Youth Contact Sports And Broken Brains

A young athlete goes down. Our knees go weak. We hold our breath. The seconds stretch into minutes, but finally the athlete rises. We cheer. The athlete rubs their head, then bravely plays on. We breathe again. No damage done. Or so we think. How familiar is this sight to parents and families around the country? How many times a week does this take place? Sports related injuries, suffered by child athletes, often go unreported and undiagnosed. Here in Youth Contact Sports And Broken Brains, Bruce Parkman, tells the story of his athletic son, Mac Parkman, and how his repetitive exposure to concussive/subconcussive trauma caused him to silently suffer with depression, schizophrenia, and suicidality, before taking his life at the age of 17. Sports have a long history in society and the discussion of these issues may seem an unwelcome cultural shift, but in Youth Contact Sports And Broken Brains Bruce Parkman takes a logical and scientific approach to linking mental illness with concussive/subconcussive trauma suffered by young athletes in contact sports. Mac’s story and the family's vulnerability are powerful and followed by undeniable science. Youth Contact Sports And Broken Brains breaks down the science of brain development, repetitive brain trauma, and their links to mental illness while giving parents the information they need to keep their children safe when participating in contact sports. It is important to know: The human brain is not designed to handle repetitive trauma! Concussive/subconcussive trauma cannot be prevented by wearing helmets or pads. The exposure of a developing brain to subconcussive and concussive trauma can cause significant impact to the brain’s structure which over time can lead to cognitive and behavioral challenges, including mental illness. Repeated episodes of concussive/subconcussive trauma can cause significant changes to the structure and function of the brain in a condition known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Every child that plays a contact sport will suffer subconcussive trauma at every practice and game. Any damage done to the brain cannot be accurately assessed and its impacts will not be seen for years or decades after being damaged. There are forms of non-contact sports and numerous athletic activities for kids to enjoy…let them be kids! This book and The Mac Parkman Foundation was formed out of the loss of a great young man to suicide at the age of 17 after struggling with mental illness caused by prolonged exposure to concussive and subconcussive trauma from contact sports at a young age. Proceeds from this book will directly fund research and education on the links between concussive/subconcussive trauma and mental health surrounding contact sports and youth athletes.

This book will dispel myths about head impacts in youth sports, potential consequences of these collisions, and the changes sports organizations have made to make these sports “safer than ever.” It will empower parents and athletes to make an informed decision on sports participation and provide recommendations on how to make these sports safer.

In the past decade, few subjects at the intersection of medicine and sports have generated as much public interest as sports-related concussions - especially among youth. Despite growing awareness of sports-related concussions and campaigns to educate athletes, coaches, physicians, and parents of young athletes about concussion recognition and management, confusion and controversy persist in many areas. Currently, diagnosis is based primarily on the symptoms reported by the individual rather than on objective diagnostic markers, and there is little empirical evidence for the optimal degree and duration of physical rest needed to promote recovery or the best timing and approach for returning to full physical activity. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture reviews the science of sports-related concussions in youth from elementary school through young adulthood, as well as in military personnel and their dependents. This report recommends actions that can be taken by a range of audiences - including research funding agencies, legislatures, state and school superintendents and athletic directors, military organizations, and equipment manufacturers, as well as youth who participate in sports and their parents - to improve what is known about concussions and to reduce their occurrence. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth finds that while some studies provide useful information, much remains unknown about the extent of concussions in youth; how to diagnose, manage, and prevent concussions; and the short- and long-term consequences of concussions as well as repetitive head impacts that do not result in concussion symptoms. The culture of sports negatively influences athletes' self-reporting of concussion symptoms and their adherence to return-to-play guidance. Athletes, their teammates, and, in some cases, coaches and parents may not fully appreciate the health threats posed by concussions. Similarly, military recruits are immersed in a culture that includes devotion to duty and service before self, and the critical nature of concussions may often go unheeded. According to Sports-Related Concussions in Youth, if the youth sports community can adopt the belief that concussions are serious injuries and emphasize care for players with concussions until they are fully recovered, then the culture in which these athletes perform and compete will become much safer. Improving understanding of the extent, causes, effects, and prevention of sports-related concussions is vitally important for the health and well-being of youth athletes. The findings and recommendations in this report set a direction for research to reach this goal.

A comprehensive summary of sport-related concussion for parents, coaches, and athletes that considers the physics behind the injury, identifies what can be done to reduce the risk of its occurrence, and describes how to respond to a suspected concussion. Concussion injury among athletes continues to be a subject of great concern. Increasing attention and research is focusing on the most vulnerable of athletes—children. What strategies can be taken to best protect young athletes in sports from grammar school football leagues to high school hockey and soccer teams from concussion? How do we treat youngsters who suffer head injuries in sports? What are the ethical considerations in allowing children to play such sports, given the risks to still-developing brains? In this updated and expanded guide, William Meehan, MD, explains simply and clearly how coaches, parents, and others who work with young athletes can recognize concussion; best help children and youths recover from concussion injuries; and take steps to become proactive to prevent concussion. Readers will learn what causes a sport-related concussion; what happens to brain cells during a concussion; and why concussion, which in the past was dismissed as a trivial injury, is taken so much more seriously now. The book explains how to decrease the risk of concussion; addresses the potential for cumulative effects from multiple concussions, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy; and discusses the ethical dimensions of deciding whether an athlete with multiple concussions should continue to participate in high-risk sports.

This comprehensive, reader-friendly book written by a top physician in the field explains to coaches and parents how to understand, cope with, and prevent sport-related concussions among children and teenagers. Written by an expert physician, Kids, Sports, and Concussion: A Guide for Coaches and Parents offers a thorough understanding of concussive brain injury, its symptoms, its potential long-term effects, and the current prevention options. Equally important, it provides insights into how this injury is treated and what parents and athletes can do to facilitate recovery. In addition to explaining in simple, clear, and complete terms what a concussion is and how it can alter the brain function of children and youths, this guide discusses new technologies and equipment that may help prevent concussion. It looks at the incidence of concussion in football, hockey, cheerleading, skiing and snowboarding, soccer, basketball, and equestrian sports, and it explores related issues, such as the movement to have soccer and rugby players wear helmets. A final chapter focuses on emerging research designed to facilitate better treatments and on safety measures, including testing for a genetic predisposition to concussion. - A foreword from Lyle Micheli, MD, past president of the American College of Sports Medicine and author of The Sports Medicine Bible for Young Athletes, commenting on the significance of sport-related concussion in pediatric and adolescent sports - A glossary - A bibliography referencing key investigations in the scientific literature for readers seeking a more in-depth, scientific analysis

Dr. Omalu provides answers to parents who fear that contact sports might cause injuries that have long-term effects. Should your child play football, ice hockey, mixed martial arts, boxing, wrestling, rugby, gymnastics, soccer, lacrosse, BMX bike riding, trampoline jumping and gymnastics or other sports? This book will help you answer this question, for only you, the parent can answer this question. But after you have read the last page of this book, it will be a very easy question for you to answer. The simplicity of the truth can even be more fantastic and more beautiful than football or any other sport. Dr. Omalu has received phone calls, e-mails, text and social media messages from thousands of parents reaching out to him from across the world for help-asking the same questions: "Should my son continue to play rugby after his last concussion six months ago?" "I do not want my daughter to play soccer but she loves it so much, what should I do?" "Are concussions permanent brain damage?" "Is it true that helmets can cause brain damage?" "My son never suffered any brain injury while he played but did ice hockey cause his depression, diminishing intelligence and drug abuse?" "Was my son's suicide caused by football?" "If my child shouldn't play football or ice hockey, can I let him play lacrosse or soccer?"

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The story of how the NFL, over a period of nearly two decades, denied and sought to cover up mounting evidence of the connection between football and brain damage “League of Denial may turn out to be the most influential sports-related book of our time.”—The Boston Globe “Professional football players do not sustain frequent repetitive blows to the brain on a regular basis.” So concluded the National Football League in a December 2005 scientific paper on concussions in America’s most popular sport. That judgment, implausible even to a casual fan, also contradicted the opinion of a growing cadre of neuroscientists who worked in vain to convince the NFL that it was facing a deadly new scourge: a chronic brain disease that was driving an alarming number of players—including some of the all-time greats—to madness. In League of Denial, award-winning ESPN investigative reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru tell the story of a public health crisis that emerged from the playing fields of our twenty-first-century pastime. Everyone knows that football is violent and dangerous. But what the players who built the NFL into a $10 billion industry didn’t know—and what the league sought to shield from them—is that no amount of padding could protect the human brain from the force generated by modern football, that the very essence of the game could be exposing these players to brain damage. In a fast-paced narrative that moves between the NFL trenches, America’s research labs, and the boardrooms where the NFL went to war against science, League of Denial examines how the league used its power and resources to attack independent scientists and elevate its own flawed research—a campaign with echoes of Big Tobacco’s fight to deny the connection between smoking and lung cancer. It chronicles the tragic fates of players like Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster, who was so disturbed at the time of his death he fantasized about shooting NFL executives, and former San Diego Chargers great Junior Seau, whose diseased brain became the target of an unseemly scientific battle between researchers and the NFL. Based on exclusive interviews, previously undisclosed documents, and private emails, this is the story of what the NFL knew and when it knew it—questions at the heart of a crisis that threatens football, from the highest levels all the way down to Pop Warner.