topic Re: Football, concussions and CTE in Community Chat

Football, concussions and CTE

Deb1010yetagain — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 10:26:09 GMT

Has all the recent news of concussions and resulting brain disease (CTE - chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in football players affected your enjoyment of the game? It has mine. Especially after finding out that 27 year old player had an advanced case of CTE that resulted in his death.

How do you think the increased awareness of CTE will impact football in the long run? (if at all).

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

Desertdi — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 11:20:54 GMT

Then there's soccer, ice hockey..........tennis, golf injuries, etc.

And regular injuries from "just working"...........like carpal tunnel from typing or texting.........hearing problems from using a headset............

I won't even go into the occupational injuries from construction or factory work............

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

Nataliesgramma — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 11:57:23 GMT

Yes...because we have a family member who is a starting lineman in the NFL....

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

Goldengate8361 — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 11:58:42 GMT

I hate (yes, hate is a strong word and intentionally used) everything about football. It has no redeeming qualities---except for the revenue that cities derive from all of the football patrons spending money in their city. I think the world would be better off without football.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

qualitygal — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 12:54:38 GMT

My thoughts go to the kid's in school. Still developing. Scary and horrible.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

ValuSkr — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 13:19:31 GMT

It certainly has affected my enjoyment of the game. I pay no attention to the college game, and have only a passing interest in the pros.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

AngusandBuddhasMom — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 14:07:44 GMT

It is not just Football but they garner all the attention. It is also field hockey and soccer and the list goes on.

My dd had to give up playing Field Hockey her Senior year of College after her third concussion resulted in her getting complications in the back of her brain. She had swelling in her blood vessels because of the trauma from the impact.

She is better now but still suffers memory loss and bad headaches. She had played the sport since she was a kid. Travel teams, Jr Olympics with no injury. That didn't happen until College when you start to face players who may not be the same caliber or trained by good coaches who know how to play themselves. Sloppy and cheap play is how kids are getting injured.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

millieshops — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 14:28:47 GMT

@DesertdiI agree all of life comes with risks and now that medical science has extended our lives far beyond where the average person lived, say 100 years ago, we're seeing just how fragile we are.

Maybe if we all could live another 100 years, we'd see medical science eliminate all the risks, but my imagination doesn't extend anywhere that far as to possibilities. So, in the meantime, I think we need to know our risks and then we can choose to avoid some, but never all.

I think football may be in a class of its own because the concussions affect far more players than we knew and more seriously than we knew. When I was part of the spectators shouting encouragement at my high school games, we worried about broken bones and sprained ankles, not dementia setting in in thirty years because of Friday night under the lights.

Justr yesterday in the Palm Beach Post, a local football coach was quoted as saying he has decided he will not allow his 10-year-old son to play tackle football. Too much danger to his developing brain. But, he didn't say he'd quit coaching -obviously, lots of parents don't feel the same as he does

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

SahmIam — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 18:43:46 GMT

Nope. I have sons who play rugby. I have one son who plays rugby and football. Spring means track.

I rode horses (competitively and the head and neck injuries in THIS sport are rarely discussed even with Christopher Reeves case), played basketball and ran track. I know at least one person in each sport that I played who is dealing with a long term injury (as am I). Unless you're going to ban ALL sports, injuries are part of the package.

Last, coaches in ALL fields push and look the other way when it comes to injuries. I can't tell you the number of times I played basketball or ran in a meet where ice was on before, during and after the game; same with my teammates. Or buddies who were gymnasts and competed with sprains. Is it right? No. But football isn't the only sport where this goes on. I'm glad it's being brought out so that players (and their parents) have more power to say "NO" to a coach when they push a player to perform.

Just my 2 cents.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

Buck-i-Nana — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:57:02 GMT

Nope, still love the sport.

All sports carry risks. Are you going to put an end to all of them? Last summer, a little league pitcher was hit in the chest by a slammed ball - it killed him. People enjoy what they do and are willing to take the risks. Nobody is forced to play football, they choose to play and I cannot imagine telling people they cannot play the sport they love anymore!

Life carries risks. You either deal with them, or hibernate.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

151949 — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 20:17:34 GMT

We went to see this movie because a friend of ours was in it and it was filmed in Pittsburgh. What the NFL put that poor doctor through was a sin! I remember when they went after the coroner's office and the coroner himself,Cyril Wecht. They say these days that OJ sits in his cell and faces the corner talking to himself from his brain damage.Since some of these guys exhibited severe aggression and violent behavior I guess that is why he did what he did to his ex wife. Not that brain damage makes it OK.

I think parents need to not allow their kids to play violent sports like football and hockey,especially the very little kids.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

Vivian — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 21:53:21 GMT

I have always disliked football because of the violence. CTE is not just another work-related health hazard, like carpal tunnel. Some of you may remember George Carlin's comparison of the language of baseball to that of football. It was brilliant. Football is filled with violent war metaphors. The aim of baseball is "to go home."

To me football is the modern version of the Christians and the Lions. The more attack, the more players are hurt, the more fan attention they get. My daughter refused to give permission for my grandson to play football. He played baseball instead. He had a great time and didn't get hurt. Sports should not result in brain damage. Of course every sport entails a bit of risk but nothing compares to what has happened to players in football. Are we so enamored of war games that we have turned football into a metaphor for battle? More and more players are being diagnosed with concussion. It's insane to me.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

hckynutjohn — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 22:45:41 GMT

I don't watch any football other than our Nebraska Cornhuskers? Since I have been well versed since the very beginning of Sports Medicine Doctors and the many studies done by Sports Med Exercise Physiologists, this brain damage finding is not new to me.

They have been talking about it and studying it for many years now. As Medical Technology has advanced, so has the knowledge of those in the Sports Medicine Field. What bothers me is very young kids playing and being coached by someone that wouldn't recognize a concussion if the player called HIM, MOMMY.

This certainly is not exclusive to football by any means. In any contact sport there is always a risk of bad things happening. It is up to parents to make the decisions when it comes to "risk versus reward" when it comes to this point.

I've seen many Pro Hockey Players careers come to an early end because of concussion issues. I also saw a friend of mine, young son decide to turn down a FULL RIDE Scholarship to a major Hockey college because of "1 concussion too many".

I really felt bad for my friend and his son. This young man grew up loving this game and to see his dreams end this way? Very sad?

hckynut(john)

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

Noel7 — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 22:56:22 GMT

Yes, I think differently of the game now. I never was really a fan, but I did get into watching the 49's play for several years.

A lot of the young men who play feel that is the best way they can earn big money, provide for their family and send their kids to college. That's a real lure for them.

I don't know if they would still do that if they could fast forward and see what life with brain injuries would look like. I wouldn't want that for anyone.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

milkbone — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 23:11:08 GMT

I played high school football and one year of college football. Ranked second in the nation.

The game has changed.

I watch LESS and LESS :-(

I look at the players today, the SIZE.

I see the illegal DRUGS many take to get to that size.

I see schools and parents and the NCAA intentionaly LOOK the other way, the DRUGS

I see kids with police records given FULL scholarships

When I was young, I watched alot, now less and less and less.

The pro's, the players UNION is NOT ever to be believed.

Live and let live.

Look at the injuries the cheerleaders get :-(

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

scotnovel — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 23:27:42 GMT

I have been a fan for more than 50 years and I am still a fan of both college and NFL football. There are risks in every sport, some, like MMA, are much more violent than football, yet no one is talking about that sport. I am concerned about the concussions and CTE, but a lot more research needs to be done to fully understand CTE. While true that almost all of the brains studied so far had CTE, all of those player's brains were being studied because those players were showing symptoms so you would expect that most would test positive.

There are so many unanswered questions at this point. Is there something that made these players more susceptible, like an issue with a chromosome or some aspect of DNA? How often, or does, CTE occur in the non sports playing population? Is it always linked to concussions? What about the literally hundreds of thousands of players who have played the game in the last hundred years? The vast majority of them have gone on to lead full lives so why weren't they susceptible? We need lots more intensive research, and yes, stringent concussion protocols until we know something more definitive. Also it is irresponsible for so called professionals to just make declarations about people like OJ. We can't just look at a current or former football players' conduct and make unsubstantiated claims that they have CTE.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

Noel7 — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 23:41:47 GMT

@scotnovel wrote:
I have been a fan for more than 50 years and I am still a fan of both college and NFL football. There are risks in every sport, some, like MMA, are much more violent than football, yet no one is talking about that sport. I am concerned about the concussions and CTE, but a lot more research needs to be done to fully understand CTE. While true that almost all of the brains studied so far had CTE, all of those player's brains were being studied because those players were showing symptoms so you would expect that most would test positive.

There are so many unanswered questions at this point. Is there something that made these players more susceptible, like an issue with a chromosome or some aspect of DNA? How often, or does, CTE occur in the non sports playing population? Is it always linked to concussions? What about the literally hundreds of thousands of players who have played the game in the last hundred years? The vast majority of them have gone on to lead full lives so why weren't they susceptible? We need lots more intensive research, and yes, stringent concussion protocols until we know something more definitive. Also it is irresponsible for so called professionals to just make declarations about people like OJ. We can't just look at a current or former football players' conduct and make unsubstantiated claims that they have CTE.

**************************************

Serious concussions occur in non-sports areas all the time. The difference with football concussions is that they are cumulative. It' isn't just one usually, it's several or many.

I would think an MD specializing in CTE would be able to call it from the symptoms alone.

I agree with you that more research is necessary, but in the meantime, there are precautions to take. There are new high tech helmets coming out that hopefully will help, and some teams are already having a specialist and equipment for diagnosis and threatment right on the spot.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

JustJazzmom — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 23:57:03 GMT

The only way for CTE to be diagnosed in someone is with an autopsy (from what I understand when I watched the movie, Concussion).

Many football players are now being encouraged when they do die to donate their brains for research and autopsy.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

151949 — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 00:38:34 GMT

According to the movie some players committee suicide when they realize they have this disease and have become violent. They do not however do anything that will damage the brain and they leave it to be studied. So sad, poignant.

Re: Football, concussions and CTE

physicsnut — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 01:28:14 GMT

@151949 wrote:
We went to see this movie because a friend of ours was in it and it was filmed in Pittsburgh. What the NFL put that poor doctor through was a sin! I remember when they went after the coroner's office and the coroner himself,Cyril Wecht. They say these days that OJ sits in his cell and faces the corner talking to himself from his brain damage.Since some of these guys exhibited severe aggression and violent behavior I guess that is why he did what he did to his ex wife. Not that brain damage makes it OK.
I think parents need to not allow their kids to play violent sports like football and hockey,especially the very little kids.

I could care less what OJ does. He will blame his crimes on anything but himself!