Age Of Consent Omalu Analysis

We have all heard of the term “sports injury”. Usually an accident that occurs when engaged in a sport, the ideal can apply from something as frustrating as a rolled ankle to the more debilitating shock of a broken arm. Yet the fact remains that these physical ailments will heal, and properly, if they are treated properly. But what about concussions? What are the long term effects? In her brief editorial in TIME magazine, Alexandra Sifferlin explores the effects of concussions and specifically how they affect children if they aren't disclosed.

Although there are numerous different sports around the world, but often the sports that are considered the most popular tend to be the ones that hold the most aggression. For instance, in America the last 30 years straight, professional football has been the most popular sport (Rovell). Since football is the most popular sport, it is also one of the most aggressive sports, along with hockey, mixed martial arts, and soccer. Part of how American football is played is by being very hands on against the opponent, such that, the players have to tackle and knock down the other team’s players. As a result, at times during a game, serious injuries or accidents can occur, particularly, concussions. Unfortunately, there are instances where the aggression, such as in football, takes a toll on all the players’ bodies. Leaving professional football players injured, changing their whole life. For instance, “Earl Campbell was one of the NFL’s most prolific running backs to ever suit up” (Diaz &

Currently 55% of Americans and 60% of fans have heard “a good deal” about the link between football concussions and long-term brain damages. Everyone will not receive a concussion in the sport of football, but people are scared about what if I get one, will I have long-term brain damage as well. No. Long term brain damage happens from repetitive hits to the head.

People are intrigued when they see men that weight over 200 pounds crash into another man creating over 1000 pounds of force. Although this is very exciting to watch, how well do football players, fanatics and parents know that physical contact can cause brain damage? For example, writer Chad Asplund from the British Medical Journal states that “Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was first described in American football players as a progressive neurodegenerative syndrome leading to neuronal loss coupled with protein and plaque deposits in the brain as a result of repeated mild traumatic brain injury”. Every hit that a football player takes to the head will experience dead brain cells that could affect them in the future. To add on, author Nicki Karimiour from the Journal of Sports Media reports that a study done by the NFL reported that football players ages 30 through 49 are 19 times more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other memory problems. What's even worse is that writer Hamish Kerr from The Mediatric Annals journal states that players who experience three or more concussion are expected to have long-lasting neuropsychological deficits which will limit their function to control the body. All of this is very important to take seriously because football is a well know sports that people enjoy to play and watch. Brain damage could be avoided as long as physical contact is not in use when playing

Because athletes do not take the responsibility to manage their injuries it leads to long term health concerns over a period of time. “The NFL must go further and clarify the rules even more, Durando contends, especially when it comes to hits on defenseless players, and they should continue to focus on decreasing the number of concussions to players in order to protect a player's long-term health” (par. 1). Stu Durando, a sportswriter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, acknowledges the fact that the National Football League has more work to do in decreasing concussion injuries. He not only stresses the cases of concussions, but shows a motive to help protect players along with their future mental wellness. Given these points, brain injuries tend to display as athletes age. Post Concussion Syndrome is what typically disarrays a former football player in the long run. Post-concussion syndrome is a complex disorder in which a variable combination of post-concussion symptoms — such as headaches and dizziness — last for weeks and sometimes months after the injury that caused the concussion. Post-concussion syndrome can include psychological, physical and emotional problems including headaches, difficulty focusing on tasks, dizziness, or simply a state of mind that some would describe as “not feeling yourself”. “Sleepless nights were followed by partial amnesia. His grades plummeted. As his memory faltered, he grew embarrassed and anxious. Football had been the center of his life, but now he couldn't even exercise. Finally, he withdrew from college. Most players, like Reed, will recover completely after a period of headaches, sleepiness and difficulty focusing in class. Others--one in 10, some experts say--suffer long-term symptoms. They are more likely to develop post-concussion syndrome, where fogginess, headaches, poor

There are many consequences to playing football, but the greatest is concussions. Football is a game of tackles, sacks, and other hard hitting plays that involve big men playing their hearts out. Within the game of football, whoever has the ball is the one to be hit the hardest, on most plays. These immense blows to the body and head lead to awful injuries, both physically and mentally. Most players will be injured in some way during their football career, with the worst injuries being those that are mental. The worst and most frightening injury for a football player to have is a concussion. A concussion is a form of traumatic brain injury that results in a temporary loss of brain function. Concussions have been known since the 10th Century AD of which Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakariya Al-Razi-Rhazes was the first to use the term. Al-Razi was the first to “make a distinction between a concussion as an abnormal physiologic state and severe brain injury” (Mccrory & Berkovic). He also stated that there would be no physical damage seen, only neurological damage (Mccrory & Berkovic). Football is a very dangerous sport, not just physically, but neurologically as well.

Concussions are positively correlated with direct contact and head on collisions within contact sports. Throughout the years, this issue has been addressed more frequently, especially in football. In fact, “... the National Football League came under fire last year for the harrowing long-term effects of head injuries among many of its former players…” (Sanders) In response, the National Football League’s commissioner “ordered every NFL team to adhere to new policies involving concussion management and said that players cannot return to play until a physician clears them.” (Sanders) This was a controversial move because this means that key players may not be able to return if under the effects of a head injury; however, Sanders goes onto explain how brain injuries can not only

In the highly controversial movie, Concussion, released in movie theatres nationwide on December 15th 2015, starring Will Smith, the story addressed people on the severity of football concussions and the discovery of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Players of the NFL were having a great number of concussions. Doctors were mad about this unexplainable phenomenon. Parents were concerned about the safety of their children playing football. After the discovery of CTE, in Mike Webster by Dr. Bennet Omalu in 2002, the controversy of CTE really began its uproar. The NFL's Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) Committee refuted this research. They accused Omalu of lack of knowledge and did not want to believe that forceful contact in football

Billions of dollars have been spilled into concussion research. One thing that has been proven through this research is that football players face the greatest risk of concussions. This includes all sports, even NCAA and NFL football. Helmets nowadays all have a warning that reads similar to: NO HELMET SYSTEM CAN PROTECT YOU FROM SERIOUS BRAIN AND/OR NECK INJURIES INCLUDING PARALYSIS OR DEATH. TO AVOID THESE RISKS, DO NOT ENGAGE IN THE SPORT OF FOOTBALL. Many people with ties to football argue that the benefits of football significantly outweigh the risks associated. Football people know that concussions can’t be eliminated totally, but they do believe that concussions can be slowed by proper tackling techniques as well as better technology. Even though football may lead to neurodegenerative brain diseases, the benefits of football far and away outweigh these inherited risks.

When I think of Brain related injuries in sports my mind automatically gravitates towards football. As for most Americans that's the case the hard-hitting contact sport is a household name the NFL (National football league). In actuality concussions are very common in every sport such as MLB, NBA, NHL, Boxing, UFC and the lost goes on. Unfortunately up until recently most sports did not see the negative long-term side effects that concussions can leave on the human brain. One of the more recent things that has spiked tremendous interest in concussions is seeing the long term affects itcan leave on the

An athlete who returns to the game, prematurely, after a head injury and sustains a second impact, Second Impact Syndrome (SIS), to the head has a one in two chances of sudden death. There is a 90% chance of a soccer player sustaining a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that will have debilitating results. Reportedly there are 1.3 million to 3.6 million concussions a year. A football player in high school will sustain as much as 1,800 impacts each season. (When Is One Hit Too Many?"). However, this is not the hidden epidemic that is going on and affecting millions, in which many of its victims are “suffering in silence and obscurity” (Omalu). Recurrent concussions have been proven to cause a disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

With an average of 300,000 cases a year in the U.S alone, concussions have become a major topic in the athletic world. (Gessel et. al 2007) In the mid to late 1900’s many people were under the belief that a concussion was not that big of a deal and kids were rarely checked for an injury. It wasn’t until recent years that doctors actually researched concussions and realized that they were a big deal just like any other brain injury. The rise in concussions awareness has happened because of the lasting effects that numerous concussions can have on the brain. These effects can include an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer's, and Dementia. Because of these new studies professional

In the article “I’m refusing to let my son play football, and you should too” by Doree Lewak, when she was talking to Dyan Hes, a mom who will not be letting her son play tackle football, she wrote “‘My biggest fear is that he will get a concussion, and it will interfere with his brain development, his studies and his enjoyment of other sports,’ says Hes.” Hes has feared what most would rather not think about: what will happen when the child plays. Concussions happen more often than not in a sport like football, and the child will have to live with the trauma for the rest of their life. In the article “Why Do We Let Kids Play Tackle Football?” by Stefan Fatsis, he wrote “…there’s already data that shows the effect of tackle football on undeveloped brains, like a study released this year by researchers at Virginia Tech and Wake Forest that found that 7-year-old players absorb impacts on par with those in college football.” In children, that kind of impact is definitely life threatening. When a young child gets injured in the head, the injury can hinder their growth of the child’s brain, and that child’s future will not be as great as it could have been. To guarantee a child a safe and healthy future, they must not play

Memory and intelligence loss, suicidal thoughts and action, and lack of sleep are some of the many serious and severe side effects from the head trauma that can last from a couple weeks all the way up to months. Guskiewicz explains that sportsmen who have reported at least one concussion have a risk of a 1.5-fold chance of depression but those who have reported at least three concussions they are then exposed to a threefold of having depression from the medical expenses, suicidal thoughts, or even the thought of their life being ruined and never being able to play football again (Guskiewicz ). Later in the player’s life, dementia or ALzheimer's are not rare when previously having a concussion. The article of NCBI-Journal of Athlete Training, the author, John Powell mentions concussion and brain injury rates because of football have dramatically increased since 1879. Equipment provided to the athletes are not up to date or protective. Powell even states within the article that the victims who are experiencing concussions who drop an extreme amount if the sports community would improve and advanced the equipment (Powell 307-311). More severe issues will come later in life to the victim. A lot of the retired football players are suffering from the long term consequences of playing

After watching the movie “Concussion,” you will see and walk away with a kind of a important and, in all likelihood, consistent worry and also anxiety attacks about the act of playing football or any sport of the fact. Given the fact that, our brains, and the known sport football (the frequently served opportunity for an important sub-concussive and concussive hits), there is a huge yet clear debate for a plausible medical crisis in the long term it was always happening but we have only just started to realize it recently.