A New Hampshire school board member says that he wants to
ban football in his district. Paul Butler, a retired surgeon and first-term
board member for the Dover school district, says that the risks of injury in
the sport are too great. "I think it's bad to take this away I certainly do.
But it's worse to let it continue." [1]
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) doesn’t just call
football a contact sport. The medical group also refers to it as a collision
sport, because participants routinely slam into each other or into the ground.
AAP released updated guidelines in 2010 on dealing with head
injuries in children, recommending that some student-athletes retire from
football after multiple concussions or if symptoms from a concussion last
longer than three months.
The National Federation of State High School Associations is
the rule-making body for many high school sports and activities. According to
NFHS's web site, research shows that students who participate in “more vigorous
sports,” including football, do better than their peers in some subjects,
including math and science.
The organization says it recognizes the significance of
brain injuries in sports. "The NFHS has been the leader among national
sports organizations in establishing guidelines to deal with concussions,"
the organization says on its web site. NFHS says that more than 200,000 people
have taken its online course on concussions, which can be accessed for free at www.nfhslearn.com.
Dr. Butler, who played football in high school and college,
said that he's concerned about potential lawsuits over football injuries.
"My worry is that if we have this information.... about how dangerous
concussions are, and we continue to fund the program, it seems to me that we
are encouraging something that is morally and ethically wrong. It could put a
school at financial risk so we don't have enough money to educate the
children," Dr. Butler said.
Concussions in football are “the hottest topic in sports
parenting today,” according to former Sports Illustrated writer Rick Wolff who
has a radio show in New York City that focuses on sports and parenting.
That’s been true for two years amid nonstop media reports
about former NFL players’ deteriorating health and lawsuits against the NFL.
Concussions are getting most of the attention, but the sport as a whole is
being scrutinized. Is it more dangerous now than it used to be?
“The whole issue of concussion has reached greater heights,”
says Dr. Karen Breach, the immediate past president of the North Carolina
Pediatric Society. “I know I’m making diagnoses of concussion much more often
than I did 10 years ago, or even five years ago, and I’m not hesitant to use
the word or keep the kid out of the sport longer or at all.”
That doesn’t mean more kids are suffering concussions, but
that they are visiting their doctors about them more. More diagnoses means more
discussion of the issue, and more discussion of the issue means more diagnoses.
Former NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion quarterback Kurt
Warner said last summer he didn’t want his kids to play football. Warner suffered several concussions
during his playing career so he knows what the consequences and short-term
effects can have on a fully developed man. It’s scary to think of what the long-term effects would have
on still developing children.
Bryan Hinkle plans to
do with his own 7-year-old son what his parents did with him: Keep him out of
tackle football until he reaches 9th grade. It worked out for Hinkle—he played
in the NFL for 12 seasons with the Steelers.
Hinkle’s son plays
flag football in Pittsburgh, for now. He won’t be eligible for tackle football
for two more years. “It’s not just concussions. Football is a violent sport,”
Hinkle says. “There’s a lot of issues with football, period. You’ve got to
figure, is it worth your son playing, he might blow a knee out, or get an ankle
injury, let alone a concussion.”
As a former NFL
player, Hinkle knows the physical dangers of the sport. He suffered three
concussions and had six surgeries while he played. His health is good some
days, not so much on others. He has arthritis and back problems. No father
would wish that pain on his son. But Hinkle also doesn’t want to over-react to
every danger that presents itself. [2]
Jim Thompson sees opportunity in all the attention being
paid to concussions and football. He founded Positive Coaching Alliance 14
years ago after being appalled at the “win at all costs” coaching mentality he
saw when his kids played sports.
“Preventing kids from getting concussions has always been a
very important issue. Now the spotlight is on it,” he says. “We should take
advantage of that. Let’s do everything we can to make kids safer so they can
compete safely, not get rid of football.”
Dr. Tina Master is a pediatrician in Philadelphia who was
featured in Head Games, a documentary about concussions that is available
online and in theaters. Her son plays on a hockey team coached by former NHL
player Keith Primeau, who was forced to retire because of repeated concussions.
“I think there is so much good that comes from contact and
collision sports especially if you have boys. For a boy, I think there’s a real
role for contact sports in a controlled, safe environment,” she said. “I would
absolutely not say get rid of checking hockey or tackle football or whatever,
at all, as the answer to what’s going on right now.”
But the status quo isn’t the answer, either.
“There are great things about football that we need to
preserve. And then there are aspects that need to be changed because of
changing times,” she says. “If you’re playing football starting when you’re 5,
if you can only sustain so many hits, you don’t want to use them up by the time
you’re 12. I have kids who retire from football when they’re 12. It’s crazy. I
want my kids to play football for as long as they want, for a lifetime, for
fun.”
HOW CAN FOOTBALL INJURIES BE PREVENTED?
·
Have a pre-season health and wellness evaluation
·
Perform proper warm-up and cool-down routines
·
Consistently incorporate strength training and
stretching
·
Hydrate adequately to maintain health and
minimize cramps
·
Stay active during summer break to prepare for
return to sports in the fall
·
Wear properly fitted protective equipment, such
as a helmet, pads, and mouth guard
·
Tackle with the head up and do not lead with the
helmet
·
Speak with a sports medicine professional or
athletic trainer if you have any concerns about football injuries or football injury
prevention strategies [3]
Sport Specialization for Young Athletes
I will wrap it up by referencing two topics that were
touched on in the above article that I would shamelessly highlight to promote
the mission of keeping kids in the game for life. 12 year NFL veteran
Brian Hinkle did not start playing tackle football until he was in the 9TH
grade! So much for early
specialization being the only route to the pros and trust me his case is far
from rare rather it’s much closer to the norm. Highlight number two, courtesy
of the Philadelphia pediatrician Dr. Master. If your body has only some many “bullets” in it why would we
want our kids to use them all up by the age of 12?
What a growing and maturing body needs in order to remain
injury free and develop optimal athletic skill is variety. With respect to
training, this amounts to NOT having a hyper-focus on making a young athlete a
better football player by only doing exercises in the gym that the NFL players
would do. The strongest and fastest athletes in any sport are the ones who had
the greatest diversity of training while they were young.
The end result is an athlete who is happier, healthier, and
ultimately more effective when the significance of sport participation begins
to increase during the teen years.
That said I would encourage parents and coaches to analyze
the sport exposures of the children under their care with a critical eye. While
attempting to win the little league championship may seem like a wonderful
goal, it should never come at the cost of what is best for the athlete's
long-term development.
Can Omega-3 Fatty
Acids accelerate brain healing?
17-year-old Bobby Ghassemi, a former high school football
player who was left in a coma after a devastating car accident, regained his
health after physicians administered high-dose omega-3 fats through a feeding
tube.
Your brain is 60 percent fat and DHA (docosahexanoic acid, a
type of omega-3 fat) alone makes up about 15 percent to 20 percent of your
brain's cerebral cortex; it's found in high levels in your neurons -- the cells
of your central nervous system, where it provides structural support.
Animal studies as well as another documented case in a coal
miner with severe brain damage suggest omega-3 fats are highly beneficial for
helping to trigger the brain’s healing process after traumatic brain injury.
Despite the apparent
benefits, high-dose omega-3 therapy is still considered an “unorthodox”
treatment for traumatic brain injury, and is not routinely ordered as a
standard of care; if a family member suffers from a traumatic brain injury, you
may have to be their advocate to have this treatment administered. [4]
Omega-3 fatty acids have generally been accepted as highly
beneficial but what does the science really say and why are some health and nutrition
experts divided on the subject? I
will cover this in some detail next week.
[2]http://aol.sportingnews.com/sport/story/2012-10-23/parents-should-you-let-your-kids-to-play-football
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