Editor’s note: Season 8 of the podcast Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta gets back to basics with an in-depth examination of the brain in different states. Each episode will focus on one of those states — the distracted brain, the frightened brain, the nourished brain and more — to spotlight what’s going on in our heads and how it affects our bodies.
(CNN) — Doctors, researchers and laypeople have come a long way in the understanding of concussions. Once comic fodder depicted as cartoon characters seeing stars, the condition is finally getting the attention it deserves, with strict concussion protocols in place in amateur and professional organized sports.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a concussion happens after a “bump, blow, or jolt to the head” or “a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move quickly back and forth.” Any of these sudden movements can cause “the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull,” “chemical changes in the brain” and/or the “stretching and damaging” of brain cells, the CDC says.
The changes can lead to symptoms, such as feeling dizzy or disoriented in the moment, or longer-lasting issues with sleep, memory, learning and even personality changes.
And far from being something to brush off lightly, concussions are classified as traumatic brain injuries, Julie Stamm, author of the book “The Brain on Youth Sports: The Science, the Myths, and the Future,” told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the podcast Chasing Life.
“I often use the term concussion because it’s just so commonly used in sport especially. But it is a traumatic brain injury, and it’s often classified as a mild traumatic brain injury — and even that feels like it minimizes the injury,” said Stamm, a clinical assistant professor in the department of kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“We’re not worried about somebody having bleeding on the brain and having it be a critical, life-threatening thing in that moment. But it still can have very significant consequences, lasting symptoms, and can very much disrupt someone’s life. So, it is a serious injury.”
Concussions can happen when playing youth or professional sports, but they can also be the result of falls, motor vehicle accidents, military injuries and assaults, including intimate partner violence and child abuse.
Recent brain scans of NFL hall of famer Joe DeLamielleure, who was diagnosed with CTE, the brain injury that is affecting so many former football players.
It’s hard to pin down the number of concussions that happen annually, because people often don’t seek help, but the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center estimates 1.7 million to 3 million sports- and recreation-related concussions occur each year — half of which go unreported or undetected. That estimate doesn’t even count concussions from other causes.
Repeated head injuries can increase the risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE — a condition associated with memory loss, confusion, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, impaired judgment and suicidal behavior as well as early-onset dementia.
(CNN) — Doctors, researchers and laypeople have come a long way in the understanding of concussions. Once comic fodder depicted as cartoon characters seeing stars, the condition is finally getting the attention it deserves, with strict concussion protocols in place in amateur and professional organized sports.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a concussion happens after a “bump, blow, or jolt to the head” or “a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move quickly back and forth.” Any of these sudden movements can cause “the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull,” “chemical changes in the brain” and/or the “stretching and damaging” of brain cells, the CDC says.
The changes can lead to symptoms, such as feeling dizzy or disoriented in the moment, or longer-lasting issues with sleep, memory, learning and even personality changes.
And far from being something to brush off lightly, concussions are classified as traumatic brain injuries, Julie Stamm, author of the book “The Brain on Youth Sports: The Science, the Myths, and the Future,” told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the podcast Chasing Life.
“I often use the term concussion because it’s just so commonly used in sport especially. But it is a traumatic brain injury, and it’s often classified as a mild traumatic brain injury — and even that feels like it minimizes the injury,” said Stamm, a clinical assistant professor in the department of kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“We’re not worried about somebody having bleeding on the brain and having it be a critical, life-threatening thing in that moment. But it still can have very significant consequences, lasting symptoms, and can very much disrupt someone’s life. So, it is a serious injury.”
Concussions can happen when playing youth or professional sports, but they can also be the result of falls, motor vehicle accidents, military injuries and assaults, including intimate partner violence and child abuse.
Recent brain scans of NFL hall of famer Joe DeLamielleure, who was diagnosed with CTE, the brain injury that is affecting so many former football players.
It’s hard to pin down the number of concussions that happen annually, because people often don’t seek help, but the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center estimates 1.7 million to 3 million sports- and recreation-related concussions occur each year — half of which go unreported or undetected. That estimate doesn’t even count concussions from other causes.
Repeated head injuries can increase the risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE — a condition associated with memory loss, confusion, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, impaired judgment and suicidal behavior as well as early-onset dementia.
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