Play it safe with head injuries in sports
Mama, don’t let your sons grow up to be test crash dummies. At a scientific debate in Chicago last week, two top concussion experts found themselves at odds on the question of whether repeatedly getting hit in the head while playing a sport leads to depression and dementia later in life.
But while the science may not be settled, the sensible course of action in youth sports remains the same — avoid those knocks and take them seriously.
No parent should allow a son or daughter to play on any team in any sport that doesn’t adhere to strict rules with respect to concussions. In Illinois, a high school football player who suffers a concussion can’t return to the field until a doctor gives written clearance — and that should be the rule for all sports at all ages.
If, as a parent, you find that your kid has one of those coaches who says “Shake it off,” shake him off.
At the debate, during a meeting of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology, Robert Stern of Boston University insisted that the “thought leaders in the world” don’t question the existence of CTE, a progressive brain disease marked by memory loss, aggression, depression and dementia. He cited a number of studies, including an analysis of the post-mortem brains of 85 people, including 64 athletes, with histories of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury. Sixty-eight showed the signs of degeneration associated with CTE.
But Christopher Randolph of the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine said such studies only show “something in the brain of uncertain clinical significance.” Before claiming the existence of CTE, he said, more research needs to be done.
That said, Randolph agreed, parents and players should err on the side of safety.