Premium Essay

Head Injury Research Paper

Submitted By
Words 1001
Pages 5
The long term effects of repeated concussions.My reason is not all the time does someone get a head injury because of there helmets and there padding.Owen Thomas started playing football when he was 9 years old. From the beginning, he enjoyed the rough-and-tumble of the game."He loved to go into practice and hit really hard," recalls his mother, Kathy Brearley.Over time, those hits added up and appear to have taken a terrible toll. In April, Thomas--a junior at the University of Pennsylvania and a lineman on its football team--took his own life. The autopsy showed that his brain was in the early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, more commonly known as C.T.E.If this debilitating brain disease can be caused by repeated hits to the head …show more content…
While it is not clear who officially invented the football helmet, the earliest examples appeared in the 1890s. These basic helmets, known as head harnesses, were flat-topped caps made of soft leather and fitted with a pair of protective earflaps. The earflaps were designed to guard the ears but sometimes prevented players from communicating on the field. Eventually harness manufacturers started making harnesses with holes in the flaps so that players could hear coaches and teammates. Early head harnesses did little to prevent injury. They also trapped heat, making them uncomfortable for players to wear during the physical effort typically needed in football games.Riddell, a former high school teacher and football coach, founded the company John T. Riddell in 1929. He had invented a removable shoe cleat during his time as a football coach, and his next goal was to improve the football helmet. In 1939 he developed a plastic helmet, which was first used in a college football all-star game that year. A chinstrap was added to the design in 1940. While possibly better at protecting the head than leather models, the earliest plastic helmets had several problems. Screw ends poked through the outside of the helmet, making collisions between players very dangerous. In addition, during World War II (1939–1945) plastic available for civilian (nonmilitary) uses was often of low quality. Helmets made during this period were more likely to crack or

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Head Injury Research Paper

...Head injuries are injuries to the scalp, skull, or brain caused by trauma. Concussions are the most common type of sports related brain injury. Other common traumatic brain injuries are caused by falls, vehicle accidents, assault, sports and more. A concussion happens when the brain is shaken hard and bounces against the skull, in sport related accidents this can happen if two athletes collide, someone falls or gets hit in the head with sporting equipment like a ball or baseball bat. Traumatic brain injuries are bruises on the brain that can cause swelling and hematoma (bleeding in the brain) that forms a clot. Not only can you get a head injury from sports, but you can also be injured by other factors like tumors, and damages to the head....

Words: 377 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Head Injury Research Paper

...Will wearing a helmet minimise the effect of head injuries? We look at various examples and you’ll be shocked at our findings. Do more athletes have to die before changes are made? Methods of protection for head injuries in sport have been spoken about for years. Typically procrastination by bureaucrats within sporting and health organisations has meant no changes have been made. The question remains, however, does wearing a helmet in footy, soccer or rugby minimise the effect of a head injury? According to the Australian Football League (AFL) the answer is no. The AFL released a statement in 2012 saying… “There is some evidence that younger players who wear a helmet may change their playing style, and receive more head impacts as a result”. The same year National Rugby League (NRL) Chief Medical...

Words: 995 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Traumatic Head Injury Research Paper

...The first official helmet was made with leather and protected the head down to the ear. Next came the plastic helmets, which had a facemask and minimal padding. Much later in the 1990s, the modern helmet debuted. This new, technologically advanced helmet has great features such as inflatable padding, a visor, and a durable material known as polycarbonate, a harder and safer plastic.The changes to the helmet have greatly made the game safer, but there is still room for improvement. Based on an article in the Chicago Magazine, “if the facemask attached to the sides of the helmet instead of to the top, much of the force would be released away from the player’s head.” With this new placement of the facemask, there would less impact on the head, causing a reduction in the number of concussions. According to Dr. Mawji from the Chicago Magazine, the NFL should use helmets with Kevlar and should place sensors in every helmet. Kevlar is a material used in bulletproof vests and would provide enough protection in the helmet to protect the head. Also, by placing sensors in each helmet, medical professionals would be able to see how hard each hit really was, which would make it easier to diagnose them with...

Words: 1958 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Written Analysis Final Paper

...Contact Sports Head/Body Injuries Research Paper November 19, 2013 Down, Set, Hut, Hut! The ball snaps, and everyone clashes into each other like warriors in battle. This is what we love about the game of football. While we are enjoying this rugged game, behind the scenes there are players in pain on and off of the field. From them having concussions to broken toes, or in other words from head to toe, every game possibly being there last one depending on the extremity of their next injury they still continue to play and entertain us. In this paper we are going to journey through some of those injuries and issues due to this sport we love and how we could help solve it, and help these athletes we love so much be able to stay in the game of football a little longer. To start off, although we’re just focusing on NFL, I have to let you know it’s not just affecting them, but the little ones we having playing this sport as well. In an article I read entitled, “Hits to the Head Don’t Differ in Age, Research Indicates”, it says that more 25,000 kids ranging from ages 8 to 19 are taken to the emergency room seeking treatment for concussions each year (Belson, 2013). This goes to say that although we enjoy when the adults are doing all this physical contact, but when it’s our own kids do we feel the same way? Well, in this case think of those NFL players as you do your children. What if they could never play again, on or off of the field? In reading another article by Sabrina Rogers...

Words: 1276 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

The Use of Hypothermia in Head Injury

...Clinically Induced Hypothermia in the Management of Severe Head Injury: A Review of the Evidence PAGE 1. Title Page 2. Acknowledgements 3. Contents 4-5. Abstract 6-7. Introduction 8-11. Methods 9. i) Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria 10. ii) Limitations of Search 11. iii) Critical Framework 12-26. Critical Review of the Data 13. i) Study Aims & Design 19. ii) Sampling & Controls 25. iii) Results 27-36. Discussion 32. i) Implications for Practice 37-41. References 42. Appendix 1) – The Four Stages of Research 43. Appendix 2) – Database Search (Hard Copy Only) 44-49. Appendix 3) – Example (1) Using the CASP Framework 50-55. Appendix 3) – Example (2) Using the CASP Framework 56. Appendix 4) – Summary of Studies (Hard Copy Only) 57. Appendix 5) – Intracranial Pressures 58. Appendix 6) – Type 1 & 2 Errors 59. Appendix 7) – The Hawthorne Effect 60. Appendix 8) – The Glasgow Outcome Score 61. Appendix 9) – The Hierarchy of Evidence ABSTRACT Medically induced hypothermia has been used as a neuro-protector to try and limit the consequences of severe brain injury for more than fifty years but it is only recently that its effectiveness has been assessed using randomised controlled trials. Under certain circumstances clinically induced hypothermia has already been proven to be beneficial by providing a degree of neuroprotection in post-cardiac arrest patients. As such it has recently...

Words: 2689 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Derek Amato Concussions

...This paper explores the human brain and what happens when a traumatic event disturbs the chemical balance or calibration of its functions. The writings of Nadia Harris and Adam Piore (2013) explore these questions by studying and observing the journey of Derek Amato an individual that had unique adverse effects following a brain injury, in this case a concussion. The work of John Powell (2001) aids this exploration by defining and describing symptoms, treatment and other effects of concussions. This paper goes over the origins of Amato’s accident, the preceding symptoms, the after effects, the treatment and the successful nature of such things. This paper also discusses the region of the brain affected loosely, while bringing up...

Words: 1161 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Abusive Head Trauma Research Paper

...Abusive head trauma (AHT), also called shaken baby syndrome, is a traumatic brain injury to a child as a result of child abuse. Shaking as well as throwing a baby constitutes AHT. When a caretaker forcefully shakes a baby, his or her head muscles will rotate in a circular motion as their head whips back and forth. Impact is especially damaging because the fast acceleration and deceleration is very dangerous and causes blood vessels to rupture, tearing in the brain, and bleeding of the brain. AHT is the most common cause of traumatic brain injury in infants. Around 25% of victims die from AHT. Infants are at a high risk of AHT due to their large head size relative to the rest of their body and their inability to support their head with their...

Words: 1349 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Psy 350 Week 1 Final Project Topic Selection

...functioning of the brain. Since the brain controls all other functioning of the body, if the region organ is injured, poor-body function will follow. If the head suffer an injury disorders of brain may follow including but not limited to, accidents, hereditary, or due to other unsafe environmental conditions. According to research, “failure of communication of the nerves and neurons in the brain can result to development of a brain disorder” (Cannon TD, Cornblatt B, McGorry P (May 2007). Many brain disorders have no cure, and if there is treatment, they leave adverse effects to the person the remainder of their life. Schizophrenia is known as a disorder of the brain. This paper will take a microscopic look at the origin, pathology, treatment options, and diagnostic research associated with schizophrenia. The Origin Schizophrenia is an extremely severe disorder of the brain that causes warp thinking, The human body is created with many different organs that work together to control the common functioning of the brain. Since the brain controls all other functioning of the body, if the region organ is injured, poor-body function will follow. If the head suffer an injury disorders of brain may follow including but not limited to, accidents, hereditary, or due to other unsafe environmental conditions. According to research, “failure of communication of the nerves and neurons in the brain can result to development of a brain disorder” (Cannon TD, Cornblatt B, McGorry P (May 2007)...

Words: 368 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Cte Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

...progressive neurodegenerative disease, which is caused by repetitive head trauma. CTE first came along in 1928 and was described by New Jersey medical examiner, Dr. Harrison Martland. Martland began to notice a group of related symptoms in boxers (confusion, speech problems, tremors, and slow movement). He published an article entitled “Punch Drunk,” in which he describes the boxers as, “cuckoo,” “goofy,” “cutting paper dolls,” or “slug nutty” (Journal of the American Association, 1928). Later, this was termed dementia pugilistica, which actually means dementia of a fighter. With the growth of our sports like American football, symptoms of CTE were being reported in a number of athletes other than boxers and in the 1960s, it was renamed Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE has become a very popular topic because of its close association with American football, soccer hockey, boxing, and professional wrestling. Several of the affected athletes are retired, but have struggled in their late years with anger, depression, substance abuse, memory/motor disturbances, and suicide. Autopsy results from these particular athletes have proposed a link between these cognitive, emotional, and physical manifestations and CTE. In addition to athletes, soldiers have become another group of concern being that many are returning from the battlefield and have brain injuries along with blast trauma causing closed head injury. This disorder is characterized by physiological and neurological...

Words: 1104 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

271 Concussions In The NFL

...In 2015, 271 concussions occurred in the NFL which is the highest number of concussions in NFL history. Concussions can have serious effects on players including death. While the diagnoses of concussions in the NFL has increased so has the awareness and research which may account for the increased incidence of NFL players with concussions. This paper will examine the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, effects and strategies for prevention of concussions. This paper will show that a concussion is one of the worst injuries an athlete can receive. A concussion is when there’s an impact to the head and the brain impacts the skull. People can obtain a concussion from a blow to the body. Most people believe that the brain is attached to...

Words: 1527 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Is Football A Risky Sport In America?

...lifestyle, teamwork, and concentration, etc. Although there are a lot of great reasons to playing football; there are also some problems that must be considered. Injuries are the part of football. Getting hit happens normally and the most dangerous problem when playing football is head injuries which can lead to health issues later in life, or cause a person’s psyche. Professional football players have stand a lot of jarring hits to their heads, and getting hit regularly will cause concussion. Brain damage is an important problem in football and you need to be aware of there are a lot of research showing that it is dangerous to let kids play football and there are also some true stories about kids died because of brain...

Words: 1386 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Traumatic Brain Injury And Speech-Language Pathologist

...In this paper, traumatic brain injuries, the effects on speech and language, and the speech-language pathologist’s role with patients who have suffered a traumatic brain injury will be discussed. A traumatic brain injury is a very common cause of speech and language problems. It is an acquired cause, meaning it is not present at birth. It affects many areas of communication, including cognitive and memory skills, as well as speech and language. A speech-language pathologist plays an important role in these individuals’ lives. Speech-language pathologists are responsible for both the evaluation and the therapy for the patient. TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY Introduction Numerous research studies have been conducted on the topic...

Words: 2100 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Critique of a Research Study

...Critique of a Research PSY 326 Dr. Mahaliah Bowman-Campbell 06/06/2015 The purpose of this paper is to take a closer look at the research study chosen in week one and the bibliography from week two, buy evaluating the usefulness of the sources listed and evaluating the article. The article chosen is Baldwin, V. N., Powell, T., & Lorenc, L. (2011). Factors influencing the uptake of memory compensations: A qualitative analysis. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 21(4), 484-501. It is very important for people that have a brain injury to use memory strategies. This article conducts a research on what are some of the barriers that may be stopping people with brain injuries from using memory strategies. A qualitative analysis attempts to get a deeper understanding of a specific case, quantitative research tends to generalize (Newman 2011). So this article is qualitative because it is trying to understand why some people with head injuries hesitate to use memory strategies even though it has been proven to help people with head trauma, the article mentions it is an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis this means that it is a psychological qualitative research, this means it is research that tries to shed light on how a person in a given context, makes sense of a phenomenon (Nicholls, 2009). The hypothesis is that if we look in to why people don’t want to use memory devices we can see that it is a complex processes that include social, emotional and practical factors...

Words: 1154 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Brain Injuries

...Brain Injuries Learning Team A University of Phoenix PSY 340 Biological Foundations of Psychology 28 March 2016 Abstract Thesis Statement: In this paper we will discuss different kinds of brain injuries, the functions of neural plasticity and the limitations of neural plasticity. The first thing that is discussed in the paper in different brain injuries. We go into depth about five different brain injuries that include blood clots, hematomas, concussions, strokes and cerebral edema. Once we have covered brain injuries we discuss the functions of neural plasticity in brain injuries. An important thing that is discussed with neural plasticity is the recovery from a brain injury, what is required during recovery and how long recovery from a brain injury can take. The last thing that is discussed in this paper is the limitations of neural plasticity with brain injuries. Keywords: brain, injuries, plasticity, neural “Each year, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) contribute to a substantial number of deaths and cases of permanent disability. TBI is a contributing factor to a third (30.5%) of all injury-related deaths in the United States.” (cdc.gov) Robert has experienced a traumatic brain injury that is going to affect him for the rest of his life. Brain injuries are serious, and should be treated as such. For some people brain injuries go unnoticed and untreated leaving it to be deadly, but for others it is caught and treated but the healing process is extensive. In...

Words: 1298 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Project Research

...Project Research Paper RES/351 Teyronn Jackson Julie Bonner Project Research Paper Today, there is a growing need for more skilled maintainers to perform maintenance on military aircraft. There are multiple airframes and platforms across the military that are suffering from not having the manpower to support the maintenance needs that are required for the daily upkeep of these sophisticated weapons systems. We intend to address this growing concern by analyzing the needs based on the airframe, type model and series of each platform. Because there are so many different platforms across the different branches of the military, this research will take will be divided into teams of personnel who are designated subject matter experts for performing task that are required to maintain the individual systems of each aircraft. Other items that we intend to address during the process of this research include, but are not limited to unethical behavior and the effects it will have on the individual as well as the organization and society. We will also examine courses of action to be taken to address unethical behavior and what can be done to monitor it so as to prevent it from reoccurring. We intend to deglamorize this behavior as much as possible by addressing it as quickly as possible and encouraging the reporting of any actions that may be a clear indication of unethical behavior during the process of performing this research. Safety should always be paramount while conducting...

Words: 873 - Pages: 4