Brain Trauma Symptoms May Appear Long After College Athletes Stop Playing Sports
A serious sports injury can take you out of the game, but repercussions extend far beyond play time. Brain injuries in particular can have lasting and devastating consequences. In fact, brain trauma symptoms may appear long after college athletes stop playing hockey, football, basketball or boxing. While the severity of injuries may vary, it’s difficult to gauge just how devastating those effects may eventually become. That’s because initial brain trauma signs and symptoms typically don’t appear until several hours after the incident. Long-term effects are even more difficult to predict and can present months, years, or even decades later.
Sports-Related Brain Trauma Complications
One concussion can cause serious problems for athletes later on, but repeated concussions have a cumulative effect on the brain. With each new blow to the head, it gets easier to sustain another concussion in the future. And recurrent concussions can lead to long-term memory loss, brain damage, psychiatric disorders, and other diseases. Some sports-related brain injuries have been linked to serious cognitive diseases manifesting early in a former athlete’s life, including:
- Alzheimer’s. The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s initially displays as memory loss. It’s a progressive disease that makes patients forget their closest loved ones and most cherished memories. As time wears on, individuals become increasingly unable to intellectually respond to their environment. There is no known cure, and it’s also the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S.
- Parkinson’s Disease. Parkinson’s is both a progressive and chronic movement disorder caused by neurons in the brain becoming damaged and dying over time. Like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s develops gradually by affecting facial movement and causing muscular tremors, stiffness and balance issues. Eventually, patients lose the ability to walk, eat, or communicate on their own. There is no cure for Parkinson’s, though medications that increase dopamine production can help control some symptoms.
- Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS). This neurodegenerative disease is caused by the death of motor neurons that control muscle movement. Initial symptoms include muscle atrophy and weakness, eventually progressing to the point of paralysis and difficulty speaking, eating, and breathing. There is no cure for ALS.
- Early Onset Dementia. Dementia and Alzheimer’s typically affect people aged 65 and older, but early onset dementia is possible after sustaining repeated concussions. Early onset symptoms manifest in one’s 30s, 40s or 50s and are characterized by unusual short-term and long-term memory loss.
- Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). This degenerative brain disease is typically caused by multiple concussions or severe blows to the head. CTE is most often found in athletes, and symptoms generally start 8-10 years after repetitive traumatic brain injuries have occurred.
What Former College Athletes Need to Know
For most of these concussion-related neurodegenerative diseases, symptoms develop slowly and get progressively worse over time. You may think your concussion history isn’t severe enough to have to worry about developing a neurodegenerative condition. Unfortunately, suffering even one traumatic brain injury can drastically increase your chances. Early warning signs that athletes should look out for include:
- Memory loss
- Confusion
- Impaired judgment
- Aggression
- Depression
- Cognitive impairment
- Emotional instability
- Substance abuse
- Muscle tremors
- Suicidal thoughts or behaviors
If you sustained one or more NCAA sports-related concussions and now exhibit neurodegenerative disease symptoms, you may have a claim. A traumatic brain injury can affect every aspect of your life, and you may qualify for financial compensation.