Effect of Concussions on NFL Athletes

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Every year thousands of athletes are effected by the sports-related concussions. There are three types of concussions, they are classified as grades which is a special term medical professionals use to classify the severity of a traumatic brain injury. Grade 1 concussions are minute in terms of the severity of damage to the athlete’s brain. This is when there are in a brief daze, slight headache, and their head sometimes rings. (Cunha 581-585). The grade 2 concussions are the moderate concussions were an athlete completely fades to black, there’s no seeing anything, and they don’t know their location, name and various other important pieces of information (Cunha 581-585). Last, we have the grade 3 concussion which is the most severe, and poses the most psychological brain damage athletes that get a grade 3 concussion are transported to the hospital immediately to deal with the various symptoms such as loss of consciousness, not aware of their surroundings, severe headache, and complete jolt of the skull.
The dangerous aspect of returning the football athlete back to the gridiron immediately after the concussion comes about. This is when one of the fatal symptoms can occur, which is death. The brain is fragile, and soft to the touch. It’s similar to the consistency of silly putty. The only thing that secures the brain, and ensures no injury will be inflicted is the skull. The skull protects the brain, and the fluid it is composed of. Our brain is directly connected to the spine. The brain is composed of a special type of fluid called spinuous fluid, this protects the brain from hitting the skull, and causing any severe injury. On the contrary, if you head is jolted, or moved with an obstructive force your brain crashes, and result...

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...es, but they affect their lives. Moreover, it makes it difficult for these athletes to function correctly, and interact with their families and children. Science assist in some fashion to help detail the various risk and precautions coaching staff and parents should take to prevent such a devastating injury. I believe in the future a new helmet will be develop to helmet prevent this injury, and better practices by trained medical professionals will be implemented. The NFL’s repeated actions of complacency make it difficult or parents, coaches and staff to help athletes make informed decisions on their hits. Science is assisting in this area, and with science we can find out the cause, and how to prevent such measures. This is why we should continue to fight for thorough and real information to assist with helping reduce the suicide rates in professional athletics.

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