Concussions: The Negative Effects Of Concussions In The NFL

According to Dr. Bennet Omalu, subject of the 2015 movie “Concussion,” nearly 90 percent of all players in the National Football League (NFL) sustain some type of brain injury during their career. Most of those injuries are concussions, a traumatic injury to the brain that alters its basic functions. According to an article from the PBS website, “Inside the Numbers: Counting Concussions in the NFL,” in 2012 more than 100 players in the the league suffered concussions on a weekly basis, just in training camp. Compared to data from reports in 2009, the number of concussions in the NFL increased by nearly 68 percent in 2012. The NFL averaged 5.4 concussions per week in 2009, 7.6 in 2010 and a staggering 8.4 in 2011. Although the average age

This brain disease is progressively degenerative. Athletes with a history of multiple concussions are at most risk of developing CTE. Although according to a Sports Illustrated article “Brain Trust,” by Ben Rieter CTE isn 't always the result of suffering multiple concussions. In the case of Mike Webster, a center for the Pittsburg Steelers has thousands of sub-concussive hits. This is where Dr. Omalu questions if CTE is a problem with concussions or the nature of the sport. In the article “We need to protect the brain: the growing problem of chronic trauma encephalopathy,” Emily Olson and George Grossberg say that there are two distinct forms of CTE sufferers: those who experience cognitive deficits first and then progress to dementia, but ultimately live longer and people who display mood and behavioral symptoms first; tend to be younger, more violent, depressed and often times

In Olson and Grossberg’s study, they claim that in 2016 at least three former NFL players that died were found to have CTE posthumously.Almost running parallel to CTE, Alzheimer’s is common among ex NFL players who have suffered multiple concussions in their careers. Olson and Grossberg in the article “We need to protect the brain they explain the statistics of people with CTE, the percentage of them who are contemplating suicide and the similarities to those with Alzheimer’s. In 2015 eighty-seven of 91 brains of former NFL players autopsied displayed stages of CTE. The disease has four stages, the fourth being the most advanced. In stage four of the decease symptoms can be almost identical to those of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease; having heavily impaired cognitive movement and even signs of dementia. In Olson and Grossberg’s study comparing data of those who had CTE; approximately 31% of subjects studied who were in stage 4 had contemplated suicide; of those, 26% had "suicidal tendencies" and 14% completed