An Overview Of The Brain Injury Risk In American Football

Post date: Jun 27, 2018 5:02:47 AM

Eight out of ten professional football players have, at one point or another, shown signs of chronic trauma encephalopathy. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The massive number of pro footballer players that have sustained concussions and other types of traumatic brain injuries beats those in rugby, baseball, or basketball. And because a lot of the players continue to play even after being diagnosed with brain injury, the risk for developing degenerative brain disease is significantly high.

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It’s no secret really that the high-impact nature of American football is the main cause of brain injury and head trauma. Imagine a person at the prime of his life rushing with all the momentum he can muster either to block or tackle another person. The impact of such a collision is more than enough to cause trauma, which in turn can damage the brain.

Thankfully, NFL officials have made important changes to the game that have reduced the incidents of brain injury and head trauma by over 35 percent. An example of a change is the new rule that bans tackling using the crown of the head. Players are now being taught to tackle and block like rugby players, using shoulders more and going for the legs. While these sound equally violent, they are much safer to the head of players.

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Other preventive measures include the development of safer gear and the added emphasis on in-game medical timeouts.

Curtis Cripe, Ph.D. specializes in the creation of neuroengineering programs that diagnose and treat neurological disorders associated with head injury. Learn more about him and his work here.