Concussions are a hot topic right now on football fields across the country and on the big screen. The attention placed on the dangers of returning to the playing field after suffering a concussion are becoming more well-known with each passing football season. One director at a research center at a university in North Carolina that focuses on sport-related traumatic brain injury is worried that parents, players and coaches may underestimate how easy it can be to suffer a brain injury in other sports.
The American Journal of Sports Medicine published a study a few months ago that found that concussions were most likely to be found in college athletes who were involved in football, wrestling, men’s ice hockey, women’s ice hockey, women’s soccer and women’s basketball. One Colorado School of Public Health epidemiologist tracks concussions in high school athletes in 22 sports. Only one has not had a concussion reported so far — tennis.
Brain injuries are not the only dangers football players face. Indirect brain trauma is responsible for more deaths than TBIs, such as cardiac arrest and heat stroke. In the last decade studied by the Korey Stringer Institute, which was from 2000 through 2009, indirect-trauma deaths accounted for 108 deaths. Direct trauma accounted for 41 deaths.
Continued vigilance in identifying concussions is crucial in football and other sports. Medical technology currently does not have a blood test to detect a concussion, but that is the subject of many research projects in the country.
Children, teens and adults who suffer a traumatic brain injury because of another person’s negligence can seek compensation through civil court. You can learn more from an experienced personal injury lawyer.
Source: The Bulletin, “Column: Being smart about your child’s brain,” Frank Bruni, Dec. 27, 2015