Concussions And The Effects Of Concussions In Football

Since the 1930’s scientists have found that concussions in football were a concern. There were recommendations saying,“concussed players receive rest and constant supervision, and not be allowed to play or practice until symptoms have been gone for 48 hours. For symptoms lasting longer than 48 hours, it recommends players "not be permitted to compete for 21 days or longer, if at all.( Petchesky 2013)” Later in the 1970’s the term “Second Impact Syndrome” is officially identified as a term. Second Impact Syndrome is the occurrence of an athlete receives a concussion while still suffering the effects of a previous one…” and “...Those who do survive second impact syndrome are neurologically devastated.( Petchesky 2013)” It is not until 1994

The issue that has been found with concussions is the way in which they occur and how they may be limited. When an individual collides with another in the game of football and makes contact using the crown of their helmet, the force that is produced travels directly to the skull which jars the brain and causes it to collide with the inside of the cranial membrane. This is where the most damage to the brain occurs. Along with these issues following multiple concussions,”the effects of TBI and concussion are not restricted to cognition and balance. TBI can also affect multiple aspects of vision; mild TBI frequently leads to disruptions in visual functioning, while moderate or severe TBI often causes structural lesions. In patients with mild TBI, there might be abnormalities in saccades, pursuit, convergence, accommodation, and vestibulo-ocular reflex. Moderate and severe TBI might additionally lead to ocular motor palsies, optic neuropathies, and orbital pathologies”(Neurol. 2014). These effects of brain trauma lessen the mental ability of the victim while also potentially lowering the life expectancy but if suffered at a young age may cause mental problems throughout

“ Epidemiological studies comparing collegiate and high school sports have consistently shown that football has the highest concussion rates”(Neurotrauma. 2013). It is said in a review of NFL football games there were 0.41 concussions per game; however, almost half of all concussions are not reported, causing the overall estimated value of concussions per game to rise to almost 1 concussion per professional game.(Neurotrauma. 2013) With this significant amount of concussions during professional game it is clear why there are so many findings of players after their careers having MCI. MCI is described as,”is an intermediate stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the more serious decline of dementia. It can involve problems with memory, language, thinking and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes(Dictionary.com 2016). Post-concussion protocol is now a large part in the world or both football and all other sports. It is said,”a 2005 meta-analysis suggested that athletes typically demonstrate a full neuropsychological recovery in 7–10 days after concussion,” however, there have been recent studies that show “significant episodic memory impairments in middle-aged and older adults with a history of sport-related concussion”(Neurotrauma. 2013). During a study a group of scientist