[Johnny_Utah]

The Fifth Estate had the story of Chris Benoit with new evidence of what caused him to commit those horrific events, it wasn't steroids but the concussions he suffered which caused trauma to his brain..

[Regina]

I saw that.....very interesting and made perfect sense. The concussions they receive over and over has to do damage. You certainly don't have to get knocked out to get one either. Scot Stevens gave out many concussions and you never saw him laying on the ice, yet that's why he had to retire.

[hwacker]

lily wrote:

How many concussions can a person get before they need to think about retiring? I'm talking about kids... not professional athletes.

1 before the 24X7 headaches start.

[Regina]

It's actually quite complicated and he'd need to see a specialist in that field. Professional athletes have baseline neurological testing done before hand so when they do receive a concussion, they'll not be allowed back until they can get back to the original baseline. It also matters how close the injuries were and how severe each one was. I bet there's some good information and outcome studies you can find on the internet.

[DrCaleb]

lily wrote:

I'm only asking because my son's friend has had 4 concussions already and I wonder why he's still allowed to play sports like football, even with the special helmet.

And by "allowed", I mean by his parents, not the league.

I watched that show too, and I didn't know that things randomly changing colour was a symptom.

One concussion is bad, but when you get another right away . . and again ... and again without giving time to heal in between - that's bad.

I'm not a physician, but if your son's friend had time between them, it must be OK.

[Johnny_Utah]

In a way Chris Benoit was vindicated as what he did was out of his hands still with tragic consequences but thanks to his father there is a better understanding..

I suffered a serious concussion and neck injury playing Football, after I was miss diagnosed and for almost 10 years during that time I suffered extreme pain, headaches and discomfort. Luckily I found a doctor who actually took the time to see what was wrong..

Concussions now are being taken more seriously in all aspects of life from professional athletes to Soldiers..

[Regina]

One of the problems is that if a GP is looking after someone with multiple concussions or even multiple mini concussions, they may rely only on the patient's description of symptoms. Without much experience or training they will not properly diagnose or treat the condition. Depending on the eagerness for a return to the activity, they may tend to downplay the severity. Although not practical in real life, a pre neurological test doesn't rely on the patient's agenda for a return to activity. I would say after one or two good bashes that resulted in unconsciousness or headaches they should see a specialist only.

[Regina]

Being a nurse means nothing, the child himself may want to downplay the situation knowing that if he isn't well enough he won't be allowed to play. Switching sports isn't the solution either, they need to find out if there's the possibility of a larger problem the next time he gets hit which may not even be sports related. In this case it may be nothing at all and they've taken all the precautions they need to.

[Regina]

I Googled sports concussions and got lots of information. I went through a few of them and these ones in particular look very good. The information is easily understood and answers most of the questions one in that situation would have. There's also a good JAMA abstract there but it may be a little deep for most.



http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/in ... ussion.cfm

http://www.sports-concussion.com/

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/290/19/2628

[Johnny_Utah]

Vince McMahon isn't buying the concussion explanation because it's easier for the WWE to accept the steroids theory because if they did accept it they would be more responsible for other WWE athletes..

If I recall Troy Aikman retired because he suffered one to many concussions as did other NFL Players who didn't even have a full career..

[Regina]

His comments were a legal blah, blah, blah.........

I thought it was funny how they've already banned hitting guys on the head with a chair. They'll need to change they're ways and will do it quietly so as not to accumulate law suits and admit liability.

[Regina]

From brain examination they did, it was determined that it was in the same shape as someone 85+ years old with dementia. The doctors pointed out that wouldn't have been from steroids but it was common with athletes with a debilitating concussion history.