This article is used here to illustrate the seriousness of concussions in the ongoing attempt to educate the public about safety in sports or the lack there of.
Broken Bucs: Anatomy of a concussion | TBO.com | Sports
Broken Bucs: Anatomy of a concussion | TBO.com | Sports
Hits to the head:
The human brain is protected by the skull and floats in a heavy, gelatin like substance called cerebral spinal fluid.When the head suffers a severe impact, the brain moves toward the skull, causing the brain to compress, stretch, and possibly tear in some places.
Harsh, quick hits such as those sustained by boxers, football players and other athletes can stretch nerve cells and trigger small hemorrhages responsible for creating a tangled mess of brain proteins called tao.
Years or decades after hits to the head, tao can hamper the brain's ability to communicate with the body and cause cell death. Unlike broken limbs, dead brain cells cannot be restored.
The presence of tao is central to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which can be diagnosed only after death.
Since 2008, Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy found significant tao and CTE in the brain tissue of 12 deceased NFL players, including former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman Tom McHale.
Tom McHale played nine seasons in the NFL, six with the Bucs from 1987 to 1992. He died of an overdose in 2008.
NFL Response to Concussion Risk:
Midway through the 2009 season, the NFL adopted stricter guidelines for assessing players with concussions, including clearance from an independent neurologist before returning to the field. Also, the league began baseline brain-activity testing for all players drafted in 2010.
The NFL also dismantled its longtime committee on concussions, which was adamant in its criticism of research conducted at the University of North Carolina and Boston's CTE center. Leaders of the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee resigned last fall.
A new group, the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Medical committee, was announced in February.
Writer -- Mary Shedden
The human brain is protected by the skull and floats in a heavy, gelatin like substance called cerebral spinal fluid.When the head suffers a severe impact, the brain moves toward the skull, causing the brain to compress, stretch, and possibly tear in some places.
Harsh, quick hits such as those sustained by boxers, football players and other athletes can stretch nerve cells and trigger small hemorrhages responsible for creating a tangled mess of brain proteins called tao.
Years or decades after hits to the head, tao can hamper the brain's ability to communicate with the body and cause cell death. Unlike broken limbs, dead brain cells cannot be restored.
The presence of tao is central to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which can be diagnosed only after death.
Since 2008, Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy found significant tao and CTE in the brain tissue of 12 deceased NFL players, including former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman Tom McHale.
Tom McHale played nine seasons in the NFL, six with the Bucs from 1987 to 1992. He died of an overdose in 2008.
NFL Response to Concussion Risk:
Midway through the 2009 season, the NFL adopted stricter guidelines for assessing players with concussions, including clearance from an independent neurologist before returning to the field. Also, the league began baseline brain-activity testing for all players drafted in 2010.
The NFL also dismantled its longtime committee on concussions, which was adamant in its criticism of research conducted at the University of North Carolina and Boston's CTE center. Leaders of the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee resigned last fall.
A new group, the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Medical committee, was announced in February.
Writer -- Mary Shedden
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