Yahoo! News
February 26, 2021
Videographic on brain trauma and concussion. The Six Nations European rugby tournament continues this weekend, and the match schedule for the 2023 Rugby World Cup to be staged in France was released on Friday. VIDEOGRAPHIC
Video Transcript
– Rugby, American football, ice hockey, and boxing all have one thing in common– contact sports which can cause severe impacts on the bodies of sportsmen and women, including their brains, [INAUDIBLE] concussion, which is basically a shaking of the brain in the skull. When the impact occurs, the brain hits the bone wall, sometimes doing so several times depending on the severity of the blow. In 10% of the cases, the concussion leads to a loss of the athlete’s consciousness.
At the moment of impact, a huge number of brain neurotransmitters are stimulated and react at the same time. This overactivity causes an overload in the nervous system, an electrical storm, which short circuits the nervous system through the body. All muscles relax and the athlete collapses. In 90% of concussions, the athlete is stunned, the brain’s swelling.
There are several consequences. Firstly, post-concussion syndrome lasting from a few minutes to several days results in headaches, fatigue, confusion and disorientation, memory problems, and anxiety. In the longer term and in the case of repeated concussions, athletes may suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as ETC, a combination of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Symptoms can include severe migraines, hearing problems, severe depression, and suicidal thoughts. Many professional boxers develop the symptoms of this type of pathological dementia, as do almost all former professional American footballers. Rugby players are also at risk.