Whether some American football players suffer from concussion after a hit on the head may depend on the number and severity of head impacts that they sustain in the days, weeks, and months leading up to the concussion, rather than a single large head impact. This is according to Brian Stemper of the Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin in the US. Stemper is lead author of a study on concussion in college football in the Springer-branded journal Annals of Biomedical Engineering. The findings provide further support for policies that try to limit head impact exposure during football training and games.
Whether some American football players suffer from concussion after a hit on the head may depend on the number and severity of head impacts that they sustain in the days, weeks, and months leading up to the concussion, rather than a single large head impact. This is according to Brian Stemper of the Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin in the US. Stemper is lead author of a study on concussion in college football in the Springer-branded journal Annals of Biomedical Engineering. The findings provide further support for policies that try to limit head impact exposure during football training and games.
Many studies have already shown how the structure and function of American football players brains change throughout the course of their careers. This happens with or without them ever being diagnosed with concussion after head impacts. The findings of these studies suggest that damage to the brain following successive head impacts reaches a certain tipping point, by which an athlete’s chances of suffering concussion increases.
To investigate whether repetitive head impacts play a role in the onset of concussion in college football players, Stemper and his colleagues turned to Division 1 of America’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The researchers matched 50 athletes suffering concussion with others who did not, but who played in the same position and were on the same team.
Read more at Springer
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