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Head case: The collision syndrome (p10 & p66)
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Head case: The collision syndrome (p10 & p66)
A study commissioned by the National Football League in 2009 found that retired players were 19 times more likely than others in their age-range to develop severe memory and cognitive problems. As explored in this month’s Scientific American, our understanding of the effect of repeated blows to the head needs to change how we view the sport and how we play it.
Repeated head injuries imitate many types of neurodegenerative disease, including Parkinson’s disease and, as journalist Jeffrey Bartholet writes in a feature article, perhaps even amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Though this is still controversial, some scientists believe that ALS-like diseases in football players may be caused by repeated concussions. However, part of the problem with research is defining some of the terms of the study – what is a concussion and what are the criteria?
The problem with head injuries, and the need to study them, is not unique to professional sports. In the U.S. about 48,000 children aged 18 and younger are head injuries incurred while playing organized sports. As the editors write in the Science Agenda column, “Concussion in children is a serious problem that deserves more attention.” In Minnesota, legislators passed a law that requires coaches to undergo training to recognize concussions and mandates the immediate removal from a game of any player at the first sign of dizziness or confusion.
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