Concussion damage 'lasts months'

[xchrom]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24991844

***SNIP

Researchers at the University of New Mexico said athletes may be being returned to action too quickly.

While UK doctors said the attitude to head injury was "too relaxed" in sport.

Debate over concussion and head injury has lead to resignations over new rules in rugby, controversy in football after a player was kept on the field after being knocked out, and has been a long-standing issue in American football.




Long-term
The US study, published in the journal Neurology, compared the brains of 50 people who had mild concussion with 50 healthy people.

[IrishAyes]

1. If I had a youngster at home these days,

I'd move heaven and earth to keep that child out of football.

When a faulty new tire blew out and sent my beloved Dodge Grand Caravan careening off into the woods about 6 years ago, nobody expected to find me alive in the wreckage. I climbed out on my own with only minor visible injuries but nobody could see the concussion I suffered even with a seat belt.

For 2 years I could barely walk, and even today if someone who didn't know me saw my footprints in the snow, they'd swear there went a drunk person. This happened before I was eligible for Medicare, and obviously well before the ACA - so I went untreated by professionals. The only thing that saved me at all was the fact that I know a great deal about self care, and I continued to research the matter. Today a few minor symptoms remain, though I'm basically okay now.

But I shudder to think what could've been, and I know that biologically, younger brains are more fragile. Helmets don't prevent concussion because the brain itself still gets shoved around inside the skull, and that can do plenty of damage. Let the blows keep coming, and it's almost murder to keep throwing our kids to the wolves just to satisfy crowd blood lust.