Concussions, CTE, and other traumatic brain injuries in football

[brodybuck21]

My heart goes out to the Eastern Oregon player and all connected with that player.

The human brain. What a miraculous organ. It is so fragile yet durable. At times so limited and at other times so diverse and so evolutionary and capable. So capable of rewiring and recovery yet tender enough to leave a person totally incapable.

Never take it for granted what a tremendous gift.

I learned first hand about this.

I am no better than anyone else but a testament to the brain and its incredible power.

Traumatic Brain Injury. No brain waves at one point. Coma for two weeks. Prognosis-- would never walk, talk or be functional again.

5 months at OSU and then Dodd Hall. Therapists who are Angels worked with the injured, patiently every day. Had to learn to walk-talk-shower-read everything from scratch.

I saw patients who never recovered and were violent and profane.

7 months-return to work continued to heal. The brain injury takes a long time for recovery. Outside you look fine. Inside, much slower and much turmoil. Those around you suffer as well.

Continue to learn every day and recover.

Moral of the story: Thank God for what you have and all the wonderful people around you. Continue to work on your personal intellect. Hug your kids and wife every day. Enjoy the sunrise. Laugh like a little kid. Volunteer time to help others. Do something profoundly positive every day. Never Surrender.

Say a little prayer for the Eastern Oregon player and family.

GPA

:osu:

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

I saw patients who never recovered and were violent and profane.

I didn't know you knew Mililani!

 

[jimotis4heisman]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=burnside_scott&id=5900319

March 7, 2010: Boston Bruins at Pittsburgh Penguins.
As Marc Savard takes a shot from just inside the blue line at Mellon Arena, the puck sailing wide to Marc-Andre Fleury's left, Matt Cooke catches Savard flush on the right side of the head, spinning him around so the Bruins forward ends up flat on his back. Savard's legs move as if in slow motion; his arm splays across his face.
Trainers rush to him, and teammates gather around as a stretcher appears.

Savard pauses in recounting the twists and turns his life has taken since that night.
So much has changed since that moment of uncertainty. It has been a hard road, to be sure, a road no one, least of all Savard, could have imagined. There have been physical challenges, but there also have been issues Savard never had to face before in his life.
He looks out the window of an Atlanta restaurant and wonders aloud whether somehow, some way, something good will come out of his journey back from the third documented concussion of his NHL career.
Something more than just being a better player. He'll be a better teammate, a better father, a better ex-husband, a better person.
"Maybe this is a blessing in disguise," Savard says.

After the first two concussions of his career, Savard said, he missed a week and a couple of days, respectively.
"I never really thought about it," he said. "When I got this one [after the Cooke hit], it was life-changing, obviously."
On the surface, it looked like Savard's return from the March 7 concussion was going to have a storybook finish. After missing the final month of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs, Savard returned for the second round and scored the game-winner in overtime against Philadelphia in Game 1. It would be Savard's only goal of the series as Boston built a 3-0 series lead before losing four straight games.
"I was really fatigued all playoffs, no energy," Savard said. "I kept waiting for something to kick in, but there was nothing."
He took time off during the summer but never got his energy back. Then things got ugly.
...

good read on savard from the boston bruins. the link also includes a video on equipment changes afoot in the nhl.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5914797

Concussions are being reported at a much higher rate in the NFL this season, which the league considers evidence that players and teams are taking head injuries more seriously.
According to NFL data obtained by The Associated Press, 154 concussions that happened in practices or games were reported from the start of the preseason through the eighth week of the 2010 regular season.
That is an increase of 21 percent over the 127 concussions through the eighth week of the 2009 season, and a 34 percent jump from the 115 reported over the same span in 2008.
...

 

[ant80]

An Ordinary Football Game, Then a Player Dies

PHOENIX, N.Y. ? Football coaches and school administrators at John C. Birdlebough High School congregated in a small room off the library Monday, huddling around a computer for a most painful and unusual review of game video. They examined every play that one student was involved in, assuming the role of medical examiners.

They were trying to discern which collision of the hundreds in a football game at Homer High School on Friday night might have caused Ridge Barden, a 16-year-old defensive tackle, to fall to the turf in the third quarter and die within a few hours. The coroner attributed Barden?s death to a subdural hematoma, or a brain bleed.

?There?s nothing here; there?s still nothing there; there?s nothing there; there?s nothing there ? and now he?s laying on his stomach,? Jeff Charles, the head coach, said while watching the sequence frame by frame.

As those who play and coach football learn new ways to improve safety ? through training, medical response and equipment ? sometimes they are left to contemplate this: brains remain vulnerable, and even the most ordinary collisions on the field can kill.

cont...

Didn't know where to post this, but here goes... Mods feel free to move or merge if necessary.


RIP Ridge Barden...

 

[Apache]

I am sure they will examine every act leading up to the unfortunate conclusion. Rightly so! But as we all know football at most levels is a collision sport. My prayers go out to all concerned, but we all know the risks involved. I pray that everything leading up to this even was handled with safety first.

Never lead with your head. First rule of inter-scholastic football. Coaches always err on the side of caution when a head or neck injury may be concerned. The vast majority of coaches and programs are safety first.

 

[Zurp]

Not that I'm an expert with ANY types of injuries, but the things I've heard about head and neck injuries is shocking. It is no surprise that football greatly diminishes life expectancy (no link), and why I am all for fining NFL players for dirty hits to the head. (In fact, in many cases, I don't think the punishment is enough.)

There used to be a radio show on Sirius (and maybe XM) that was on the same channel as Rivals Radio. I think it was the same time that Jack Arute and Mike Leech are on now. The dude talked a bit about these injuries, and had self-proclaimed (who am I to argue?) experts on the subject. Basically, there are many, many degrees of concussions. If you've ever been hit in the head, however lightly, and had a headache soon after, it was probably a concussion. The effects of the one concussion are probably small. But a second concussion of that size, and the effects compound. More concussions often mean much more severe effects.

My point is that, based on what I learned on that show, it is very possible that this young kid never was diagnosed with a concussion in several years of playing football. But all those "little" concussions can add up (and think about how many collisions a defensive lineman will experience in one game, in one practice, in one week, in one season, etc.) and cause.. well.. this..

 

[Apache]

We never mess with any head injury or neck injury. Immediately the helmet is taken as a precaution and medical help is always called upon and they have the final say. Often times we keep them out even longer. I agree the brain is a fragile yet very resilient miracle. As a TBI survivor, I get in now and honestly ALWAYS have.

Not that I'm an expert with ANY types of injuries, but the things I've heard about head and neck injuries is shocking. It is no surprise that football greatly diminishes life expectancy (no link), and why I am all for fining NFL players for dirty hits to the head. (In fact, in many cases, I don't think the punishment is enough.)

There used to be a radio show on Sirius (and maybe XM) that was on the same channel as Rivals Radio. I think it was the same time that Jack Arute and Mike Leech are on now. The dude talked a bit about these injuries, and had self-proclaimed (who am I to argue?) experts on the subject. Basically, there are many, many degrees of concussions. If you've ever been hit in the head, however lightly, and had a headache soon after, it was probably a concussion. The effects of the one concussion are probably small. But a second concussion of that size, and the effects compound. More concussions often mean much more severe effects.

My point is that, based on what I learned on that show, it is very possible that this young kid never was diagnosed with a concussion in several years of playing football. But all those "little" concussions can add up (and think about how many collisions a defensive lineman will experience in one game, in one practice, in one week, in one season, etc.) and cause.. well.. this..

 

[OSUK]

Coaches on all levels are better at erring on the side of caution than they used to be. Back in the day, coaches deprived kids of water during Aug 2 a days to make them tough! Can't believe more didn't die.

But with TBI's there is still a cultural problem with football that will take time to fully change - that being that "you're not injured, you're hurt", "you just got your bell rung", etc. There are still a lot of old time coaches out there who didn't see anything that wrong with what Bear Bryant did to the Junction Boys.

We have another problem where HS athletes are so much bigger and faster than they used to be (m x v = f) so we have more violent collisions, so we are going to have more, and more severe, TBI's.

Football is a violent game, but actually pretty safe with the right equipment and coaching. But with the violence will come the potential for serious injury, and occasionally we will have a death. Tragic in every case.

 

[craigblitz]

Man that is hearbreaking. Having a son who plays football I often I ask myself is the game worth the risk? What if something like this did happen to him... I can not even imagine how the parents have to deal with this.

Prayers to the family/friends of this youn man.

 

[scott91575]

Man that is hearbreaking. Having a son who plays football I often I ask myself is the game worth the risk? What if something like this did happen to him... I can not even imagine how the parents have to deal with this.

Prayers to the family/friends of this youn man.

You child is way more likely to die in an auto accident. Heck, your child is more likely to die from getting hit by lightening (although it's probably similar since people out in a rainstorm are a higher number than football players).

Heat stroke is the more dangerous thing, and that is very preventable. On field deaths are very, very rare and about as common as a shark attack death.

Sad story, but I don't think you should start worrying about your child dying while playing football.

BTW...I am not saying things shouldn't be done to make football safer. Just saying that football is very safe relative to many other things we do in our daily lives. Seriously, if you spend any time in a car you are hundreds of times more likely to die in a car accident than playing football.

 

[Gatorubet]

You child is way more likely to die in an auto accident. Heck, your child is more likely to die from getting hit by lightening (although it's probably similar since people out in a rainstorm are a higher number than football players).

Heat stroke is the more dangerous thing, and that is very preventable. On field deaths are very, very rare and about as common as a shark attack death.

Or killer bees....

 

[Brandon26841]

Pretty terrifying story. It's pretty much that 2nd hit right after an initial concussion that's the most dangerous. One time I got absolutely LAID-OUT on a punt return and was concussed the rest of the night and everything, but the trainers never checked me out because I simply walked off the field. I kept playing, and it's really scary to think about how dangerous another big blow to my head might have been. This is why the NFL is cracking down on helmet to helmet hits so much; they're incredibly dangerous.

Extremely unfortunate. As physical and violent as the game is, it's sickening to think that a few collisions during the game can result in death within hours afterwards. Obviously it rarely happens, but it's still scary.

 

[craigblitz]

Sad story, but I don't think you should start worrying about your child dying while playing football.

I am not paralyzed by this fear by any means and realize there are a million other things to worry about, but whenever you see a kid paralyzed, die, or even break a bone for a game it sometimes get me to question the risks is all. Having said that I clearly feel the benefits of these games far outweigh the risks.

Besides if he wasn't playing sports he could be off riding his bike and get hit by someone texting and driving etc.

Just a terrible loss and sad event for sure.

 

[starBUCKS]

Oceanside Police have apparently responded to Junior Seau's home on South The Strand in Oceanside. The Chargers Hall Of Famer killed himself, a witness who heard the news from police told 10News.

http://www.10news.com/news/30993007/detail.html