Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Two Perspectives: Part Two

An upcoming article in Sports Illustrated talks about the culture in the NFL about fines for helmet-to-helmet hits.

NFL players were required to watch a film:
In the meeting rooms of all 32 teams last week, players saw a four-minute video produced by the league and narrated by NFL executive vice president of football operations Ray Anderson, who is in charge of discipline. The video showed nine big hits. Six were plays that involved helmet-on-helmet contact or defenders launching themselves at defenseless receivers, the kind of plays that will result in discipline from the league office. The other three—including a decleating shot across the middle by Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis on Jets tight end Dustin Keller—were examples of hits that were within the rules because players did not launch themselves or strike their targets in the head or neck.

It's probably inaccurate to say all the players heard the entire presentation. Many of them were too busy catcalling the video—and the message.

With respect to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, which has been linked to repetitive head trauma:
"I can say confidently that this is a distinctive disorder that you don't develop in the general population," McKee said. "In fact, I have never seen this disease in any person who doesn't have the kind of repetitive head trauma that football players would have."

These thoughts were not shared by all:
The Players Association was angry about what seemed to be an attempt to make the game safer. "The skirts need to be taken off in the NFL offices," said union president Kevin Mawae on ESPN Radio.

One retired player stated:
Watching in the NBC viewing room in New York City, studio analyst Rodney Harrison, known as much for his vicious hits as for his overall strong play at safety, said after one of them, "Thank God I'm retired."

Two Perspectives: Part One

Interesting articles in the recent press:

First, we have an essay by Carl Ehrlich, former Harvard football captain, on the suicide of his friend and opponent, Owen Thomas, from Penn.

Carl clearly shows his knowledge of the situation:
Concussions and other brain trauma on the football field do not cause someone to commit suicide. What they do cause are metabolic alterations that can lead to depression and contribute to changes in a person’s outlook and decision-making — with the most disastrous and undoubtedly complicated cases perhaps ending in suicide.

And also, the effects of hear trauma:
To be around recently concussed football players is to know that this is serious brain damage. Their eyes seem glassy. They have trouble retaining short-term information. They appear tired and glum.

Having played football for the past 10 years, I’ve seen what a compilation of brain traumas can do to a person.

However, he feels the focus should be in identifying depression:
This should be the jumping-off point for changing the culture around depression and sports. If concussions can lead to depression and depression can lead to suicide, then even old-school football needs to be as vigilant in identifying and treating depression as it is with concussions.

We must create an environment where a football player — or any athlete — can walk into a training room and tell someone that something is wrong and that, no, this injury doesn’t just need ice or a rubdown.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Today's Tri-fecta

Living in the Philadelphia area, I sill receive the Inquirer. Surprise, surprise to see the following articles in one Sports page:

1) Ian Laperriere is out for the year with post-concussion syndrome:
Laperriere, 36, has been dealing with post-concussion symptoms since last season... "I thought the summer would take care of it," Laperriere said. "I had some headaches here and there. But I would always find reasons - like, well, it's probably because I was dehydrated or because I worked out too hard today or I'm tired....It was always a reason. But I had to come down to [the fact that] it wasn't all those reasons."

2) Chris Nowinski's work on steps to protect kids from the effects of repetitive concussion:
"The NFL has made enormous changes," Nowinski said. "The biggest things they've done have been with youth policy and the example they're trying to set, the fact they've done public service announcements, the educational posters they'd put up, telling players to not go back in [after suffering a concussion], report it. That's been amazing."

...Nowinski isn't looking to ban contact sports. He only wants restrictions on the contact.

"One hundred percent, tomorrow, if you stop kids from getting hit in the head over and over"

3). New legislation in Pennsylvania on concussion management for kids:
The Pennsylvania House on Tuesday passed the Safety In Youth Sports Act, which calls for Pennsylvania high school or junior high school athletes who suffer a concussion or brain injury to be cleared by a medical professional trained in concussion management before returning to the sport.

...the legislation would require athletes and their parents or guardians to sign a concussion and head-injury information sheet before participating in a sport. It also would require coaches to complete a concussion certification course.

Monday, September 20, 2010

The Wrong Dangers?

Lisa Belkin, NY Times columnist, debates whether parents are focusing on thee wrong dangers, in her article Keeping Kids Safe from the Wrong Dangers:
we seem all the more determined yet befuddled when it comes to the safety of our children. For instance, the five things most likely to cause injury to children up to age 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are: car accidents, homicide (usually at the hands of someone they know), child abuse, suicide or drowning. And what are the five things that parents are most worried about (according to surveys by the Mayo Clinic)? Kidnapping, school snipers, terrorists, dangerous strangers and drugs.

Since I agree that driving is the most dangerous activity we expose our kids to, I essentially agree with the following:
“The least safe thing you can do with your child, statistically, is drive them somewhere,” said Lenore Skenazy" ...yet every time we put them in the car we don’t think, ‘Oh God, maybe I should take public transportation instead, because if something happened to my kid on the way to the orthodontist I could never forgive myself.’ ”

However, I cannot agree with the following logic:
... last week’s link between teenage football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy... So far, there is only one case... you can’t really make a recommendation based on one case. So it’s up to a young player’s parents to decide.

It isn't one case, it is several. Tau proteins do not magically enter the brains of 18-year-old athletes, and they do not magically enter the brains of former NFL players. Rather, they represent a reaction to repetitive, unnatural forces to the head.

Do you think former NFL player Matt Bowen is worrying about the wrong dangers?
I can deal with (the headaches) now, but 10 years, 20 years down the road? That's when I can tell you if it was worth it.

Was it really worth it? Back when I was still playing football, I would say yes. Sharing a locker room with players such as Brett Favre, Marshall Faulk and Kurt Warner is special.

But now, as a husband and father who has headaches at the age of 35, I can't give you an answer. I'm too scared.

Shouldn't parents be concerned that their kids may not be able to be parents themselves?

Monday, September 13, 2010

Concussion Policy vs. Procedure

Isn't it great that the NFL has a new concussion policy that requires independent medical evaluation prior to returning a player to play after sustaining a concussion?
"Once removed for the duration of a practice or game, the player should not be considered for return-to-football activities until he is fully asymptotic, both at rest and after exertion, has a normal neurological examination, normal neuropsychological testing, and has been cleared to return by both his team physician(s) and the independent neurological consultant."

Perhaps the Philadelphia Eagles trainers and coaches did not receive this memo, or stay awake at mandatory training sessions. After seeing Stewart Bradley and Kevin Kolb sustain concussions and return to play in the same game, you have to wonder.

At least the Philly sports writers recognize the dangers in having a head coach completely ignorant of sports-concussion symptoms:
"They were fine," coach Andy Reid said after the game. "All the questions that they answered and the things they did with the docs registered well. As it went on, they weren't feeling well so we took them out."

If either of them had taken a hit after returning to the game despite concussions, the Eagles' coaches and medical staff could be answering some much tougher questions today than whether Michael Vick will start at quarterback next week.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Quote of the day, concussion edition

Sometimes, the stories make themselves (cite)

"One of the doctors asked me to say the months backwards. I can't do that on a regular day."

--Carmelo Anthony, on what happened back in the locker room after he suffered a concussion during the Nuggets comeback win against the Thunder Wednesday night. Anthony returned to the game after having to leave due to the head trauma.

Monday, February 1, 2010

GMs say the darndest things!

In a recent article in the Toronto Star, The GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs took a stab at explaining the dangers of contact sports for youth athletes
At some level, if a player is going to move up the ladder and continue to play, it's contact hockey. This is a contact sport. You play a contact sport. There's going to be injuries. It's that simple. Now, if you don't want your son or daughter to get hurt, there are lots of wonderful options. Have them swim or have them golf. He might throw out his back, but he's never gonna get a concussion.
Unfortunately, he doesn't show the sense and class of Justin Rizek, the 13-year-old quoted in the same article, who decided to hang up his skates after his 3rd concussion
"I was going against the boards and a guy hit me from behind. I came back to the bench and threw up everywhere.... After that, I decided to hang my skates up and not play any more."

Now that Congress is planning a forum looking at concussions in the NCAA and youth sports (cite), perhaps there will be some protections or educational programs put into place to help protect kids like Justin...

In related news, ESPN missed an excellent opportunity to educate kids about the dangers of concussion after Shawn White's crash in warm-ups. Even though he passed medical tests and was cleared to compete, it sure looked like he sustained a concussion... a few words on the need for medical clearance, oversight, or neurological testing?

Meanwhile, the list of athletes willing to donate their brains to postmortem concussion research continues to grow (cite)