The Last decade has given us a lot of drama and surprises. Events that were unprecedented unfolded, and they were a spectacle to behold. One of those was the case of NFL and CTE – Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Who would ever imagine a Black man from Nigeria will shake one of the very foundations of American athleticism and sports, the American Football. That was the case of Dr. Omalu, who is now an American, an immigrant who discovered CTE – Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in retired NFL (National Football League) players.

Ordinarily, that would not have seen the Light of the day, but the evidence was alarming and confirmed. This brought to the notice of the nation that these sports that require direct contacts with the head were not safe even in the face of the modern state of the art medical advances and technology. This is because this was not the first time such a case is being studied or researched on. A related medical investigation was also carried out in boxers.

The results showed how many of the individuals who had participated in exchanging punches in the boxing ring were affected by various mental disorders. A good example is the famous Mohammed Ali who struggled with Parkinson during the last years of his life. People will talk about the love and passion of the sports, but we are only repeating the practices of old in the gladiator arenas.

The only reason why these sports are still being actively played is because of the financial influence of the promoters and investors. The injuries sustained while doing these sports are always unpredictable, and sometimes they can be critical. The support received by the injured players is often limited. Since people pay to watch injury-free athletes, the injured ones are gradually forgotten and their stories covered up. If they are lucky, they may receive a form of compensation which will be exhausted, but their injuries never get resolved entirely, even if they get any relief at all.

Concussions and the Brain

Concussion, also known as mild traumatic brain injury, occurs when a sports person is involved in an accident during a game, and they lose consciousness as a result of that. The hallmark of concussion is what happens after they regain consciousness, they often have problems being fully back to perfect functionality after that.

Some individuals still feel dizzy, exhibit wobbly gait or even have a problem remembering certain details. This is because the brain is affected. The question is, how can the most protected organ of our body be affected by a mere sporting accident?

The skull protects the brain but, it sits in a membrane-enclosed fluid within it. That fluid is called cerebrospinal fluid, and it helps in absorbing the shock that are suffered unexpectedly. However, when accidents occur, the brain experiencing inertia can still be injured. This trauma can be inflicted by direct hits or a sharp, unexpected reaction of a blow to another part of the body. The impact of this condition is drastic and destructive. It affects the cell membranes, mitochondria and other vital cellular organelles of the cells of the nervous system especially the ones present in the brain.

This trauma triggers progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, more significantly by the accumulation of soluble proteins called Tau. That build-up causes loss of the stabilizing capacity it usually provides to the microtubules in the nervous tissue. The function of the microtubules in the brain is related to signaling, conduction, transportation and they also play a structural role.

Hence, as they lose their stabilizing capacity, they become unable to carry out those responsibilities. Which leads to the altered function of the frontal lobe of the brain whose degeneration leads to memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, progressive dementia and eventually leading to death. Studies have shown that these entanglements are typically found in Alzheimer’s disease, the tau protein presents as neurofibrillary tangles which become insoluble and hyperphosphorylated intracellularly. The more the number of these tangles the higher the severity of the degree of dementia and decline in the mental ability of the individual.

What is Alzheimer’s?

Alzheimer’s disease is arguably the most common form of chronic mental illnesses which are as a result of brain disease or trauma to the brain. They are characterized by memory disorders, alteration in the personality of the patient, as well as impaired reasoning. The portion of the population that are at highest risk of having the mental disorder are old people of about Sixty-five years and older. Although, this does not mean that it is normal for people of this age bracket to suffer from this disorder. It is a progressive disease which starts gradually until it gets worsened over time and it starts affecting the ability of the individual to live a healthy life.

Should My Child Quit Sports to Avoid Alzheimer’s?

Studies have shown that children are even more prone to brain damage when exposed to any form of accident. This is because the brain of a human being develops over a period and it attains optimal development and maturity at the silver jubilee. The brain is so sensitive that even abuse of alcohol can affect the proper growth of the brain during those critical years. So when abusing alcohol can have a gruesome effect on the brain of a child, one can imagine the impact of head injuries on the brain of such a kid.

Although not all sports pose such dangers, there are a couple of games that are not contact-sports. Sports like American football, soccer, martial arts, and boxing are a few of the riskiest ones. This does not mean that every single person that participate in them will suffer a concussion or end up with Alzheimer’s, but the risk is highest in collision and contact sports where athletes are exposed to regular forceful hits.

Children should participate in sports, in fact, it is good for the general health and wellbeing, but if they suffer a concussion, they should be adequately taken care of without either financial or recreation bias. This is essential because if a sportsperson suffers a concussion, they are more prone to sustaining another one. It becomes even more dangerous when they sustain a repeat concussion before getting over the previous one.

This is a called Second Impact Syndrome, which is a condition where there is an acute inflammation of the cerebrum. In as much as it is a rare condition, it is a fatal occurrence which happens in about half of the population of the victims, and it takes an extended time to recover from it. It was also found in relations with severe chronic neurological deficits in all the survivors. But the good news is that it can be avoided by taking adequate precaution and proper management of patients who suffer concussions.

Neurologist Near Me

However, the population of men and young boys who suffer concussions are more than that of females, women and girls are more vulnerable to brain injury compared to men. So, the focus should not only be on the male children. The challenge of not managing the cases of concussion for any reason is that when an individual has suffered concussions for more than three times, that person starts to lose their mind gradually.

The cognitive and behavioral aspects of the personality of the individual begin to get altered, and it can become so drastic that they have dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or even worse Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. It is important to be vigilant to one’s ward as one can easily observe signs that necessitate the need to consult a Neurologist. Many physician directories could be used to connect with a trained specialist and experts in managing cases of concussion, particularly in children.

References

Alzheimer and DementiaAlzheimer’s Association. Retrieved 15 February 2018, from https://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp

Kerasidis, H. (2014). When to Quit Contact Sports Due to Concussion. [online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-trauma/201410/when-quit-contact-sports-due-concussion [Accessed 11 Mar. 2018].

Omalu, B. (2008). Play hard die young. Lodi, Calif.: Neo-Forenxis Books.