“Concussion is head trauma translated into sport. There may be confusion, disorientation, transient symptoms such as memory disturbances, convulsions and headaches, which may pass within the 8-12 hours in which the athlete must be monitored. But if these symptoms persist, the concussion must be evaluated by a specialist with imaging. A recent meta analysis has shown that athletes who practice sports that expose them to high-speed collisions have a greater risk of developing neurological pathologies with loss or alteration of memory years after the end of his career. It must be said that if neurological signs are missing, this diagnosis is difficult, in some sports, for example American football, there is a silent epidemic, considered, but not dramatised”. Matilde Leonardi, councilor of the Sin (Italian Society of Neurology) and director of the Coma Research Center Fondazione Irccs Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta of Milan, spoke after the interview with the French footballer Raphaël Varane who denounced playing with a head injury.
Sports-related head trauma is very common in American football, rugby, hockey and boxing. But it can also happen in all those situations in which there is a sudden acceleration-deceleration of the head. Even sports that are not strictly defined as 'contact', such as football, can expose you to this type of trauma. “After a head injury, every professional athlete is subjected to a medical evaluation – specifies Leonardi – which may also involve the use of a CT scan. If there is no positive result the athlete will still remain under medical supervision for the first 24 hours “If everything goes well here too, after a week you can return to your normal routine. The same goes for the amateur footballer who gets a blow on the head during a soccer match and – certainly – doesn't have medical staff available.”
On the sports head trauma front. According to the authors of the study, published by 'Neurology', blood levels of neurofilament light (NfL), a protein released from the myelin of damaged nerve cells, are elevated among athletes who have received many blows to the head, moderate in those who suffered a single concussion and lows in healthy controls. “It is hypothesized that measuring this protein could help identify athletes who could have long-term consequences,” concludes Leonardi.
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