Concussion Rates Soar Among Younger Kids

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I know first-hand the aftermaths of concusssions from having two major ones myself and from wathching my former husband NFL Player Jeff Winans deteriorate over the 27 years we were together. My book "The Flip Side of Glory" details what the wifes and families go through as they helplessly watch them deteriorate. In a TV Interview I did last year with Dr. Ann Mckee from Boston U., shows the brain of an 18 year old high school student who died from CTE. This is nothing to fool around with and you can go to www.cdc.gov and learn more or contact me at www.dayforourchildren.com. I love the game of football. Knowledge is power. Learn to recognize the signs and symptoms and know that the average concussions takes about three weeks to recover. Also, you can have a concussions without becoming unconscious. Sincerely, Brandi Winans

Brandi Winans of FL 9:04AM September 08, 2010

While still very high (e.g, some 6+ million play soccer; see kidsfirstsoccer.com), the total numbers of children taking part in youth team sports may be declining. On the other hand, the wide spread adoption of a utilitarian or functionalist professional model that focuses on “power and performance” over an "amateur" or a child friendly model that emphasizes “pleasure and participation” (Coakley, 2007) in youth sports is on the rise. Children are now training more often and for longer hours and do so in multiple venues (youth leagues, clubs, varsity athletics...) at an ever increasing level of competition (pre-league tournaments, post-league tournaments, tournament of the stars,... to name a few). I suspect that the higher exposure rate and excessive intensity of the sporting experience youth take part in may be a more reliable predictor of an increase in real injuries both in volume and severity than the assumption that it is an artifact of over- and/or double-reporting. To reach a better informed conclusion, however, one would need to take a hard look at the raw data and at the method of analysis used in the above reported study.

Daniel Frankl of CA 7:04PM September 01, 2010

Unfortunately, there is too much brave talk by couch potatoes who are only too eager to let young people risk a lifetime of diminished intellect or early death from repeated collisions.
The real tests come every Friday night as Mom and Dad watch their little heros go to the sideline after getting their "bell rung."
The results of post mortem studies can't come fast enough to protect the student athletes.

Zeke from Wichita of KS 10:27AM August 30, 2010

So hundreds of thousands of kids are experiencing brain damage so that the NFL can have the pick of the litter.
So what? They're just kids. Who cares?
Sports rule, and anyone who opposes them should die.

Pluto Animus of CO 10:17AM August 30, 2010

Is this another case of confusing greater incidence rate with more reports by medical professionals as public concern over head injuries has grown? Looking at the ever shrinking number of kids involved in roughhousing, I'd think the latter.

Rico Pan of CO 10:01AM August 30, 2010