Concussions and other head injuries

There is enough general interest in concussions and other head injuries that I thought it might be useful to start a thread dedicated to the topic. I'm not on a personal crusade, but I think topic is worthy of discussion. If you're not interested, ignore it.

A Chicago Tribune writer (and Harvard alumnus) opines that Harvard and Yale should stop playing football.

Steve Chapman
How can these two institutions rationalize a pastime so antithetical to the well-being of undergraduates and their own educational missions? It’s the equivalent of the Mayo Clinic operating a tobacco shop on-site. While athletics may be a worthwhile part of a well-rounded life, any sport practically designed to impair mental functioning can’t be justified as a university endeavor.

Here's the link from a few weeks ago to a review of Ken Dryden's new book.

Some recent articles from Science News:

Laws to protect athletes’ brains do reduce concussions — eventually
About 1 in 5 teens has had a concussion
Most football players who donated their brains to science had traumatic injury

Interesting because after the NCAA eliminated intercollegiate boxing, where the actual object is to cause brain injury, Harvard did this.

I think it's also a major phys ed offering at Army West Point and Navy.


Probably important to avoid sensationalism via statistics. The mere presence of Tau protein should not be equated with symptomatic functional disease.

I'm in the midst of reading Ken Dryden's Game Change. This article from the NYT, sadly supports Ken's argument.

I've pretty much given up on football since I don't think that the game can be separated from head trauma. I am more optimistic about hockey.

Step 1: As much as I like a good fight, it's time to put an end to them. They are less common now but they can be easily eliminated.

Cut from here and reposted in Hockey Forum.

A follow-up piece by the Chicago Tribune writer who admonished Harvard and Yale to end football in an article linked at the start of this thread. This time he reports on a Yale football player who quit after a concussion.