Head Games Christopher Nowinski, The Drummond Publishing Group (page 4 of 4) Page 4 of 4

I was disappointed to learn that the subcommittee appointed Elliott Pellman, the New York Jets team doctor, as chairman. Pellman is not a neurologist, went to medical school in Mexico, and in 2005 was caught by the New York Times inflating his qualifications on his curriculum vitae.17 While working for Major League Baseball, he was raked across the coals in the Congressional steroid hearings for defending MLB’s steroid policies. He proved to have little functional knowledge of the program, including the important fact that players could disappear for up to an hour after they were notified of their random test, which gave them plenty of time to cheat the test.

I was excited to discover that the NFL was spending $2 million to fund studies on concussions in the NFL.

I was disappointed to read the results of those studies. Released in a multipart series in the medical journal Neurosurgery, not only were they poorly designed, but the conclusions they drew from the data went against just about every study on sports concussions published in the last twenty years, and their conclusions were consistently criticized by the peer reviewers. (Peer reviewers are experts in the field who are asked to provide analysis and interpretation of published studies, and often serve as the last line of defense in exposing poor research that somehow makes its way into print.)

I was encouraged to learn that following Terry Long’s death, the current Pittsburgh Steelers’ neurosurgeon—who had treated Terry while he was a player—checked his medical records and stated that Terry had never suffered a concussion as a Steeler. Without evidence of football concussions, the neurosurgeon concluded that Long’s brain damage was unlikely to have been caused by football.

I was disappointed to read that another doctor found a letter written by that same Steelers’ neurosurgeon revealing that Long had suffered a concussion during a game against the Houston Oilers in 1987. The concussion made him “lightheaded, dizzy, confused, and walk with an unsteady gait,” and the doctor had recommended that Long take some time off. When confronted with that letter, the neurosurgeon claimed he must have “overlooked” it when searching through Long’s file.

It’s been almost three years since my last concussion. I have not returned to the wrestling ring due to persistent post-concussion problems, including terrible migraines that last about a week each month. Knowing what I now know about concussions, I’m concerned for my future. Yet my only choice is to wait and see what happens. It’s too late for me.

But it’s not too late for millions of amateur football players. More than 9 out of 10 concussions aren’t being diagnosed, mainly because players, trainers, and coaches don’t know what a concussion really is, and don’t realize the damage that’s caused by continuing to play following a concussion. Awareness is so poor that more than half of athletes at the college level have no knowledge of the possible consequences following a head injury.19 And rather than acknowledge that the problem of concussions in football is bigger than previously believed, the discussion is being hijacked by groups that appear to have an agenda other than making football safer for children. The NFL, for example, continues to produce flawed studies that do not adequately diagnose concussions nor trace their long-term effects. How does that affect your child? Well, while you can be sure that the youth of America hears the positive message of football through the NFL’s enormous youth football promotional arm, they may not hear about the risks. And we probably won’t ever hear that part of the story from the NFL, because its goal is to build a long-term market for watching football, which includes, according to one NFL employee, getting a football in the hand of every American youth by his sixth birthday.

What you will learn is that few people know the truth about head injuries in sports, and even fewer people are able to protect you or your children. I hope that the information presented here will spark changes to youth and professional sports, despite the resistance that I know will come. Some day I hope to have a son, and I bet he’ll want to play football. Deep down, I’m sure I’ll want him to play, so he can have the same fun I had and face the same challenges I faced. Yet knowing what I now know, I’m not sure if I will be able to give him my blessing. I think there are too many unanswered questions. But I have the luxury of having a theoretical kid. You have a real one who needs real answers to real questions.

We can start by trying to solve this problem: Most concussion treatment guidelines advocate that an athlete rest for the remainder of the season if he suffers three concussions during that season. According to some studies, over 25 percent of football players report suffering more than three concussions every season. Therefore, if we start diagnosing concussions correctly, and treating them based on the best current guidelines, more than one-quarter of every team won’t finish the season. What should we do?

I am curious to find out.

This excerpt is provided as a courtesy to BrainLine by The Drummond Publishing Group. Any commercial or noncommercial duplication, including in electronic form, is strictly prohibited by the publisher and by applicable law. www.chrisnowinski.com.

 Comments [3]