The Relation Of Playing Football To Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
My essential question for this research proposal is, “How does playing football increase the likelihood in the development of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy? What can be done to prevent it/reduce the risk?” So, to answer this effectively all people must be educated on what CTE is and how it affects those playing football.
CTE is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, which is a degenerative brain disease found in athletes, especially football players, who have a history of undergoing repetitive brain trauma. The people who have been diagnosed with CTE have suffered upwards of hundred to a thousand head collisions due to the many years of playing contact sports. Moreover, those who had exposure to head impacts starting earlier than age 12 correlates with worse symptoms of CTE. Thus, athletes with longer careers of contact sports are at a much greater risk to developing CTE with more serious symptoms. Symptoms can occur in people as early as seventeen years old, however most symptoms do not begin to occur until late 20s/30s.
The degeneration of cognitive systems begins to occur in the patient’s 40s or 50s. All need to be aware of these facts and warning signs “We have so many clichés in sports about head and heart. ‘Get your head in the game… Keep your head up. . . You gotta have heart… They played with a lot of heart today…’ However, the importance of athletes’ heads and hearts can be underestimated – both figuratively and literally. ” This quote should really stand out to players, parents and coaches. Giving it all on the field is important, but it is not as important as the health of the players.
At the end of the day, an athlete is a person that needs protection from life ending diseases such as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and the only way that can occur is if all are educated. As we know from research, a cure for this disease, does not exist as of now but we do now about what can be done to prevent CTE. This new knowledge is not necessarily going to stop the game of the football, as it shouldn’t, however changes to the game are likely to occur. The politics starting from youth leagues to the NFL will and already occurring as to what protocols will be put in place, as they should be
. The most important initial step of solving any problem is to educate people that a problem does truly exist. Creating documentaries such as “League in Denial” movies like “Concussion” and writing both books and articles have been very effective at raising awareness in the public eye, but they lack one thing: no kids would understand, watch, or read those movies, articles, and books. We need to be able to educate the youth of America just as much as we need to educate the adults, coaches, and trainers. If we start young, we can get it into the minds of football players early on that it is vital to protect their heads. Younger stories, shorter novels, cartoons, or just explaining the possible dangers of playing football in a manner that the youth of America can understand is very important to do.
Another step I would take is launching a full-fledged investigation into the relationship between CTE and playing football. I would want to know how CTE can begin to develop in younger kids, middle-year players, and NFL players. This investigation needs to be conducted by specialized doctors across America, and if they join together they can find the information that needs to be found. Another investigation I would launch would be into the NFL itself. How does the NFL handle situations where a player believes that he has a concussion? Do they report those situations? Are players being punished for exposing the fact that they have not been treated well? These controversial questions need to be answered, and it is the job of the government or a private organization to find the answers. Another problem that needs to be solved is the diagnosis of CTE itself.
As of now, a huge problem regarding CTE is that it can only be diagnosed after someone dies, because that is when the brain can be completely cut open. Brain researchers should focus on creating a method that diagnosis CTE without the patient having to die first. Being able to conduct such a test would make a huge difference in being able to pinpoint how and where CTE develops. Doctors should work on tackling this problem. Acting as an advocate for truth is a vital job when it comes to this topic, and I know that I have the ability to talk to my football friends in a manner that they could understand. By being an informed friend, I can reach the minds of many football players.
