A recent study claims that even minor hits to the head can, over time, result in debilitating long-term effects. New York sports fans should be interested in this latest study asserting that repeated minor trauma, such as minor hits sustained during a football or soccer game, can result in head trauma, and ultimately in memory and thinking problems.
Previous studies have revealed that football and soccer players sustain 70 to 100 minor head shots in just one game. Recently, a New York medical center collected blood samples from 67 football players both before and after a game. Although no one suffered a concussion, the findings showed that those who took more hits during the game had higher levels of a protein that leaked from their brains to their bloodstreams.
This specific protein, being foreign to the bloodstream, is attacked by antibodies. The thinking is that when the blood-brain barrier opens up again or is weakened by another head trauma, the antibodies move inside the barrier and attack the brain itself.
Brain injuries can be disastrous. The most frightening aspect of such injuries is that they are difficult to diagnose, and so the effects can be hard to quantify. Brain injuries can result from playing sports, work activities, the negligence of others or, given the new study, even simple horseplay.
Sufferers of brain injuries may want to assess whether they have a rightful claim to compensation for pain and suffering. In this assessment, it is necessary to evaluate the complications and implications of the injury. Rehabilitative care might be needed to minimize the injury’s effects, to avoid additional harm and to restore victims to a normal life. Current and future medical expenses, as well as financial hardships due to one’s inability to work, must also be addressed. In extreme cases, a considerable amount of compensation might be needed for long-term care.
Source: NBC Right Now, “New research suggests even minor head injuries can be dangerous,” Anthony Sanzeri, March 9, 2013