Introduction:
For one athlete it is a game, and for a doctor, it is a nightmare. Everyday individuals are bombarded with information on specific healthcare issues. Concussions have become an epidemic to many athletes as the biochemical forces clash and create an onset of long term problems to someone’s memory, memorization skills, and logic. Throughout the last 10 years we have experienced an increase in concussions in extreme sports such as soccer, football, and hockey. Through time and effort, we have raised the question, as a worried mother or father, should we allow our son to play football at such an early age? Should we allow our daughter to partake in field hockey? With children and young adults partaking in such contact heavy sports, are we readily informed on concussions and their fatal blows.
Claims and Evidence
Throughout history, concussions have not been as fatal as society thought they were. Within minor and major leagues of all sport types that incorporate contact with a ball or person, such as soccer, football, baseball, etc, we have only yet to scrape the ice of how impactful a concussion is. As parents watch from the sidelines, their kids are risking and increasing their chances of a concussion if not educated properly on the manner. High school athletes have yet to understand the fatality and comprehension of how bad a concussion could ruin their high school career in sports, or even their lives. Theresa L. Miyashita and her colleagues published a study on High School athletes and their reality of concussions on November 4th, 2014. This cross sectional study embodied a total of 454 high school athletes, 212 females and 242 males. Their age ranged from 15-19 years old as they questioned about their history of having a concussion and their experience and knowledge on the matter. Miyashita reports that, “at least 297 athletes had 1 concussion”. The only thing that dictated their rest with a concussion was the importance of the game and the risks that were at stake if they were not to play in it. Kids that had a concussion were putting their bodies last as the sought to see that trophies and their ego were more important. In another article by Barry Petchesky, in A Timeline of Concussion Science and the NFL, the NFL had yet to release a proper medical handbook about concussion until 1933. Yet, this handbook for the major athletes stated that symptoms were “treated too lightly”, and “recommendation of supervision and rest was appointed if an athlete were to conceive a concussion”. Although this was stated in the handbook, many professionals did not attend to these sets of historical rules. The Medical Advisor for the NFL, Elliot Pellman, was very pushy and was seen with controversy. Pellman states that, "Concussions are part of the profession, an occupational risk” and continues to provide reckless actions as a professional working with athletes. Pellman was more focused on the fame and glory of pushing for success, that he pushed himself farther way ethically and morally. With
both of these articles providing astounding evidence on how society and their perception on concussions was constant, we as a whole have neglected the research and avoidance of fatalities. As high schoolers knew the risks of hurting their bodies, they acted on the glorification and ego of pursuing their goals and aspirations. Athletes lack the understanding of severe and serious concussions. As a society, we need to inform formalized educators about the culture of sports and the severity of teaching proper care for our bodies. As well as professionals, major doctors and professionals still shy away from concussions and their fatal effect on players and their families. Professionals like Pellman knew about the risks of concussions back stated back in the 1930’s, yet failed to prevent them this entire time. As a society, we glorify winning on the field, rather than winning a battle to save our lives.
(Here is a link further going the investigation on the NFL and their denial ----> NFL)
Pushback and Current Evidence
To this day, we are slowly improving our awareness for concussions and its happenings. Beforehand, we were very affluent onto how we took care of individuals and their acute brain impairments that fostered within their synaptic structures. Society knew little unto which many new excessive amounts of information, such as Hippocrates, on this degrading injury. As individuals grew ignorant among the matter, others fell short to understand why and how this causes such a strain on athletes and few non athletes. After reading two individuals that studied and researched those who took many aspects of their lives for granted, we can determine that society as a whole is still developing slowly with their stance on concussions. As we have read in the previous two articles regarding professionals and high school students, and viewing that they to a degree represent a part of the whole, we can generalize and understand that this information is not prioritized under prominent doctors and athletic professionals. Theresa L. Miyashita working with and understanding high schoolers and their need for an egocentric and injurious decisions, and Barry Petchesky reviewing and highlighting the NFL and their importance on the matter of concussions, as well as his review on Elliot Pellman helps us understand that many individuals within society do not have their priorities straight.
Reference List/ Citations:
The Book “Concussions” by William Paul Maheen III
