Essay about Concussions Around The World

Recreational athletes, competitive athletes, high school athletes, college athletes, and professional athletes all have one thing in common: the risk of a concussion. It's impossible to go a season without one athlete from a team receiving a concussion. The more that these concussions are studied, the more we learn about them, such as their detrimental effects on athletes. Because of the risk of health issues and death that come with concussions, doctors, coaches, athletic trainers, and lawmakers are stepping in to protect athletes of all levels from receiving concussions.

This brain injury also includes the “production of harmful chemicals called free radicals, inflammation, impaired transport of molecules within nerve cells, and imbalances of key ions needed for nerve function” (Menon 1). Memory is also effected by a concussion. Short term memory is often “individuals complain that they cannot remember something they just saw, or things that were just said. This is the most common type of memory problem” (French 1). Long term memory impact is viewed as “individuals who suffer a head injury are able to remember things that occurred in the past, but may struggle with things that happened recently” (French 1). When a concussion happens it is mostly common to only be effective to short term memory. Concussions not only potentially bruise your brain but produces harmful chemicals. A concussion causes “injury to the nerves in the scalp or larger nerves in the face and upper neck from the trauma can result in head discomfort” (Zasler 1). Head discomfort includes piercing headaches and lasting head pain. The nervous system is effected in negative ways because at the moment of impact to the brain, the nerve tissues are stretched and teared causing great pain.

A concussion is when you go unconsciousness for a little while caused by a blow to the head. The term is also used loosely of the after effects such as confusion or temporary incapacity. Concussion is are known as a mild brain injury that is a mild brain injury MTBI mild head injury and a little head trauma. Some experts will define a concussion as a head injury with temporary loss of brain function which can cause some cognitive physical and emotional symptoms. Symptoms may also include headache, confusion, lack of coordination. The term concussion describes an injury to the brain resulting from a hard impact to the head. By definition a concussion is not a life threatening injury but should be treated fast . The use of protective headgear can decrease the risk of a concussion when you are engaging in any of the following activities Contact martial arts sports such as boxing, karate, and others Football. Most post concussion symptoms such as headaches, sensitivity to noise and light, dizziness, fatigue and memory problems go away with about seven to ten days after the injury but sometimes post concussion symptoms can last up to about 3 months. Rarely do symptoms last longer. What can you do when you have a concussion? Some people who have had a concussion find that at first it

It wasn’t until Dr. McKee and other researchers presented evidence of CTE in football players during a congressional hearing with the U.S. House of Representatives, in 2009, that the NFL changed its approach to addressing these findings. Later that year, during an interview with The New York Times, NFL Spokesman Greg Aiello stated “it’s quite obvious from the medical research that’s been done that concussion can lead to long-term problems.” This was one of the first times the league admitted that concussions and brain injuries had long-term impact on players. Admitting that there was a problem was one of the first steps in overhauling their approach to CTE’s impact on football players. Towards the end of that year, there was a shake up

In the United States alone, athletes account for about 300,000 concussions each year (11 Facts). A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that causes swelling of the brain 's soft tissue and disrupts normal brain function (Concussion). A concussion has potential to impact memory and coordination for the rest of the athlete 's life along with lead to other, more serious, brain injuries. In order for athletes to reduce the effects from concussions, they need to be educated on the symptoms, ways to avoid the injury, and the possible lifelong effects.

In the U.S. alone, athletes suffer from roughly 300,000 concussions per year; 3,800,000 concussions were reported in 2012, which is double of what was reported in 2002. A concussion may be defined as a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, stretching and damaging the brain cells and creating chemical changes in the brain. Concussions are not usually considered life-threatening, but they may result in effects to the brain that may lead to devastating outcomes. Concussions are serious injuries that need to be taken seriously because of their severity and the serious health disorders that may arise.

There are many ways to help prevent concussions but here is the most effective one. To decrease the risk of concussive injuries removes players’ greatest protection. Take away helmets during practices. The idea was to heighten their instinct to protect their heads, then hope that caution would carry over into real games when they wore their helmets, thereby diminishing the chance of a concussion. Here are some ways to recover quicker. If your doctor says to stay home from school or work for a few days, do it — no matter what else you have going on. Don't let anyone pressure you into something that doesn't fit in with your healing plan. Go to all your scheduled follow-up visits. Call a doctor if you have headaches that get worse or other problems that don't go away

Something as simple as a specially designed helmet can prevent a concussion from occurring. “ While helmets have been used since the early 1900s in the NFL, they were not mandatory until 1943. Since then, the materials, designs, and safety standards have undergone revision, and more recent modifications have focused on improving the design to further protect the athlete specifically from concussive impacts”(Navarro, 2011). The helmets used in the past to protect athletes were not designed purely in mind of protecting athletes from concussions; helmets and equipment are now being revised and redesigned in the focus of protecting athletes from concussions whenever any sort of contact happens to the athletes cranium. “Biomechanical studies have shown that newer football helmets may reduce the impact forces associated with a sport-related concussion” (Navarro, par 2). Along with the creation of new equipment new rules should be adopted which require athletes to wear proper and up to date equipment, such as helmets and mouthguards which protect the athletes head during any circumstance of possible injury; whether during a practice or

A mild concussion may only produce symptoms like, headaches, irritability, and other behaviors that are pretty common in the average teenager, anyway. However, if treated incorrectly, long term consequences can range from behavioral changes, to mood disturbances because a concussion effects the cognition and function of the brain for a certain period of time. More effects of a concussion include loss of the ability to focus, changes on personality, and some even struggle with with cognitive skills like attention and judgement. More time on the sidelines, gives the athlete more time to gain back all cognitive skills and get back to normal before resuming play. Studies have also shown that women are more prone to concussions than men due to their different body types, brain development, and some researchers even speculate that girls have smaller, weaker necks, which cause their heads to be more vulnerable to trauma. This is more proof that athletes, especially women, should wait longer periods of time before doing physical activity after a

        A major solution for most of the concussion problems is the better development and testing of helmets. If helmets were more created to stop the impact and try to limit as much damage as possible that would help. Also it is more comfortable and  give more  of a secure feeling to the wearer. Another solution would be able to put sensors inside the helmet so where if it’s impacted to a certain point the alarm goes off and a player needs to be taken out of  game and given a test to see if you 're fit to keep playing.

Did you know a concussion is so dangerous it can lead to death? According to Matthew Futterman from the article “Football: The Concussion Game Changer” show,“The dire need for better methods of diagnosing brain trauma surfaced again this month when researchers at Boston University announced that Kevin Turner, a former University of Alabama and NFL player died from a motor neuron disease brought on by CTE” (Futterman, Pg1). Turner was forty six when he died in March and suffered brain symptoms since 2010. Through the perspective of concussions, it shows its dramatic life long impact on a person's life. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that alters the way your brain functions. Effects are usually temporary but can include headaches

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

`Concussions one of the most frequent injuries sweeping the country. Some may be asking how do concussions occur? Concussions occur when the brain moves in the skull. Causing it to bouncing off the skull. The sport football or rugby have a lot of concussions occurring in the sports. Somebody might be asking is there a way to prevent concussions from happening? The answer is no not yet. Virginia Tech is working on a football helmet to prevail concussions. Yay no more concussions, wrong there are still risks that may cause concussions. The concussion that can be sometimes fatal are just part of sports. In the end nothing can stop concussions from happening.

Do you think concussion have a big effect on athletes? Yes, concussions have a big impact on athletes. It can end their season in a quick second and leave them with life threatening effects. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a blow to the head. The impact that concussions have on athletes is a major problem.

As a high school kid, everyone thinks of concussions as a joke, something people say they have anytime they hit their head. They think that concussions are nothing more than a ploy to sit out in practice and they go away before games. They are persuaded, or choose to return to play earlier than they are intended. Due to this, they are at risk for not only a chance to reinjure theirselves, but for harmful long-term effects.