Football Concussions Video

Air date: Sept. 28, 2010

For more information: Emergency and Trauma and Sharp Grossmont Hospital

Transcript

Marc Bailey: Well, we have talked a lot about traumatic head injuries as they relate to football, from the Pop Warner level all the way up through the pros. Well, something else has just come under our radar screen right now that is really disturbing. That it might not be those big, hard collisions but a lot of small collisions over time. So, to give more on that, we decided we really needed an expert this morning. So we asked a neurosurgeon to come in this morning, Dr. Richard Ostrup from Sharp Grossmont Hospital, also a medical consultant to the Chargers, so this gentleman knows what he's talking about here when it comes to the brain and injuries in football. Thanks for coming in.

Dr. Richard Ostrup: Thank you for having me.

Marc: Now I have been burning your ear up here during the break talking about football because my son plays and being so concerned about keeping him safe, but this whole head injury thing has really kinda got me and a whole lot of other parents very concerned right now. Are we right to be concerned?

Dr. Ostrup: Absolutely. Sure. This is something that has the potential to be a life-changing phenomenon. The thing which happened with Mr. Thomas, Owen Thomas…

Marc: Yeah we were talking about Owen Thomas. This is the thing that got us really curious here, Linda picked up on this story, Owen Thomas (was) a football player for Penn State who committed suicide, and people just thought, well, he was depressed. Turned out, there might be more to the story.

Dr. Ostrup: He, well, we don't know if there's gonna be more to the story, so we don't want to jump to conclusions. But, his parents were generous enough to allow his brain to be evaluated at Boston University, and on the autopsy, you have findings of what's called chronic traumatic encephalothapy, or what is referred to as CTE, and this tends to be a neuro-degenerative process which can lead to memory problems, dementia, anxiety, imbalance, and at some extremes, possibly, you know suicide. But this is a very rare condition. It's something that probably appears to be associated with boxers, is associated or appears to be associated with some autopsies of NFL players, and is certainly something of concern, but not to jump to conclusions that certainly all head injuries will lead to CTE.

Marc: OK, so there is a condition that manifests in some people who have played football that appears to be caused by what? Not the big traumatic injury, but a series of blows over time?

Dr. Ostrup: Right. There is concern, we all have the blow to concussion, but then there are sub-concussive blows, multiple over time, which could lead to this condition. But again, this is speculation. It's not science at this time, but it certainly calls into question that we need to be safe. We need to make sure that the players who are participating, and of course not just in football but in all contact sports.

Marc: Well yeah, girls soccer has a very high rate of concussions.

Dr. Ostrup: Absolutely. Cheer, you know, soccer, lacrosse, many other sports, but it's very important for the athlete to understand that head injuries are not something they should be playing through. It is something that they need to recognize, their team needs to recognize, that their coaches, the trainers, the parents, with the thought being that if you have any of these symptoms of concussions, being headaches or dizziness, or balance problems, or memory, or concentration issues, that you are not playing under those circumstances.

Marc: And I know schools are getting better about this, Pop Warner teams are getting better about it, but trying to get everybody educated on this is quite a challenge because football is that one sport where we say "Come on, get tough, get back out there, you can do it, just a little bump."

Dr. Ostrup: I understand, but as we have become more educated over time, the science has improved, the technology has improved, hopefully the safety will improve, and a lot of the safety of course, is education and efforts such as Advocates for Injured Athletes, Athletes Saving Athletes, organizations which are really trying to bring this to the forefront so that individual players are well aware of the signs and symptoms they need to look for. Because, if you're educated, you know what you concerned about, hopefully you're gonna be able to avoid it.

Marc: Dr. Ostrup, thank you so much. I hope you'll come back and keep us updated on this and anything else, I mean your whole field is fascinating.

Dr. Ostrup: Well, thank you very much.

Marc: Thanks for coming in. All right for more information, you go to SanDiego6.com and click on Hot Topics.