If you were to ask a high school freshman what a concussion is, do you think they would be able to tell you? All I would’ve been able to tell you when I was a high school freshman is that a concussion is when you hit your head really hard. I had no idea really what the consequences of a concussion were and obviously I had a really naïve sense of what it actually is. Luckily that understanding has left me. But I ask….do you think other high school freshmen are different than I was? Sophomores? Juniors? Seniors? What about beyond that? Well hopefully this article can help shed light on what a concussion is and how it can affect your brain after the fact.
A concussion is a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that is characterized by an injury to the head or the body that causes the brain to shake inside of the skull. (Freshman me was partially correct.) If the concussion is severe enough it can cause you to lose consciousness but generally symptoms of a concussion include confusion, slurred speech, sensitivity to light and noise, sluggishness etc. The causes for a concussion are the injuries that result from physical activity such as sports. The most common and famous sport when talking about concussions is football and many of us are aware of the controversy that surrounds it. But why would this be controversial? Well the repeated amount of concussions from football, boxing whatever the activity may be can cause Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which is basically a neurodegenerative disorder that is a continuation from repeated concussions that can permanently cause brain damage and worsen the symptoms and premature death. There are an estimated 2-4 million concussions per year in the United States. An article in the Neurosurgery journal discusses the biochemical processes resulting from a traumatic brain injury. It all starts with a high influx of ions into the area affected. This results in overactive cellular responses that kick energy metabolism into overdrive. This can cause damage to the cytoskeleton of the cell and affect the axons that are responsible moving information between cells and within cells. This than can have altered neurotransmission where information is processed more slowly or at an abnormal rate due to the altered neurotransmission. Microglia and supporting neurons will be caused to be overactive and they will release cytokines and trophins that will increase brain inflammation. After all of these sequential events occur the cell or cells will die resulting in neurodegeneration. It is no secret that having repetitive traumatic brain injuries could cause severe brain damage.
This information I believe would be very beneficial to know for people who are involved with sports activities. Parents and players often do not understand the severity of concussions, which makes life difficult for care providers. People need to realize that these symptoms will go away eventually but proper treatment is vital because the risk of severe damage increases during the recovery period of an already in place concussion. This means time for rest and no stimulating activity including intense cognitive thought, which is conducive with schoolwork. Many different factors come into when dealing with a concussion. Teachers, parents, coaches, players etc. all need to come to a realization and a general consensus that concussions are not a topic to throw under the table. Sports and physical activity will not just go away, which means concussions, will not either. However a deeper understanding of what concussions are and how we can treat them
Understanding Concussions and Traumatic Brain Injury
