“Concussions: Just How Bad Are They ?”
For some bizarre reason, we seem to enjoy seeing an NFL player “getting his bell rung.” Unfortunately, people wrongly believe that it shows strength and courage to play while injured. Researchers report that even some teenagers appear to show changes in their brains after one season of playing American football. There is increasing concern about the potential effects of contact sports on young, developing brains and studies are focusing on concussions. Just how bad are the problems involving concussions? In 2012, 3,800,000 concussions were reported, double that of 2002. High school football accounts for 47% of all reported sports concussions and 33% of all sports concussions happen at practice. High school athletes suffer 2 million injuries, 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations annually. There are three times as many catastrophic football injuries among high school athletes as college athletes.
