Just recently on March 16, 2015, Chris Borland, a 24 year old linebacker in the National Football League, retired after just one season due to concerns about the long term effects of repetitive head trauma. Borland believes that it isn't worth the risk because of the health problems that can occur. The thing is, he may be making a good choice; there have been more than 70 ex-players that have been diagnosed with progressive neurological disease after their death. Studies have also shown that brain damage issues like depression and memory loss have been connected to repetitive head trauma occurrences (Farinau – Wada). With this recent news, it could bring more attention to concussions and their effects on people's health.
A concussion is a brain injury that is caused by getting hit in the head or a violent shaking or the head and body. That means that in some way your brain gets bruised and the nerves in your brain become damaged. According to Medical News Today, even after the symptoms of a concussion are gone the brain is not completely healed. That can cause for re-injury to occur and lead to more serious injuries. With that being said the long term effects of can concussions can be very serious and can cause future problems as serious as death. With all of these dangerous effects, there are many ways to prevent and treat concussions and their long-term effects with safer equipment, better treatment practices and more education on the injury.
A study done by Dr. Lassonde on the long term effects on players of the Montreal Canadians hockey team who had suffered from severe head trauma revealed interesting results. Dr. Lassonde found after many visual and auditory tests as well as brain tests, there is abnormal brain wave activity for years after a concussion as well as wasting away of the motor pathways (Nordqvist). These findings could be significant in how to treat traumatic head injuries and how much violence should be allowed in sports.