Carina

Kacee Belcher

ENC 1102

The Silent Disease Affecting Our Nation

Problem and Research Questions

With the development of medical technology, we have increasing seen a negative impact

of contact sports on the brains of kids, young adults and adults. Traumatic brain injury

related disability affects a whopping 5.3 million Americans. Since so many of our

Americans are being injured what can be done to prevent traumatic brain injuries? What

is currently being done to provide preventative care for athletes competing in contact

sports? What rules and regulations are being enforced to ensure the safety of sports

players? Who is responsible for ensuring the rules are being enforced? How are the rules

being enforced?

Background and Purpose

A study done by John W. Powell and Kim D. Barber-Foss reveals the severity of the

impact contact sports have on brain injury. In the years between 1995-199 Two hundred

forty-six certified athletic trainers recorded injury and exposure data for high school

varsity athletes participating in boys' football, wrestling, baseball and field hockey, girls'

volleyball and softball, boys' and girls' basketball, and boys' and girls' soccer at 235 US

high schools. (Powell JW, Barber-Foss K) This article specifically measures the mild
traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and contact sports in high schools and the results are

astonishing. Of all sports, football had the highest number and rates of MTBI

(Powell JW, Barber-Foss K). The median time lost due to an MTBI was three days. In

another study published on US National Library of Medicine states that Traumatic brain

injury is the leading cause of disability in people under 40, severely disabling 150-200

people per million annually. ( Fleminger). The two of many studies show the importance

that we take preventative actions the lower the amount of people obtaining a sport relates

TBI.

Potential Audiences

The intended audience for this paper is:

 Concerned family and friends of sports players

 American Schools

 American Dept. of Health

 Americans

 Sports players

Writer’s Role

I have witnessed the effects of TBI. My uncle has had episodes of dementia and he is

only in his late 30’s. The doctors are convinced it has to do with on of the many

concussions he obtained as a child playing football, wrestling and playing rugby. They
say by the time he is in his fifties he will be completely insane and have to live in a home.

It’s very tragic and if only there were steps to take to avoid TBI maybe my uncle would

not have such severe dementia.

Hypothesis

After doing a bit of preliminary research, I have come to the conclusion that there are

multiple ways to combat this problem. They are as follows:

 Ensure better padded and protected technology is introduced in helmets and

protective gear

 Mastering correct execution of techniques

 Better training and coaching

 Better enforcement of existing rules and rule changes

Works Cited

Fleminger, Simon, and Jennie Ponsford. "Long Term Outcome after Traumatic Brain

Injury: More Attention Needs to Be Paid to Neuropsychiatric Functioning." BMJ :

British Medical Journal. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.

W. Powell, Ohn, Phd, and Kim D. Barber-Foss,, MS, ATC. "Traumatic Brain Injury in

High School Athletes." The Journal of American Medical Information. N.p., n.d. Web.