Posted on 09/12/2014 11:45:41 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
The NFL believes that nearly three in 10 former players will develop debilitating brain conditions, and that they will be stricken earlier and twice as often as the general population.
The disclosure Friday comes in data the league prepared for its proposed $765 million settlement of thousands of concussion lawsuits.
Both the league and players' lawyers estimate that 28 percent of the retirees will develop Alzheimer's disease, moderate dementia or more serious neurological problems.
That would represent nearly 6,000 of the 19,000 living former players. Dozens of them could develop Lou Gehrig's or Parkinson's disease.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I don’t believe it
I believe it after seeing that PBS frontline special last season
Me neither.
I worked for a brain specialist (specifically a neuropathologist) at a major hospital.If doctors trained in brain science say that repeated head injuries lead to big problems later on I think I can accept that.Look at Cassius Clay.
Nearly 100% of the general population face the same prospect if they live long enough and don’t die young from other causes.
I saw it...pretty convincing.Some of the main research on the subject is being done at BU Medical School,one of the finest medical schools in the world.
The numbers are meaningless unless compared to general populations. They may or may not be significant.
My mom and her dad both have/had Alzheimers, and neither of them played football, or any sport that I know of.
I suppose you can say that.So the basic question is "do repeated head injuries *accelerate* brain deterioration with any regularity?"
Was there a comparison to the history of football? Back when they wore leather helmets etc.?
Lots more college football players still alive!
Even 10% of them will put a big dent in the NCAA!
“Me neither”
I think I remember Terry Bradshaw predicting a few years ago that the NFL would be gone in a few years.
Believe it. I know a handful of ex-players who were articulate when younger, now in their 50’s cannot make a coherent sentence or remember events that happened not too long ago.
>> don’t believe it
No mention of diabetes in the excerpt.
The frightening thing is that even very small brain injuries, the kinds that most players don’t even notice, seem to add up.
Yeah, to my understanding it isn’t necessarily concussions, although playing after getting a big one could make it worse. Just normal hits and the jarring the brain receives during a football career into the pros.
Freegards
Safety equipment and rules to protect players are better today, but today’s players are bigger, faster, stronger, and hit a lot harder.
“Could...”
That’s right!
“Could...”
I have a tried and true idea, but what the hell, why bother looking at a cross-section of current ex-players, and see how their numbers look? We already have “Could...”.
No problem here with people that want to play the game or watch the game. Individual responsibility and all that. But there is a huge problem with people that want to pretend there are no costs attached to their entertainment besides their cable bill.
Oh...and that Cable bill being the thing that gives liberals a blank check to destroy the country.
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