The Causes Of Developing ALS And CTE
Athletes in various sports have been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Both of these diseases are life threatening, and the chances of living are very slim. Athletes are choosing to play at their own risk, and because of this many of them have died, and are still currently living but have to suffer through the symptoms. Both of these diseases are fatal, and still to this day there is no possible cure that can help people that are suffering from both of these diseases. Both ALS and CTE have known to be fatal, and is the most common death in athletes. ALS and CTE differ from each other, but one thing they have in common is many athletes have died from both
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of these diseases. ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and is a disease that affects the spinal cord, and the brain. Amyo is a greek term and stands for muscle, Lateral means spinal cord, and Sclerosis means scarring and hardening. The symptoms include: losing control of the muscles, fatigue, having trouble speaking, paralyzed, cannot eat on your own, sometimes having trouble breathing, and not having the ability to walk. Most NFL stars have been the main athletes that have been diagnosed with ALS. ALS is also common to professional boxers. ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease because of a professional baseball who was known to have ALS and also had died from it. Doctors do not know why athletes develop ALS. Having multiple concussions has seem to be why ALS is developed. NFL stars choose to play through the rest of their career until ALS has finally taken over. After ALS there is one other disease that is also developed if any athlete has suffered from multiple blows to the head. CTE is another common disease that athletes also suffered from. CTE stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy means brain damage and head trauma that can lead to death. CTE has four different types of disease: Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Huntington’s, and Parkinson's. All four of these diseases are known to be fatal, and there is no cure for either of these. The most common way to develop CTE is from concussions. Being hit in the head by a ball, helmet to helmet contact, falling on the floor head first, and whiplash. Traumatic Brain Injury is what concussions are known for and is very common in young athletes. Professionals and experts are still trying to determine why athletes develop CTE. When athletes have already died, experts ask the family if they have permission to study their brain, to see what exactly was wrong and how ALS and CTE was developed.
Most doctors find that ALS and CTE is developed in their brain between late 20’s to early 30’s and they will not suffer from either of these diseases until their late 30’s. After being diagnosed the average lifespan is 2-5 years. In some cases people have lived up to 10 years, but it is very rare. Males are more common to develop ALS and CTE than females are. Females are more likely to get a concussion than males are because of how the cells are being developed. The four different types of CTE are very similar but differ in some ways. Alzheimer's and Dementia are both diseases that affects the brain, which control thought, memory, and language. Dementia is curable while Alzheimer's is not. With Dementia you can still function, while with Alzheimer's you can not. Parkinson’s and Huntington are also the same but differ in some ways too. Parkinson’s disease is the second most common disease after ALS. Huntington’s is an inherited disease, there is no cure, and is also usually passed down. The symptoms include having trouble controlling movement, muscle spasms, tremors, and shaking constantly. Huntington’s is a disease that is inherited and if a parent has Huntington’s then there is a 50% chance that the child will have Huntington’s …show more content…
too. Developing concussions is very common in athletes.
Symptoms of concussion include memory loss, erratic behavior, being sensitive to light and noise, blurry vision, ringing in ears, and in some cases vomiting. Most female athletes have had more concussions than males. It usually takes longer for female athletes to recover because the brain is still trying to be developed. A concussion is known as a traumatic brain injury that develops when being hit in the head. Ryan Freel had developed CTE because of getting hit in the head during baseball and outside of baseball. He committed suicide at age 36, because he developed depression and also wanted his brain to be studied. Ryan Freel had developed Dementia. Dementia is a disease where memory can be loss, but you are still able to function. Freel has had more than ten concussions in his playing career. He had developed depression and short term memory loss which is some of the symptoms for CTE. Concussions are another way to develop CTE, but athletes will not know they have been diagnosed with CTE till after they have
died. In the past, sports league have not done a single thing when their athletes had developed either ALS or CTE. But now sports rules have changed. In the NFL you can only tackle someone from the waist down. In soccer there has been more padding added outside the field so it will not be painful when you run into something. Football helmets also have been padded added. Now when some of their athletes develop ALS or CTE the sports organization offers to pay the medical bills, and also helps pay in other equipment that is needed. Rules have changed now, and it is because of both of these diseases. Some athletes have been complaining about the rules because they might get their knees blown out, and might not ever be able to play again. It is very difficult and hard, and organizations are trying their best to help out any athletes in need. Sports organizations should do a better job of helping out their athlete who has developed either CTE or ALS. In some cases they are helping pay for the medical bills, or machines that need to be purchased but that is not enough. It is unfair that the athlete has to suffer from this disease because of something that cannot be cured. With CTE athletes do not find out they have it till after they have died. Most athletes are not yanked out of a game if they get hit in the head with or ball, or helmet to helmet contact. Not only is that the athletes fault, but coaches need to do a better job of being aware of this. ALS does not have a cure and also cannot be treatable. Concussions are one of the main reasons why people develop ALS or CTE. Many athletes have been playing a sport they loved since they were very little. Most concussions have been happening when they started playing sports in high school. ALS is known for destroying the mind, and poisoning the nervous system. ALS is not curable, which means people who have been diagnosed with ALS will eventually die. Every year an athlete is suffering from a concussion and this affects them in later years too because they were not taking out the game in time, deciding to play through it, and not going straight to a doctor or trainer. Ryan Freel had suffered multiple concussions in baseball and later he had developed CTE. The type of CTE he developed was Dementia. Dementia can be treatable with the proper medical care. Huntington’s and Parkinson’s are a little different too. Huntington’s is a disease that is not treatable, but Parkinson’s is. With the proper medical for these two diseases many people can still live a longer life. Overall these two diseases are very common in today’s world. Many athletes have and still are suffering from them. If athletes are ever hit in the head with any object they should yanked out the game immediately and see a doctor right away. This will help them to prevent being diagnosed with ALS or CTE.
A big part of the NFL’s hold on players is their contracts and money. Thousands of young men aspire to be on a professional team, just for the fame, money and title. They are not made aware of the lasting conditions that come with playing football and their everlasting effects. If anything, the NFL has gone out of their way to discredit the newer research that links playing football with CTE. CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is a disease that has the same effects as dementia and Alzheimer’s, except that CTE leaves tau protein deposition in distinctive areas of the brain, which is what separates CTE from dementia and Alzheimer’s....
On December 1, 2012, a patient by the name of John Dough walks into the medical assistant’s office. The patient is five foot 11 inches tall, currently he is 70 years old and weighs approximately 211 pounds. The patient has no known allergies does not smoke and has a relatively clean health record. After filling out the patient medical history forms, the patient is seen by the doctor. The patient explains to the doctor that lately he has had trouble lifting object he would not normally have trouble with, as well as walking short distances, and being very fatigued. After further examination the patient explains how he recently found a tick on his back and removed it, but now there is a red bullseye on his back. The physician suggests a blood sample be taken and sent to the laboratory. To help with weakness and fatigue he recommends the patient to get a good nights sleep and drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. He also wants the patient to limit medication intake that could contribute to fatigue such as cold and allergy medicines and make sure to finish all daily exercising three to four hours before bed. The patient schedules a check up two weeks later.
Imagine if you loss control of your body but your mind stayed unaffected. You would be a prisoner in your own body, all leading up to your death sentence. That is the sad fate for the people diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). “Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder was first described by Ran in 1850. This description was then expanded in 1873 by Charcot, who emphasized the involvement of the corticospinal tracts. In the United States, ALS is often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, after the famous ball player who was stricken by the disease in the midst of his career. (Yale School of Medicine, 2014)” In this paper will go through the definition, the process, the signs, the risk factors, etiology, and discus the known people that have suffered with this terminal disease.
A concussion is defined as temporary unconsciousness caused by a blow to the head or a violent shock from a heavy blow. The force transmitted to the head causes the brain to hit the skull, which causes the brain to swell. The symptoms of a concussion can appear immediately after contact or they may subtle and may not appear right away. The symptoms of a concussion can vary in length. There are many different symptoms to a concussion: "Common symptoms after a concussive traumatic brain injury are headache, loss of memory (amnesia) and confusion" (Mayo). Other symptoms that may be involved with a concussion include loss of consciousness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, slurred speech, and fatigue. There are also symptoms that may not occur immediately, but may be delayed hours or days after. These symptoms include difficulty concentrating, sensitivity to light, and sleep disturbances. An athlete should ...
Football is a dangerous sport, in fact, retired NFL players are 19 time more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease of any other similar memory loss diseases, found by a recent study by the university of Michigan. CTE a disease that Acura as a result of constant head injuries and contact, and has been growing rapidly in the NFL. The NFL has been denied giving the many claims that CTE has a direct connection with professional football, until recently. The NFL has been taken to court multiple times over the topic of CTE. Although the National Football League is preparing to settle a class-action lawsuit with players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the League should do more for players because not only has it profited from
Concussions and the effect they have on people ranging from the young to the old has become a very popular discussion in recent years. Generally people watch sports for entertainment and then there are those who engage in high impact sports from a very young age on. The people at home know how fun playing in a sport is, however they may not know the brutal consequences for some participating in that sport. Injuries to the brain are a main concern among those in the world of high impact sports. Football, soccer, wrestling, lacrosse, and rugby are among sports that athletes receive injuries in. The injuries vary from sprains, to fractures, to torn MCL or ACL, and bruised organs. Concussions are a severe type of injury endured by athletes in the sports world and this life changing injury is one that people are becoming more aware of.
The world of sports is filled with great memories, grand moments and at times complete mayhem. There are moments like hitting a Home Run in game 7 of the World Series or memories of scoring an overtime goal during the Stanley Cup finals. However, there are also incredibly low moments when mayhem occurs such as an action or incident that results in a concussion. An injury such as a concussion can ruin your sports career or potentially your ability to function normally in the future. Concussions are caused by blunt force trauma to the head, a fall or an injury that shakes the brain inside the skull. Recovering from a concussion can take weeks, months or even years to heal. For some, it can impair your mental or mobility functions for life.
The onset of symptoms are sometimes seen about eight to ten years after an individual retires from their sport, which roughly equates to someone aged thirty to fifty years old (Baugh et al., 2012; Wortzel et al., 2013; Karantzoulis and Randolph, 2013). As with all diseases, symptoms can range from mild to severe. Researchers have found a positive correlation between the number of brain injuries sustained during a length of time playing a sport and the severity of symptoms (McKee et al., 2009). The specific brain regions affected by CTE are often debated, but some of the areas most commonly agreed upon to show deterioration are: limbic system (thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, mammillary bodies), hippocampus, cerebral cortex, frontal lobes, substantia nigra, and the brainstem (McKee et al., 2009; Baugh et al., 2012).... ...
A concussion is a head injury that can have damaging effects on athletes of all sports and ages. Concussions are regularly caused by a hard hit to the head or body that causes the brain to shake inside the skull. While there is fluid within the skull to protect the brain, when an athlete is hit hard enough, the brain moves to the point of hitting the skull, causing a head injury otherwise known as a concussion (“Concussions”). Terry Adirim, a medical doctor who writes articles for Clinical Pediatrician Emergency Magazine, says that an individual may have many different symptoms after receiving a concussion. Symptoms can include headache, nausea, dizziness, loss of consciousness, and vomiting, but each of these symptoms do not necessarily happen with every concussion.
As CTE progresses, it can cause memory loss, impulsive and erratic behavior, difficulty with balance, impaired judgment, and behavioral disturbances including aggression, depression, and increased suicidality. Ultimately, CTE progresses to the onset of dementia. A similar accumulation of tau protein is also seen in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. CTE symptoms can manifest months or years after brain trauma, and a definitive diagnosis of CTE can only be made after death by analyzing brain tissue at autopsy. The CDC estimates that up to 3.8 million concussions occur each year, with up to ten percent of high school athletes suffering from post-concussion syndrome.
High impact sports such as hockey and football are extremely dangerous. People who suffer from concussions can be affected by brain damage. Concussions are often called an "invisible injury", this is because you can not see the injury on the outside of the body. Side effects from a concussion can include; headaches, change in sleep patterns, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, loss of consciousness, depression, mood swings, memory loss, loss of concentration, and a slowed reaction time. (Virginia Board of Education Guidelines
That being said this is the most prominent disorder within athletes, the disease has no symptoms which is why is becoming such a prominent disease among athletes such as NFL players. Recent research has suggested several mechanisms for brain injury in the setting of repeated trauma. Neurofibrillary tangles in CTE have a characteristic perivascular distribution, grouped around small intracortical vessels (Mckee 1999). This finding suggests that trauma may damage the blood-brain barrier, releasing neurotoxins that promote the formation of neurofibrillary tangles around blood vessels. In a
Where and how this deadly disease originated is unknown, but it was first identified in 1869, by the noted French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. ALS is not contagious, but research is still vague on the cause of the disease. Today, there are three recognized forms of ALS: genetic, sporadic, and Guamanian. The genetic form of ALS appears to be inherited or passed down within a family, and about ten percent of ALS patients have a family history of the disease. An abnormal gene has been located in about half these families, but the cause of the remaining half is still unknown. The next, most common form, is sporadic ALS. These patients have no family history of disease, and the cause of their coming down with ALS is a mystery. Finally, is Guamanian ALS, called this because a high percentage of cases occur in the Pacific Islands near Guam.
The very first step to solving the concussion problem is to train coaches how to spot a concussion. The most common symptoms are: headache, sensitivity to light and/or sound, trouble remembering plays, dizziness, nausea, and balance problems. Players suspected of having a concussion must be removed from the game or practice immediately. A concussion is described as a “mild traumatic brain injury” because it is not usually life threatening if treated properly. That name does not indicate the possible consequences if an athlete returns to play too soon.
I just want to start off by saying the Paul was such an inspiration, and it was an honor to hear him speak about ALS. Before hearing him speak, all I really knew about ALS is that it affected the muscles. I never even knew that it was such a deadly disease. It was shocking to hear that the average life expectancy for someone with ALS is only 2-5 years. It was such great news to hear that Paul is going on to his 4th year, and was only recently in need of a wheelchair. While it is unfortunate that Paul was diagnosed with ALS, it is fortunate that his disease is slowly progressing. Some of the stories he shared about his friends made me realize that some people may take a turn for the worse, only several months after being diagnosed. It was wonderful to hear Paul say that he really thinks he will surpass the odds and make it to the 5th year. I really hope that Paul is one of the lucky ones, who are diagnosed with ALS, and live past the life expectancy.