Concussions in the NFL have increased since protocols were put in place in 2012
A record 291 concussions were reported in the NFL in 2017. The NFL, NCAA and high school associations are increasing education and concussion protocols. What does that mean?
Numbers that will make your head ache
From 2003 to 2009, the NFL’s now-defunct Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee concluded that “no NFL player” had experienced chronic brain damage from repeat concussions, and “Professional football players do not sustain frequent repetitive blows to the brain on a regular basis.”
The truth is that the NFL settled lawsuits over injuries from concussions, and more than $520 million has been paid out to players. The settlement, which took effect January 2017, resolved thousands of lawsuits that accused the NFL of hiding what it knew about the risks of repeated concussions. In July, the claims administrator said 7,343 medical appointments to assess neurological baselines had been made
Scary science
Reports show an increasing number of retired NFL players who have suffered concussions have developed memory and cognitive issues such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, depression and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
CTE is a degenerative disease of the brain that is associated with repeated head trauma such as concussions. Most concussions occur without losing consciousness. In 2017, the Concussion Legacy Foundation and its partner, the Boston University School of Medicine, studied more than 300 brains donated posthumously.
Ten percent of those brains were from former NFL players. Of those, 99 percent had CTE.
NFL incidence of concussion
Concussions by position
According to a study by PBS’ “Frontline” in conjunction with Boston University, NFL receivers, linbackers and cornerbacks had the most concussions by position in 2014.
CTE basics
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a disease that can trigger progressive degeneration of brain tissue, including the buildup of Tau protein, which slowly kills brain cells. The brain degeneration is associated with memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, Parkinson’s disease and progressive dementia.
Researchers can only detect CTE after a person has died, but they are working on ways to diagnose it earlier.
There image below shows two brains (left and right columns) with various stages of the disease.
Sources: Boston University, Concussion Legacy Foundation
Early symptoms of CTE usually appear in a person’s late 20s or 30s and affect mood and behavior. Some common changes include impulse control problems, aggression, depression and paranoia.
High school head injuries
A few statistics from Head Case, a company that tracks head injuries for young athletes:
47% of all reported sports concussions occur during high school football1 in 5 high school athletes will sustain a sports concussion during the season33% of high school athletes who have a sports concussion report two or more in the same year
Football has the highest concussion risk, but even cheerleaders have some type of risk of head injury. Statistics are from 2009 to 2012. Concussions per 100,000 athletic exposures:
An athletic exposure is defined as one athlete participating in one organized high school athletic practice or competition, regardless of the amount of time played.