re: Maybe CTE isn't the death knell to football we thought it was

I don't think you understand science...



As of 2014..

23,204 men have played pro football
6,082 have died
17,122 players are still living


Now, 111 pro football players becomes a disturbingly significant statistic in light of the total group.

Given the size of the NFL player pool, that sample is large enough to carry great statistical significance in spite of any self selection.

Sigh

They only tested people who exhibited signs of CTE.

Ok?

So 2% is a big number now?

This is like the Vaccines causing Autism argument, both based on poor studies.

For statistical significance when examining a population?


2% is a fricking GIGANTIC number.


It would be the equivalent of a study of the US population that included more than 6 million people. If you're familiar at all with medical studies, you would realize that 2% of the population of a group is a ridiculously high sample.

Is it big enough for people to stop paying a sport they get paid millions to do?

No.

Maybe you missed the point I made before about how they were developing techniques to test for CTE NON-INVASIVELY and what that means.

That means you can test your college team before fall practice starts, then after the last game. Heck that means you can test them week by week, or before a game and after if you wanted.

Same thing with high school kids, and pro players.

So if having a big sample size is your concern, it won't be a problem much longer.

Out of curiousity how do you think concussions and CTE occur? Describe the mechanics. What physically happens?

Sooner or later an event that could result in a concussion or even CTE could occur to most people. But in no way shape or form, as much as in Football.

And if it does, you ought to find another job, hobby, or activity.

Really have to wonder about Rodeo though. Some of those events are like a major step up in risk factor to football. Be interesting to see what the studies of that sport wind up revealing.

Cmon man, this is an SEC board.

that's too much to read!!!

The woodpecker effect (Luke Kuechly) works because it creates an extra layer of blood around the brain. Concussions happen because the brain is sloshing around in the skull creating damage. Helmets don't protect the brain from this they protect the skull from getting fractured. Basically you're creating a blood helmet inside the skull by pinching the nerve in the back of the neck which creates a "kink in the hose". Really interesting stuff and it's brilliantly simple. The device looks like a thick necklace that clamps onto the back of the neck causing the kink which then funnels the extra blood to flow around the brain creating a cushion inside the skull.

quote:

---

In a concussion one of things that happens is that the brain impact causes an imbalance of potassium and another substance? within the brain cells. This imbalance can be quickly solved with increased blood flow. However, during a concussion the muscles around blood vessels going to the brain constrict blood flow. So this imbalance persists.

---

Fascinating, this could really help - at least after an event has occurred.

But to me the problem is this: The brain is literally like a big lump of jello. If you look at youtube you can find videos of someone poking one and watching it quiver (these are extracted brains of course).

There is some padding between the brain and the skull, mostly soft tissue and liquid.

During a typical concussion the brain contacts one side of the skull, then bounces and contacts the other side on the rebound. This can occur several times like a pea in a shaker.

But the big collisions aren't the big risk factor for CTE. The microimpacts that linemen encounter every play are a much worse risk factor.

There is an ex-Patriots linebacker, played for years for several teams but most famously for the Patriots who swears by Oxygen tank therapy. Says it really helped him. Just did a search, Bill Romanowski.

As far as your son goes, unless he actually does have a chance at playing in college this is a very minor part of his life. Like most people my last high school game was my last time playing football, except for chucking the ball around and flag/touch football.

Really don't think it is worth it. Will say something else, some people seem more likely than others to develop concussions from this sort of activity. Maybe it has something to do with the mechanism you mentioned with Kuechely's collar. Also if you've had one, you seem far more likely to get another.

quote:

---

The woodpecker effect (Luke Kuechly) works because it creates an extra layer of blood around the brain. Concussions happen because the brain is sloshing around in the skull creating damage. Helmets don't protect the brain from this they protect the skull from getting fractured. Basically you're creating a blood helmet inside the skull by pinching the nerve in the back of the neck which creates a "kink in the hose". Really interesting stuff and it's brilliantly simple. The device looks like a thick necklace that clamps onto the back of the neck causing the kink which then funnels the extra blood to flow around the brain creating a cushion inside the skull.

---

I thought of something like that when I saw what was posted. But my hunch as to the pressures involved with being able to make a real difference with the g forces involved... really didn't seem like a good idea. I mean this is new, and humans are not woodpeckers. Could this conceivably elevate Kuechely's risk of stroke?

The other mechanism seemed more likely. Both could be in play at the same time.

Have to do some more reading on this. I was thinking you'd have to have like two or three times the normal pressure in the skull to change the mechanics of brain movement within it. But maybe a smaller pressure differential can do the same thing?

But we don't have features like this normally. Have a feeling an unforeseen side effect may pop up.