NFL Concussions and Their Long-Term Effects Essay

On May 2, 2012, the National Footb tot aloney group discussion lost wiz of its elite fly the coopers to self-annihilation third-year Seau. Seau played for the Chargers, Dolphins, and the Patriots during his skipper footb wholly game c beer and was a 12-time Pro derby before retiring in 2009. trio geezerhood by and by his retirement however, Seau affiliated self-annihilation by shooting himself in the chest with a gun. This greatly floor the footb whole game world and its image of Junior Seau as a person, just now it in design relieve oneselfd the establish for his action. Shortly after Seaus death, enquiryers examined Seaus hotshot and constitute that it contained a sickness cognise as degenerative traumatic encephalopathy which is organize by iterate blows to the calculate a very common disease among causation football players (Football Brains). The Seau family then filed a pillow slip against the NFL claiming that the unify held back in arrangement fro m the players almost the danger of continuous blows to the conduct (Seaus Death on Brain Injuries). Since the formation of the National Football unite in 1920, the popularity of the sport has great(p) tremendously everyplace the years. It seems nowadays that more than and more mickle atomic number 18 getting interested in the NFL, whether it is talking most their favorite group at grow or at school or watching them play on game day. However, on the snap side of all the amazing catches and touchd features, at that place is a dark side to the NFL know as the disaster problem.This problem has gr have so oftentimes over the years that at that place clear been more than 4200 lawsuits by fountain and current players against the NFL stating that the NFL has been trying to blanket up the detrimental capacious bourne effects of blows and also relied on NFL doctors to present them the information they wanted to hear turn rejecting the studies d mavin by researches showi ng the yearn term effects concussions have on the brain (Junior Seaus Death Keeps patch on Brain Injuries). In companionship for the NFL to keep thriving the way it is safe now, the fusion had to reject the information sh have by researchers which showed the harmful effects of concussions in the long detain and instead had to hire their own doctors to say that concussions are minor and cause no detrimental long run effects. I believe that repetitive concussions do cause health problems in the future tense for NFL players and that the NFL as yet uped up the truth about concussions.Being that I watch the NFL regularly, it seems comparable it is almost guaranteed that at least one or more players will look a concussion during the game with all the physical contact taking place. many of the concussions these players image are obvious in that they are motionless on the institute and some are non so obvious in that they are put away able to make it to the bench. Acco rding to Jennifer elevator car of BrainFacts.org, a concussion is caused when the head is laid low(p) violently which then leads to a picture disruption in brain activity. When the head is struck suddenly, the brain is set in motion and bangs the skulls rough and frustrate inside which causes the brain carrells to stretch and sometimes fifty-fifty split ( voiced Brain stigma and Concussion).Michael Collins, a clinical psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh aesculapian Center who specializes in sports-related concussions, states that a concussion is basically an energy crisis to the brain cells and he also states that the brain has to work much harder to perform line of works (Hard Knocks The comprehension of Concussions). This disruption tolerate cause an individual to experience a variety of different symptoms in the pursuit minutes and hours. The range of symptoms takes the future(a) nausea, vomiting, brief loss of consciousness, and dizziness (Hard Knocks The Science of Concussions). subsequently symptoms include lightheadedness, depression, anxiety, ringing in the ears, never-ending migraine headaches, and poor c at a timentration or attention (Mild Brain wound and Concussion).The symptoms mentioned in the previous paragraph may last a couple days to a few weeks at most a few months. Those who experience these types of symptoms usually suck up a concussion maybe once or twice in their lifetimes. However, those professional athletes competing in sports with a good select of physical contact are in harms way of experiencing sextuple concussions during their career as an athlete. According to juvenile research, scientists have discovered a neurodegenerative disease also known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE (Hard Knocks The Science of Concussions). This disease was found in the brains of reason athletes who have died mainly boxers and football players (What is CTE?). These athletes were those who have received contin uous concussions or played in positions where they were vulnerable to experience a good amount of physical impact (Hard Knocks The Science of Concussions). The retell whopping of the brain against the skull causes a gradual retrogression of the brain tissue, and also the forming of an unusual protein known as tau (What is CTE?). These activities in the brain dejection take place months or even years after the last concussion or retirement from the sport. Some of the symptoms associated with CTE include memory loss, confusion, depression, aggression, hindered judgment, and dementia (What is CTE?).There is by all odds evidence of the symptoms of CTE among precedent NFL players. There are many theoretical accounts of power NFL players who have suffered from CTE and have killed themselves and/or those around them including the Junior Seau suicide event that was mentioned in the opening paragraph. The for the first time example is John Grimsley, who was a former Houston Oilers l inebacker. Grimsley shot himself by accident objet dart he was cleaning his gun one day (Football Brains). The former NFL player was a skilled outdoorsman and should have easily performed the task of cleaning his gun. A second example is Justin Strzelczyk, who was a former offensive electrician for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Strzelczyk was involved in a high-speed hit-and-run chase with the police which dour into a fiery crash where he eventually died (Football Brains). Another example is former Canadian professional wrestler Chris Benoit who polish off his wife and child and then took his own life (Football Brains).The final example is gobbler McHale, who was a former Tampa Bay Buccaneer. He died at the age of 45 from a drug overdose (Football Brains). All the brains of these former professional athletes were taken for study and all their brains were found to contain the brain disease CTE in them (Football Brains). Another study was do on the affects of repeated concussions ca using CTE by Ann McKee. According to Ann McKee, who is a neuropathologist at Bedford VA medical checkup Center, brains of patients with CTE have unique patterns of abnormal protein tangles and cell loss (Hard Knocks The Science of Concussions). Her study analyse the brains of former athletes and war veterans who have undergo multiple brain injuries. McKees research showed that out of the 85 brains she has studied, 68 of the brains contained the brain disease CTE (Hard Knocks The Science of Concussions). There is abundant research still be through with(p) by scientists in the area of CTE and if there is a partnership between repeated blows to the head and the formation of CTE in the brain. In fact the National Football confederation has headstrong to donate $30 one thousand million to the National Institutes of Healths neurology Institute to help further studies on concussions among football players and military troops (NFL Donates $30 Million To Concussion enquiry).Mo re and more research and evidence on concussions is being brought to the fore front, as well as the numerous tragedies that occurred among former NFL players stemming from repeated concussions. Because of this, the NFL league and the NFL Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee secretly decided to cover up and put down all the extensive studies and findings that have been recently soda up by scientists outside the NFL. In the PBS TV documentary League of Denial, the NFL is portrayed as a close money-driven industry that would do anything to keep the league from falling apart, even to the extent of refuse information from players about the long-term consequences from repeated blows to the head. In this film, the spotlight is cast on Dr. Bennett Omalu who was the first scientist to discover CTE (NFL Concussion treat). His findings of CTE came from the brains of former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster and his teammate terry Long. Dr. Omalus findings were tremendously influential beca use it was the emission for the connection between repetitive blows to the head and CTE. However, as Dr. Omalu began publishing his findings about CTE in the brains of Webster and Long, the NFL soon noticed his findings and took action.Dr. Omalu recalled a transition he had with a NFL doctor in which the NFL doctor said, Dr. Omalu, do you know the consequences of what you are doing? If 10 percent of mothers in the States started to view football as a dangerous sport, it would be the end of football (NFL Concussion Cover-up). This obviously shows that NFL doctors realize that the findings between multiple concussions and CTE are adjust, but they are reluctant to admit to it because they are afraid that the NFL will dissolve into nothing if the truth is discovered. The NFL realized that the league was in jeopardy so they decided to publicly denounce the findings of Dr. Omalu by saying that his work was flawed. However, this was not the only attempt that the NFL make it trying to pu t down the findings from scientists on the connection between repetitive concussions and CTE. In a 2007 meeting with the NFLs Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee, Julian Bailes who is the top neurosurgeon at the Northshore neurologic Institute, displayed several pictures of CTE that was almost certainly caused by frequent concussions.However, the chairman of the committee downplayed all the evidence that was shown to them by Julian Bailes even though the evidence was pretty clear. The Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, decided that it was best for the league to conduct its own study about concussions. He released the following statements regarding the evidence being shown to the league by outside doctors and researchers, You have to look at their inbuilt medical history. To look at something that is isolated without looking at their entire medical history I weigh is irresponsible (NFL Covering Up Research?). From just this one instance, we can by all odds see that the NFL is trying its best to overleap the clear-cut evidence about the connection between repetitive concussions and CTE. It seems as though the Commissioner and the head of the NFL Brain Injury committee realize that the information and the research that was showed to them was true so they had to make sure it did not leak out to the players and also to the media.