Traumatic Brain Injury In Sports

A traumatic brain injury can be described as any blow to the head that disrupts the normal function of the brain. The most common type of mild traumatic brain injury is a concussion and is one of the leading injuries among athletes. A concussion is defined as several common presenting symptoms that incorporate clinical, pathological and biomechanical aspects.1 Signs and symptoms of a concussion include physical symptoms such as nausea, headache, vomiting, balance problems, dizziness, visual problems and hypersensitivity to light and noise. Cognitive symptoms commonly include increased concentration issues and feeling mentally foggy, forgetful, confused. Emotional symptoms include irritability, sadness and increased anxiety. Sleep symptoms

Inclusion criteria in my study include male and female athletes with a minimum age of 14-15 (must be at least in high school). There will not be a maximum age, gender, sport or geographic limitation. Exclusion criteria include athletes that are younger than 14 years of age and people that have received a concussion not related to sports. I have chosen these specific criteria and topic as I have a personal, vested interest in this topic. In my senior season of collegiate soccer, I sustained a concussion which ended the season for me. I also experienced several short-term side effects which I believe I’ve properly recovered from. However, I’ve known many teammates that continued playing after receiving multiple concussions. Studies show that 5% to 10% percent of all athletes will suffer from a concussion while playing sports and for a female playing soccer the chance is 50%.1 These alarming statistics coupled with my personal experiences have inspired me to research sport induced concussions among both male and female

developed a clinically relevant closed-head injury model using mice that paralleled the many signs, symptoms and long-term effects seen in athletes that suffer from concussions. Important components in this study included the presence of astrogliosis, neural injury and the long-term cognitive and pathological effects that were observed post-mortem. Increased immunoreactivity of p-tau 6 months after injury and a positive correlation of hyperphosphorylation and the pathological aggregation of tau in these rodent’s brains were also important findings. This correlation is significant because it is indicative of axonal injury which is a common feature of many neurodegenerative diseases. 6 CREB which is a cellular transcription factor that has been proven to have many implications in the long-term effects of receiving a concussion was also analyzed in this study. Mice that received multiple head injuries displayed reduced phosphorylation of CREB which ultimately promotes decreased neuronal survival, memory and cognitive functioning.” 6

Daneshvar et al. analyzed the characteristics and long-term effects of post-concussion syndrome, as well as concussions and their effects on behavior. They also studied contraindications to returning to play and their correlation with degenerative and motor neuron disease. This article used the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) which is the standard diagnostic tool used for epidemiology, health management and clinical studies