Concussions in sport

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Concussions, a type of mild traumatic brain injury, are a frequent concern for those playing sports, from children and teenagers to professional athletes. Repeated concussions are known to cause neurological disorders, particularly chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which in professional athletes has led to premature retirement, erratic behavior and even suicide. A sports-related concussion is defined as a "complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by biomechanical forces".^[1] Because concussions cannot be seen on X-rays or CT scans, attempts to prevent concussions have been difficult.^[2]

The danger of repeated concussions has long been known for boxers and wrestlers. A form of CTE common in these two sports, dementia pugilistica (DP), was first described in 1928. An awareness of the risk of concussions in other sports began to grow in the 1990s, and especially in the mid-2000s, in both the medical and the professional sports communities, as a result of the study of brains of prematurely deceased American football players, that showed an extremely high incidence of CTE (see concussions in American football).

As of 2012, the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada included policies for managing concussion risk.^[3] Sports-related concussions are generally analyzed by athletic training or medical staff on the sidelines using an evaluation tool for cognitive function known as the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT), a symptom severity checklist, and a balance test.^[4]