If you wondered what many Americans were doing Sunday afternoon, I could give you an answer. They were watching football. Baseball claims that its America’s pastime, but it has to be football. There’s high school ball on Fridays, college ball on Saturdays, and professional on Sundays. This country is obsessed with the game. We love it so much that we’ve created fantasy leagues. Football is a big part of my life. I love watching the game, but more importantly my “little” brother, who is 6’3′ and 290 lbs, plays football.
In the past few years, football has had to confront the issue of concussions. Science has shown that multiple concussions can cause a syndrome called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). A brain with CTE is smaller and morphed differently. There are NFL players who have been diagnosed with CTE. Some of their symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes, and sometimes motor impairment. The most disturbing part of CTE is depression. In the last decade, twelve NFL players committed suicide. Eleven of the twelve had their brains analyzed, and all eleven showed signs of CTE.
While these numbers are scary, we can’t ignore them. To decrease the number of CTE cases, it is important to understand what’s happening when someone gets a concussion. When the head is hit, the membrane of cells in the brain are damaged. This disturbs the ions (ex. calcium and potassium) levels to change. Then an excitatory neurotransmitter (ex. glutamate) is released. This will eventually lead to neurons being suppressed. The body tries to fix this by making the pumps in cells work more. This requires energy and will deplete the energy stores. In the end, the brain can become to acidic and there will be swelling. If a person experiences multiple concussions, this process can cause tangles and plaques to form. This is when CTE occurs, and symptoms will begin to show.
After learning about CTE, the banning of football was proposed. I don’t think that banning football is the answer. If we ban this game, then anything that can cause a concussion should be banned. Playing a dangerous sport is a personal decision and should remain that way. There do have to be some changes though. Research into safer helmets should be a priority. On a grander scale, concussion education should be mandatory for all coaches, players, and parents. Not only should they understand the signs of a concussion and how to treat it, but they should learn the repercussions of an unhealed brain. I want to make sure that this game is safe for my brother and all future players.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sports/league-of-denial/the-four-stages-of-cte/
https://moodle.cord.edu/pluginfile.php/401841/mod_resource/content/1/pathophys%20of%20brain%20traumas.pdf
Knock Knock Who's There? Concussion!
