Frequent Brain Concussion Can Lead To Suicide

Frequent Brain Concussion Can Lead To Suicide.
When historic National Football League celebrated linebacker Junior Seau killed himself last year, he had a catastrophic wisdom disorder probably brought on by repeated hits to the head, the US National Institutes of Health has concluded. The NIH scientists who intentional Seau's brain unflinching that he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). They told the Associated Press on Thursday that the cellular changes they apothegm were similar to those found in autopsies of people "with exposure to repetitive head injuries".

The brawl - characterized by impulsivity, depression and erratic behavior - is only diagnosed after death. Seau, 43, who played pro football for 20 seasons before his retirement in 2009, jigger himself in the box last May 2012. His family donated his brain for research.

Some experts feel - but can't prove - that CTE led to Seau's suicide. "Chronic wounding encephalopathy is the thing we have typically seen in a lot of the athletes," said Dr Howard Derman, manager at the Methodist Concussion Center in Houston. "Rather than say 'this caused this,' I expect the observation is that there have been multiple pro football players now who have committed suicide: Dave Duerson, Andre Waters, John Grimsley - although Grimsley was just reported as a gun accident".

Some fight that these players became depressed once they were out of the limelight or because of marital or monetary difficulties, but Derman thinks the evidence goes beyond that."Yes, all that may be universal on - but it still remains that the majority of these players who have committed suicide do have changes of chronic injurious encephalopathy. We feel that that is also playing a role in their mental state".

But, Derman cautioned, "I can't verbalize that chronic traumatic encephalopathy causes players to commit suicide". Chronic shocking encephalopathy was first noticed in boxers who suffered blows to the head over many years. In late years, concerns about CTE have led high school and college programs to regulate hits to the head, and the National Football League prohibits helmet-to-helmet hits.

Football And Short-Term Brain Damage

Football And Short-Term Brain Damage.
Children who motion football in halfway point school don't appear to have any noticeable short-term brain damage from repeated hits to the head, renewed research suggests. However, one doctor with expertise in pediatric brain injuries expressed some concerns about the study, saying its shallow size made it hard to draw definitive conclusions. The learn included 22 children, ages 11 to 13, who played a season of football. The mature comprised 27 practices and nine games. During that time, more than 6000 "head impacts" were recorded.

They were alike in force and location to those experienced by high school and college players, but happened less often, the researchers found. "The unmixed difference between head impacts savvy by middle school and high school football players is the number of impacts, not the strength of the impacts," said lead researcher Thayne Munce, associate director of the Sanford Sports Science Institute in Sioux Falls, SD. A occasion of football did not seem to clinically weaken the brain function of middle school football players, even among those who got hit in the head harder and more often.

And "These findings are encouraging for minor football players and their parents, though the long-term effects of whippersnapper football participation on brain health are still unknown. The report was published online recently in the history Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. For the study, players wore sensors in their helmets that intentional the frequency of hits to the head, their location and force.