InTouch with Southern Kentucky March 2020 | Page 5

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
We can see the effects of brain injuries in sports
— and understand why we strive for safety
I
f you don’t think football has
evolved, just ask anyone who
played in the 70s.
When athletes “got their bell
rung,” they might sit out a play or
two — then be right back at it.
We know now that those “bell
ringing” incidents were likely concus-
sions. Back then, a concussion was
thought to be one of those “lights out”
moments where you are knocked stiff.
And even in those instances, some
players would have ammonia caps
busted under those noses and would
be back out on the field long before
the cobwebs cleared from their head.
We now know that these head
injuries — both big and small — dam-
age the brain. And that’s why safety
enhancements in football — from the
NFL all the way down to the youth
level — are so vital to the game’s
survival.
We can see the effects of brain inju-
ries in football from sadly watching
the heroes of our youth age.
Mike Webster was perhaps the
greatest center in NFL history. The
Hall of Famer snapped the ball to
Terry Bradshaw in four Super Bowl
victories. But not long after leaving
the game, Webster suffered from am-
nesia, dementia and depression and
was homeless for periods of time. He
died in 2002 at the age of 50.
M arch 2020
By
Jeff Neal
Not surprisingly, Webster was the
first NFL player diagnosed with chron-
ic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE),
a neurodegenerative disease caused
by repeated head injuries. Symptoms
may include behavioral problems,
mood problems, and problems with
thinking. Symptoms typically do not
begin until years after the injuries.
CTE often gets worse over time and
can result in dementia.
The problem with CTE is that a liv-
ing person cannot be diagnosed with
any real accuracy.
Currently, CTE can be confirmed
only by examining the brains of
deceased victims to look for a distinc-
tive pattern of tau deposits — pro-
tein clumps that kill brain cells. Its
symptoms in the living — impulsivity,
mood swings, memory problems, and
impaired judgment — are vague and
variable, and resemble those of other
illnesses.
So how do we avoid CTE and other
brain injuries? Easy, just avoid activi-
ties where the brain can be damaged
by repeated blows.
But when one plays football — the
most popular sport in America — that
can be difficult.
The alternative to giving up sports
is to make them safer. In this issue of
In Touch, we will look at how local
programs are striving to make the
game safer for players.
We can never take contact out of
athletics. A concussion can occur
in any sport, at any time. Certainly
athletes in football, boxing, wrestling,
hockey and auto racing are always
at risk. But athletes who play soccer,
basketball and baseball are all at risk
in some varying degree as well.
The key is minimizing those brain
injuries. And, as you will see in our
piece on brain injuries and concus-
sions, we seem to be on the right
track.
Jeff Neal is the editor of the
Commonwealth Journal and In Touch
with Southern Kentucky.
Contact him at jneal@somerset-
kentucky.com. Follow him on Twitter at
@jnealCJ.
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