is, the long-term effects and severity, and finally the treatments for a concussion. This relates to my senior project because for my final product, I will be presenting the lasting effects of concussions.
Per utilitarian ethics, no matter the link between football and CTE, the research the NFL’s actions would be considered ethical. Lack of certainty in the research makes deontological ethics more difficult to implement. Since the research did not directly related football to the brain injuries, there is not the same obligation to disclose research that is not definite. Parallel to if the information was conclusive the NFL fell into the ethical traps of money and conflict of interest. The NFL still had to wrestle with ethical traps even if the it was considered ethical to not disclose the research. Since the research could not exclusively blame football concussion to permanent brain injuries, the ethical decision was not as black and white as
In 2005 Dr. Bennet Omalu first discovered CTE In the Brain Of the retired player Mike webster, after he passed in 2002, at the age of 50. However CTE has been identified, there is no way to diagnose it in living individuals. In a study done by the National Institutes of Health, and the Concussion Research Funding, they came to the conclusion that, “Current tests cannot reliably identify concussions, and no technique reliably differentiates individuals who will recover quickly, suffer long-term symptoms, or develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)” (NIH, NFL, and Concussion Research Funding). Therefore, currently there is no way to treat or identify whether or not a person has CTE officially until they have died. Doctors only way of identifying if a person has CTE is to diagnose based off their symptoms. CTE symptoms vary based on the severity of the case, However according to researchers at the CTE Center at Boston University School of Medicine; “CTE is associated with “memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse-control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia” (Karaim). Theses Symptoms have a dramatic effect on the everyday lives of the people that have CTE. With nearly anywhere from 1.6 million to 3.8 million concussions occur each year, leading professional athletes and
Even though the devastation of concussions is just rising to the surface, they have always been around. In 1994, the NFL started a committee called the MTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury). Dr. Elliot Pellman was appointed as chair, and he was quoted saying, “We think the issue of knees, of drugs and steroids and drinking is a far greater problem, according to the number of incidents” (Ezell). This quote shows how concussions did not hold much importance, even though it should have been the committee's main focus. This is ironic, because in today’s sport world concussions are a highly talked about topic. They hold such significance that some rules are even being changed to lower the risk for players.