Concussions In American Football

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American football is arguably one of the toughest sports in the world, for many obvious reasons. The average weight and height of a defensive end is 6 foot 4, 280 pounds. The average hit speed is 20 mph, and the player on average goes through 40 g’s of force when hit full speed (Brenkus, 2010). No exception to the rule, Hall of Famer, Junior Seau was the deliverer of many of those hits to the players unfortunate enough to meet him on the field. This took an enormous toll on Seau. After 20 years of hard hits, playing through injuries, and breaking records, Seau decided to retire from the game he loved so much. But nobody knew that the biggest injury he received was one not visible on the outside. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, concussions…show more content…
The Human Nervous System, written by a number of well respected doctors, defines a concussion, or head trauma as the tearing of veins crossing the subdural space, which may follow sudden movements of the head in which a rupture can occur. (Noback, 2005) This means that a concussion is when a sudden movement, or hit to the can often cause tearing of the veins in the brain which cause swelling and bleeding. Another explanation of concussions is found in the Textbook of Medical Physiology. It defines concussions as when the brain tissue and capillaries are traumatized and capillary fluid leaks into the traumatized tissues. This causes one of two possible negative consequences. 1.) The swelling causes the compression of the veins, which in turn slows the bloodflow of the brain. The the compression of the veins leads to an increase of swelling, and the process continues. This is one reason why brain injuries are so serious in the sense that if not treated, and the injury is severe enough, the effects will continue to get worse until death. 2.) The decrease of bloodflow causes the oxygen delivery to be stifled. This then leads to vein or capillary permeability, allowing more fluid to leak. This causes swelling and the cycle will again occur (Guyton,1991). Obviously, these are the worst case scenarios of a concussion. But they are definitely not outside the realm of possibility when head trauma is sustained. The definitions of the worst head trauma is for the purpose to compare grade 1 concussions to the worst case
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