Was C.T.E Stealing His Mind? A Gunshot Provided the Answer

wjschmaltz

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Damn, this here is a tough read. I had the pleasure of working with Jason on a project about 4 years ago. I would have never guessed any of this was going on and the news of his death in September floored me.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/sports/cte-football-hairston-super-bowl.html

Also kind of related, if you want some motivation so make a leap for a big hunting trip, they just put this together for your viewing pleasure also:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Q17zA55Os

So, C.T.E. is obviously no joke and they're finding it in about 95% of all deceased NFL players that they check. I'm curious if you guys are allowing your kids to play sports like football. I certainly will not be encouraging it. I think by the time my son is old enough to play, there will be enough information that I may not allow him to. In my small school, we started playing in the 7th grade. So we had 6 years of head bashing. Now they are starting kids in about the 3rd grade when their brains are developing the most. I really think that in 20 years we will look back on this as something akin to child abuse. I also think the NFL will be a thing of the past in 20 years; but that is another topic. Time will tell, but this shit scares me.
 


SDMF

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There's not even an inkling of an easy answer for this. Football, hockey, boxing, MMA, auto/motorcycle racing of all stripes, skiing, snowboarding, BMX, soccer, rugby, Lacrosse, basketball, gymnastics, just off the top of my head all have significant potential to have the opportunity for repeated concussions/head injuries.

Katie bar the door if repeated firearm recoil is ever tied to CTE..............
 

Vollmer

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I definitely think the NFL will slowly decline. There are a lot of kids not playing it now.

I heard the NFL is sponsoring all of those youth football programs now, and making it flag football instead of tackle. (including in Minot)
 

Sum1

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If this is as common as they are saying they need to be making a bigger deal about it cause you really don’t hear hardly anything about it. IMO
 


Retired Educator

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Don't have an easy answer as I don't want belittle the affects of CTE. Do question the comparison of Youth FB collisions vs NFL collisions. And yes, are there any physicals where a concussion is not possible?
 

shorthairman

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As a high school coach, at least at our school, every coach has to take online concussion training and go over concussions with athletes and a school concussion policy is sent home. Some of this is mandated by the state, but not sure if all of it is. As I don't have a youngster playing football, I do not know the answer as far a what youth leagues are doing to get the word out about concussions.
There is actually quite a bit of stuff out about the threat of concussions and the adverse effects down the line. Maybe I just hear about more of it because I am a coach. However, there are coaches and groups that do not want it spread because it will hit them in the pocket if the interest in the sport would get too low. Equipment companies that make helmets, pads, jerseys...etc.
I really feel bad for all of these guys that played for years and are now suffering or suffered (so as the story above) from CTE. They did not have the medical information that we do now to tell them what they were doing to themselves. Today's athletes and parents have the information in front of them and can make that decision about whether or not the risk is worth the reward.
 

BRK

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I only played HS ball.... i love football, its by far my favorite sport.... but if i told anyone i didn't think all that hitting and helmet first shit we used to think was cool back in the day doesn't effect my memory now i'd be a big fat liar. If my kids wanna play, then cool, all i can do is inform them. If they don't wanna play they won't hear any kind of an argument out of me whatsoever.
 

eyexer

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I have had numerous concussions from playing football and racing motocross for many years. My memory is horse shit now because of it. My son experienced three nasty concussions and he is now 29 and has a horse shit memory too. It sucks. I wouldn't recommend to anybody to play football.
 

BrokenBackJack

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Very sad deal and would scare most of us if we knew what was really happening inside our heads from the damaged we caused to ourselves from our younger years. I often wondered this in the past and know since my stroke things have really gotten much worse as far as memory goes but it comes and goes. Some days can't remember someone coming over and then a few days from now i will be able to tell you everything that we talked about. Really strange!
 


Allen

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I played football, boxed, and rode bulls. They knew about it years ago in boxing, but I think that's only part of the reason that sport is a shell of what it was back in the 70s and 80s. My girlfriend's youngest boy plays youth football, she gets concerned about it even though it's only at the 5th grade level. He got clocked in one game on the opening kickoff and had to sit the rest of the game out, so they are definitely taking it more seriously nowadays.

My boy has expressed no interest in football, but he did take quite a few hits to the noggin playing soccer. Now he runs, plays chess, and does a little martial arts. So far I haven't seen him take a good enough shot in the martial arts to get me concerned, so far.
 

lunkerslayer

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https://nodakangler.com/forums/showthread.php?4892-concussion&highlight=Concussion
Here is a blast from the past for you wjzschmaltz
The problem with everything is that it takes many years even decades of people dying from these different types of harmful things that were once considered all right. Smoking,corn syrup, round up, dust, repeated trauma to the head, or asbestos can be harmful over many years of exposure some just take longer to kill us then other.
I dont have cable so I dont know how long these commercials have been on but now there is the next big lawsuit coming which is for roundup before it was asbestos. The next big lawsuit will be coming from something even more outrageous and that will be dust inhalation. It's already a big deal amongst work force safety where they are requiring that factories take a test to see if full filtration suit is necessary. Human species are very fragile creatures it's not until we put body protection that we can withstand more punishment from our environment.

- - - Updated - - -

For those of us with memory problems read this I have been saving this for awhile for just the right topic.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/marijuana-might-help-aging-brains-191226326.html
help to keep our brains from slowing down as we get older. For the study, researchers from the University of Bonn and Hebrew University spent a month giving daily THC to mice that were two months, one year, and 18 months old, and studied the effects on each.

Scientists first tested the mice on their ability to recognize familiar objects and navigate a water maze without the influence of THC and found that, while younger mice did well, older mice struggled. Once they were given THC, the younger mice had a drop in performance, but older mice showed improvement that lasted for weeks afterward — and even did as well as younger mice that had no THC.

Researchers say that THC in older mice might stimulate the brain’s endocannabinoid system, a group of brain and nervous system receptors that become less active as we age.

Of course, the study was conducted on mice, not humans, and it’s too soon to recommend that adults start taking daily doses of THC based on this. But The Guardian reports that the scientists are planning to start a clinical trial to test this on humans later this year. “If we can rejuvenate the brain so that everybody gets five to 10 more years without needing extra care, then that is more than we could have imagined,” study co-author Andras Bilkei-Gorzo told The Guardian.

Norbert E. Kaminski, PhD, director of the Institute for Integrative Toxicology at Michigan State University, tells Yahoo Beauty that while it’s too soon to draw any conclusions from the research, there may be something to it. “If low doses of THC decrease decline in cognitive function in senior citizens, this could be beneficial,” he says.

Kaminski also notes that many diseases that cause a decline of cognitive function, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, are thought to be due, in part, to chronic inflammation in the brain. Cannabinoids like THC have anti-inflammatory properties, he says, which may be beneficial for some older patients suffering from certain neurodegenerative diseases.

Gary Wenk, PhD, a professor in the departments of Psychology & Neuroscience & Molecular Virology, Immunology, and Medical Genetics at the Ohio State University and Medical Center who is a member of the Governor’s Marijuana Advisory Committee, agrees. He tells Yahoo Beauty that the research “presents clear evidence for the cognitive and neurological benefits of low-dose marijuana use in the aging brain.” Wenk, who also has studied the impact of low-dose cannabinoids, says THC acts by reducing brain inflammation and its consequences upon normal brain function as people age. “It’s a very positive effect that is seen at quite low doses,” he says.

Seth Ammerman, MD, a clinical professor at Stanford University’s department of pediatrics in the division of adolescent medicine, tells Yahoo Beauty that THC affects younger brains differently because it can disrupt normal pathways of brain development. But once a person’s brain has fully developed, Ammerman says, it’s “possible” that THC can help stabilize elements in the endocannabinoid system so that the effects of aging on the brain are tempered in a way.

Of course, THC is responsible for the high that people feel from marijuana, so dosing is important. Women’s health expert Jennifer Wider, MD, tells Yahoo Beauty she has some concerns.

“It has been well-established that THC comes along with side effects — even in older people,” she says, listing anxiety, paranoid thinking patterns, drowsiness, slowed sense of time, and dizziness as examples. “More research will be needed before this could become an accepted therapeutic modality.” Ammerman agrees, noting that “there are still a lot of unanswered questions.”
 
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NPO_Aaron

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CTE scares the daylights out of me. I played football through college and between that and snowboarding, I've had my fair share of head injuries.

Jason's suicide really shook me. I've noticed that I've experienced some symptoms associated, crap attention, poorish memory, crazy mood swings at time. So, I've put together a "Brain program" to try to keep anything I've got left.

High fat, low carb diet. Decreasing sugar decreases inflammation and improving omega 3 ratios is good for the outer layers of nervous tissue.

Daily Lumosity work - memory, problem solving, etc. It's a sweet app that is like a brain workout.

Daily meditation - headspace app- Any kind of cognitive behavioral therapy that teaches me skills to manage emotion issues is super beneficial.

Exercise- strenuous exercise is great for balancing hormones and improving mood. It also stimulates a protein that helps build and maintain brain tissue.

They say CTE symptoms take 10 years after one stops participating in the thing that caused it. For me that's next year, so I'm doing everything I can to make sure I'm fighting this IF i have it.
 

lunkerslayer

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This thread made me reread the other thread on concussion and i also watched the movie Concussion over again and It scares the shit out of me. NPO Aaron I respect your desire to live a healthy life and the steps you are taking.
 

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