I love mixed martial arts and to be brutally honest almost any violent sport, NFL, NHL, kickboxing to name just a few and there is probably some deep seeded, primordial urge to view this kind of activity that stems from some handed down gene but I will let a biologist answer that one.
No, today I am talking about concussion injuries and the fact that some people recover well after sustaining an injury whilst others can suffer lifelong problems like personality changes and server depression.
A new type of brain scan helps explain why and could help doctors and patients determine the likely outcomes of a concussion.
The new technique analyses data from brain imaging studies, according to the study published in the journal Brain Imaging and Behaviour. Concussion victims have unique spatial patterns of brain abnormalities that change over time, researchers found, which could help predict which head injuries are likely to have long-lasting neurological consequences. The findings could also help doctors tailor treatment to individual injuries.
In recent months the NFL (American national football league) has settled a lawsuit for thousands of Ex-NFL players that were suffering because of concussion-related injuries, to the tune of $765,000,000. So there must be some validity to the claims made by doctors and scientists.
A study done with 35 deceased NFL players brains discovered 34 of them has signs of CTE. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a build-up of tau proteins in the brain and can only be identified by dissection.
I guess the real question here is what can we do to prevent these injuries from occurring during sport in the first place as the promoters of these sports will be more and more liable for not providing a safe work environment.
Think it’s just the violent sports? Well, the leading sport for concussion is horse racing/jumping but it doesn’t stop there either. Consider this, motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury.
Stay Curious – C.Costigan
