The Scandal of Banning Football and the Inevitable Concussion

The Inevitable Problem
Concussions are inevitable. Regardless of the sport, concussions will always be a risk. The same can be said for everyday life. One can be walking along and slip on an icy sidewalk, or get into a car accident and hit their head.
In current discussion surrounding concussions and sports, the ever scandalous proposal of banning football often arises.
The question of whether we should ban football due to the incidence of concussion is an absurd suggestion, as a concussion can happen regardless of a person playing football.
The Truth in the Scandal
Banning football, however, becomes a more viable argument when put in the context of multiple concussions that players suffer without treatment, and in the cases emerging around chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Thus, the root of saving football—which the multi-million-dollar beloved American sport is truthfully not in need of saving—is to confront these two issues.
Confronting Concussions
When the inevitable concussion occurs, the current problem lies in the fact that concussions are still in their infancy of research. There is little to no diagnostic procedures and the treatments available are very few.
The diagnostic problem lies in that most rely on self-reported injury. This self-reporting is problematic in that there is low incentive of players to report injury. The current treatment for concussions is rest—usually no less than a week.
This poses problems, as any player of competitive sports has little incentive to pull themselves out of the game—risking decreased playing time when they come back as others advance in wake of their recovery.
The treatments offered also greatly rely on display of symptoms. What we uncovered in our scientific study, is that some of the worst damage caused by concussions can happen asymptomatically.
The need for rest is largely due to the energy crisis that the brain suffers after a concussion. After the initial “bump” to the head, the brains membranes become leaky, and the chemistry of the brain is thrown for a loop.
Image from: http://rethinkconcussions.com/2014/10/energy-crisis-during-concussion/
This chemistry imbalance leads the brain to an energy crisis–a result of the lowered blood flow to the brain–in which the brain cannot produce enough ATP—the main source of energy in our bodies—to meet its needs for both normal functioning and repair of the injured brain.
This energy crisis usually lasts for a week, during which time, if another concussion occurs, there are going to be more serious effects and the recovery time could greatly increase.
The problem with the energy crisis is that it occurs at the cellular level. This means that the symptoms of the energy crisis could be mild to nonexistent—leaving the players feeling ready to play, but still in a very vulnerable state.
This is an immediate problem in football as the lack of incentive for players to report concussions, as well as a lack of good diagnostic procedures, results in players playing through concussions. Playing through the concussion greatly increases the risk of more severe symptoms and could cause an even longer recovery time of rest and no play.
The best way that the inevitable concussion can be addressed is through increased research into diagnostic techniques, implementation of diagnostic protocols, and an improved treatment plan, that would include treatments independent of symptoms.
This could also be improved by incentivizing the players to report concussions, and to create a monitoring system that allows for more accuracy in detecting concussed brains after a massive blow to the head occurs.
The Dangers of CTE
The other argument coming to light in the pro-banning football camps is the drastic effects of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
CTE results in a dramatic degradation of brain tissue due to the buildup of toxic tau proteins. As can be seen in this picture–the increasing build up of the tau protein.
CTE often causes the development of anxiety, depression, other mood disorders, as well as motor neuron disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
The most alarming part of CTE is that the disease is caused by repetitive sub-concussive blows to the head. The players very likely will not show symptoms of concussion, and will therefore not be treated.
If football is to be saved, this issue needs to be addressed. Such solutions that our team of neurochemistry students came up with are improved diagnostic techniques, improved helmets that allow for more force dispersion, and decreasing the amount of games per week—allowing for the brain to rest and recover before another week of head rammings.
Concussions are inevitable and very likely football isn’t going anywhere. The steps that need to be taken to address the alarming issues of both concussions and CTE lie in the diagnostic realm, with more research and awareness required.