NFL and NCAA Football Brain Injury-Chris Henry (Bengals) Brain Injury Like 80-90 Yr Old

[RamboLiberal]

The brain of the late Cincinnati Bengals pass receiver Chris Henry contained so many signs of chronic disease -- sludge, tangles and threads associated with late-in-life dementia or Alzheimer's -- that it shows a football player can sustain life-altering head trauma without ever being diagnosed with a concussion.

The brain damage may have contributed to Mr. Henry's troubled behavior and, ultimately, his death in December at age 26.

These conclusions, among others following tissue study by scientists affiliated with West Virginia University, make Mr. Henry the first active National Football League player to be discovered suffering from the progressive generative disease known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE.

Julian Bailes and Bennet Omalu, with the Brain Injury Research Institute in Morgantown, W.Va., have examined 10 other retired players, among them ex-Steelers Mike Webster, Terry Long and Justin Strzelzcyk. The researchers found frightful similarities between those brains and that of Mr. Henry. Those men were older than Mr. Henry and had taken thousands of blows to the helmet during long football careers.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10179/1068847-114.stm#ixzz0sA5T9zuA

Being a Steelers fan I've seen how many ex-Steelers have gone down to tragic young deaths with signs of dementia.

Here's another case - Lineman, Dead at 36, Exposes Brain Injuries - Justin Strzelczyk of the Steelers who died in a fiery crash after a prolonged police chase. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/sports/football/15brain.html

[gratuitous]

1. Jeez, Dr. Buzzkill

Can't you just be happy for the Saints?

. . .

Okay, I'm obviously kidding. But how different is the NFL from Pro Wrestling? The same sort of punishment and abuse inflicted on young men for the entertainment of the masses just to line the pockets of loathesome human beings like Robert Irsay and Vince McMahon.

[RamboLiberal]

3. I agree about wrestling - in fact one of the people investigating

is a former pro wrestler. I also think the MMA fighters are going to be found with brain injuries. They fight much more often than modern boxers and the MMA gloves are thinner than boxing gloves, and there's also the trauma of the throws.

Mary Strzelczyk(mother of Justin) granted permission to Omalu and his unlikely colleague, the former professional wrestler Christopher Nowinski, to examine her son’s brain for signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Nowinski, a former Harvard football player who retired from wrestling because of repeated concussions in both sports, has become a prominent figure in the field after spearheading the discovery earlier this year of C.T.E. inside the brain of Andre Waters, the former Philadelphia Eagles defensive back who committed suicide last November at age 44.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/sports/football/15brain.html

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

6. The difference is....

...the public sees wrestlers as carny scumbags and don't care about them, unlike football players.

[gratuitous]

8. I dunno

Ask one of the fans at an arena hosting a WWE event, and you'll find someone who cares deeply about their favorites, with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of their history, matches and personal lives that rivals even the most rabid NFL fans. For folks who are fans of neither the NFL nor the WWE, the qualitative difference is well-nigh undetectable, and perhaps those are the folks who regard any of those competitors as little more than carny scumbags. Though to voice such a sentiment would put a person in far more danger from an NFL fan than from a WWE fan.

[hedgehog]

2. This is a very important story, because it is not only pro football

players who are at risk. The kid playing Pee-Wee football is also exposed to this hazard.

The human brain sits inside a hard bowl, the human skull. When the skull is brought to a sudden stop or is twisted abruptly, the brain tends to keep moving or sloshing about inside the skull. Fine blood vessels and very fine nerve connections can be torn by these sloshing movements. This is what we call "concussion". The damage looks very slight from the outside and does not show up on an every day X-Ray. The consequences may be headaches, fatigue, short term memory loss, drop in IQ, change in personality (loss of impulse control) etc. If the brain is protected from further damage, it might heal. But if the player gets his bell rung, shakes it off and heads back into the game, he takes the risk of further damage to weakened structures.

No one has devised a practical helmet to prevent this type of injury. The only prevention may be a set of rule changes for foot ball.

There is some question as to whether the practice of heading a soccer ball needs to be re-examined as well.

[RamboLiberal]

4. Agreed that is the importance of Chris Henry's case

this was a build up of all his time playing football from back to when he was a youngster. It should be mandated that the best helmets are worn.

Between the steroids and the brain injuries I think this can explain much of the violence outside these sports.

I'm not making excuses for our QB Ben Roethlisberger who is currently in trouble with the rape allegations and suspension, but that jerk who behaviour has been whacky only just agreed he needed to wear the better helmet that cushions better against brain injuries. IMHO he's taken so many head shots between football and his helmetless motorcycle crash into a car & its windshield he should do himself a favor and get the hell out of football.

I predict his life will have a tragic end.

[hedgehog]

5. Since the damage comes from the brain moving around

inside the skull, no one has figured out how to make a helmet to prevent these injuries. In fact since current helmets are so successful at preventing skull injuries, they have led to changes in play that aggravate brain injuries. Players are not worried about skull fractures, so they will hit other players with that nice hard helmet. It's that sudden stop when the player's head hits another player or the ground that causes the brain to rip loose inside the skull.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. "get the hell out of football"

whatever it takes to make him a former Steeler is alright by me.

[Dreamer Tatum]

7. One died falling off a truck, one died in a crash

...so I'll reserve judgment about the state of their brains postmortem.

[RamboLiberal]

13. I believe the pathologists - they can differentiate between

injuries caused by a crash and injuries caused by long term damage.

I believe they are more expert than most of us.

[taught_me_patience]

9. He was also a raging alcoholic

The combination of alcohol and hits to the head could not have been good.

[joeybee12]

10. KNR...the NFL has ignored this issue for far too long...n/t

[malaise]

15. Athletes are just among the better paid of

the dispensable ordinary folks.

[ceile]

11. More info on TBI

The CDC has a wealth on info on TBI. If you ride, or your children play sports, etc please visit their webiste for tips on how to prevent TBI.

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/dsTBI_BrainInjury/
http://www.cdc.gov/features/concussion/

Sorry if I sound like a PSA, but this is my line of work. We take any sort of concussion very seriously.

[ceile]

12. Kick