In cases of three or more concussions over a lifetime, there is five times more risk for early onset Alzheimer’s disease, three times more risk of significant memory loss and four times more severely elevated depression.
Most athletes and parents are in a state of denial. They’re taught to ignore pain and stay in the game. Annually in America, up to 3.8 million knocks on the head are a ticking time bomb that may not show its effects for 10, 15 or 20 years.
The Centers for Disease Control showed more than 300,000 athletes lose consciousness from concussions every year in the United States, and the total number of such concussions could be as high as 3.8 million. Half a million people are hospitalized. [source]
About ten percent of college football players have a concussion each year. AP reports that the ‘Center for the Study of Retired Athletes’ [link] found triple the risk of clinical depression. As few as one or two concussions were 1 1/2 times more likely to be diagnosed with depression.
The Children’s National Medical Center finds that children are at the greatest risk.
Symptoms of a mild concussion:
- difficulty concentrating;
- mild headaches;
- constant fatigue;
- sad, listless, anxious or irritated behavior.