Concussions in American football

Concussions and play-related head blows in American football have been shown to be the cause of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has led to player deaths and other debilitating symptoms after retirement, including memory loss, depression, anxiety, headaches, stress, and sleep disturbances.[1]

The list of ex-NFL players that have either been diagnosed post-mortem with CTE or have reported symptoms of CTE continues to grow.[2][3] According to Boston University, CTE is a brain degenerative disease found in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma. Although CTE is highly controversial and misunderstood, it is believed that a protein called Tau forms clumps that slowly spread throughout the brain, killing brain cells.

There is also theoretical research that suggests early CTE might result from damaged blood vessels within the brain. That could trigger brain inflammation and, eventually, the development of proteins such as Tau believed to play a key role in CTE. This hypothesis was tested on adult mice; the researchers state that their brains possess similar attributes to that of human brains. Using a special device, the mice were given precise impacts that would lead to mild brain traumas similar to what an athlete would suffer in contact sports. The mice, whose brains were scanned using a specialized MRI, immediately showed changes to the electrical functions of their brains.[4]

According to 2017 study on brains of deceased gridiron football players, 99% of tested brains of NFL players, 88% of CFL players, 64% of semi-professional players, 91% of college football players, and 21% of high school football players had various stages of CTE.[5]

Other common injuries include injuries of legs, arms, neck and lower back.[6][7][8][9]

  1. ^ Meehan III, William (2017). concussions. Santa Barbara, California. ISBN 9781440838941.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ "The grim list of football players with CTE continues to grow". kansascity. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
  3. ^ Branch, John (2016-02-03). "Ken Stabler, a Magnetic NFL Star, Was Sapped of Spirit by C.T.E." The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
  4. ^ Tagge, C. A., Fisher, A. M., Minaeva, O. V., Gaudreau-Balderrama, A., Moncaster, J. A., Zhang, X.-L., Wojnarowicz, M. W., Casey, N., Lu, H., Kokiko-Cochran, O. N., Saman, S., Ericsson, M., Onos, K. D., Veksler, R., Senatorov, V. V., Kondo, A., Zhou, X. Z., Miry, O., Vose, L. R., … Goldstein, L. E. (2018). Concussion, microvascular injury, and early tauopathy in young athletes after impact head injury and an impact concussion mouse model. Brain, 141(2), 422–458. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awx350
  5. ^ "BU Researchers Find CTE in 99% of Former NFL Players Studied | The Brink | Boston University". 26 July 2017.
  6. ^ Willigenburg, N. W.; Borchers, J. R.; Quincy, R.; Kaeding, C. C.; Hewett, T. E. (2016). "Comparison of Injuries in American Collegiate Football and Club Rugby: A Prospective Cohort Study - Nienke W. Willigenburg, James R. Borchers, Richard Quincy, Christopher C. Kaeding, Timothy E. Hewett, 2016". The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 44 (3): 753–60. doi:10.1177/0363546515622389. PMID 26786902. S2CID 21829142.
  7. ^ "The Common Types of Football Injuries".
  8. ^ Makovicka, J. L.; Patel, K. A.; Deckey, D. G.; Hassebrock, J. D.; Chung, A. S.; Tummala, S. V.; Hydrick, T. C.; Gulbrandsen, M.; Hartigan, D. E.; Chhabra, A. (2019). "Lower Back Injuries in National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Players: A 5-Season Epidemiological Study". Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 7 (6). doi:10.1177/2325967119852625. PMC 6582304. PMID 31245431.
  9. ^ "reverehealth.com".