The competitive nature of professional boxing plays an integral role in the longevity of the sport throughout earlier civilization to the modern-day era. The pivotal key in the success of boxing is the unpredictability of what each match entails, which often triggers excitement to highly devoted fans. Nonetheless, there are serious hazards associated with professional boxing (e.g., brain atrophy, and neurological and cognitive impairments). As a matter of fact, most fatalities in the ring are usually due to brain injuries such as brain hemorrhage, subdural hematoma, and brain contusions (Ryan, 1998). In hopes to witness a huge decline in head-injuries, several medical societies have consistently urged the banning of this sport. In this analysis, I will 1) examine the potential dangers of professional boxing; 2) explore the etiology, and the prevalence of CTE in professional boxers and lastly, 3) conduct a comprehensive analysis of two opposing views regarding professional boxing (i.e., to ban, or not to ban?); One of the most serious public health concerns in modern-day boxing is the development of a progressive disease known as the Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) (aka “dementia pugilistica” or “the punch-drunk effect.”). It has been estimated that CTE occurs in 20% of professional boxers (Zetterberg et al, 2006). The theory behind the frequent occurrence of CTE in professional boxers is due to the accumulated effects of multiple head trauma to the brain (e.g., mild-concussions) which may lead to permanent and irreversible brain damage. It has been known that those professional boxers with more extensive history of boxing matches are more likely to experience severe CTE. Casson et al., (1982) examined ten professional ... ... middle of paper ... ...ts of Boxing. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press Levin, H.S., Eisenberg, H.M., Benton, A.L. (1989). Mild Head Injury. Oxford University Press Matthew R. Potter, Ashley J. Snyder, Gary A. Smith, Boxing Injuries Presenting to U.S. Emergency Departments, 1990–2008, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 40, Issue 4, April 2011, Pages 462-467, ISSN 0749-3797, 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.12.018.(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379711000341) McKee, A.C., Cantu, R.C.,Nowinski, C.J., Hedley-Whyte, T., Gavett, B.E., Budson, A.E., Santini, V.E., Lee, H.S., Kubilus, C.A., Stern, R.A. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Athletes: Progressive Tauopathy After Repetitive Head Injury. 2009. Boston, MA: Neuropathology Neurol. Roberts, G.W., Allsop, D., Bruton, C. The occult aftermath of boxing. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1990 May; 53(5): 373–378.
A big part of the NFL’s hold on players is their contracts and money. Thousands of young men aspire to be on a professional team, just for the fame, money and title. They are not made aware of the lasting conditions that come with playing football and their everlasting effects. If anything, the NFL has gone out of their way to discredit the newer research that links playing football with CTE. CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is a disease that has the same effects as dementia and Alzheimer’s, except that CTE leaves tau protein deposition in distinctive areas of the brain, which is what separates CTE from dementia and Alzheimer’s....
Boxing is combat with very little protection and it insures lots of injury. Having a career as a boxer one thing is guaranteed suffering countless injuries and possibly undergoing some very fatal blows to the head. In the article it says that boxers still box because people still go to boxing matches to watch boxers go at it all out till time is called. The article also mentions that boxer had a twenty percent chance of dementia. Boxers knowingly put their life in hazard for the amusement of other people.
The average NFL player takes up to 1,000 blows to the head throughout their football career. Some of those blows can have the force of a sledgehammer (“RealNatural”). Based on a research study by Dr. Jesse David, there were 265 concussions reported in the 2012 season, during the 2011 season there were 266 concussions, and 270 concussions in 2010 season (Kacsmar). It has been known that repeated blows to the head can cause long-term brain damage since at least the 1950’s, long before most of the NFL players had begun their careers (“RealNatural”). Past infractions of the NFL have already resulted in over 4,500 forme...
What does Jovan Belcher, Ray Esterling and O.J. Murdock Have in common? They all were famous football players who commented suicide. Each player had something called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. This is a condition where sufferers have had repeated hits to the head that leads to concussions and ultimately head trauma. In this research paper, we will go over the data about the NFL to see could they have prevented CTE in these players if they had placed the player’s safety first.
With that being said, we begin to notice the comparison between both dogfighting and football. This was shown by using a system called “HITS, in which six sensors are placed inside the helmet of every player on the field, measuring the force and location of every blow he receives to the head” (Gladwell 56). The HITS system helped to conclude that practice can be just as dangerous as the games. With this being said, football is an overall reckless style of play that can continually cause brain injury. Not just football but both of these high intensity sports are viewed as damaging to one 's body both physically and mentally. Because of this, if people consider dogfighting to be unjust, illegal, and abusive then they should believe football to have the same damaging effects. Unfortunately, there is such a high demand for football, because of all the money it brings. Because of this, scientist and doctors will ignore the realistic facts and continue to allow people to participate in this
Omalu issue a retraction of the paper and alluded to the research being a misunderstanding of the medical literature of CTE of boxers (dementia pugilistica). Dr. Omalu and his colleagues drafted a response to the MTBI’s criticisms that stated they would be happy to collaborate with the NFL and the MTBI to develop an optimal research program regarding CTE. Others who also commented on the initial article for the most part backed Dr. Omalu et al in their position that this was the initial case and as stated more research was needed to solidify these findings. Dr. Omalu expressed his great frustration with the MTBI’s response in a later interview, especially regarding the issue that his research did not mention or allude to punch drunk syndrome.
A. Background 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). As common as concussions were during the late 1970s and 1980s, they were often swept under the rug, as they were seen as insignificant injuries.
Traumatic Brain Injury — Football, Warfare, and Long-Term Effects. New England Journal of Medicine. pp. 1293-1296. Doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1007051.
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).
Adirim, Terry A. “Concussions in Sports and Recreation.” Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine 8.1 (2007): 2-6. Print.
Although some people still oppose the fighting style and physicality of MMA, the benefits clearly outweigh the consequences. With strict and organized regulation of MMA events, proper care and insurance risk can be minimized, but it’s necessary to se...
Being a professional boxer didn’t do much for his mental health because he says he would feel on top of the world and yet so lonely at the same time after a fight. Therefore, he suffered not only the physical demands, but the mental demands in the professional arena of the sport.
New research, brought to light by Barlow (2018), informs readers that concussions have been wrongly blamed for the cause of CTE. A CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, is a brain disease where tau protein gathered around blood vessels. However, it has recently been discovered that this disease is caused by repeated head trauma, not concussions.
When thinking about the disease that athletes get, and hearing more and more about it in the media, it has become a growing idea of what should be done. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS) affects that brain in a major way. This disease makes it so the brain does not send signals through the body. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy(CTE) is a general description of a category of diseases. These diseases include Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Huntington's, and Frontotemporal Dementia. Dementia and Alzheimer’s are comparable, while Huntington's and Frontotemporal Dementia are comparable. Recent research has shown that athletes are at a higher risk of obtaining these diseases due to the constant strikes to their bodies and heads. Athletes should be able to
A fighter punches to hurt and disable his opponent. Gloves are worn to protect the fist, not the brain. Some fights are such patent mismatches that the crowd is not paying to watch a competitive battle; its paying to watch [ a blood match]”(Hauser,6). Ever since C.T.E. was discovered, many have wondered if boxing should be banned due to the dangers involved. Many came to its defense saying that there are deaths in other sports as well; if there are deaths and risks in other sports, why should just boxing be banned? But why fight? Why risk death or serious mental injury? Thomas Hauser asked a couple retired boxers to find out. Some of them do it for the money, while others do it for the fame. The up and coming boxers recall going to the gym with a trail of kids behind him, offering to carry their bag; admiration twinkling in their eyes. Maybe some of like to fight because they are good at it. Everyone wants to be good at something, some people are just good at punching people. Others do it because they feel like they are someone, they matter. It is the first time that people notice them as a person and are interested in what they have to say and who they are. “It makes me feel big”, says middleweight champion Vito Antuofermo. He goes on by comparing bringing the most beautiful girl to the school dance and feeling