There’s a brain disease called CTE that’s linked to repeated hits to the head, not just the big concussions but also the smaller impacts that don’t even give you symptoms. The CDC found that kids playing youth tackle football, ages 6 to 14, take about 15 times more head impacts than kids playing flag football. Those little hits add up over a season.
Then there’s the stat that really got me. An NIH-funded study looked at the brains of contact sport athletes who died before age 30, and more than 40% of them had signs of CTE, found in people as young as 17. These weren’t 50-year-old retired pros. Some were basically my age.
Here’s the thing that makes the brain different from the rest of your body. If I tweak my shoulder lifting, it heals, and if I pull a muscle running, it comes back. Your brain doesn’t work like that. It’s more like a phone screen. One drop might be fine, but every crack adds to the last one, and you can’t un-crack it.
I’m not saying quit sports. But take head injuries seriously, sit out when you’re supposed to instead of being a hero, and wear the right gear. You get exactly one brain for your whole life. There’s no trade, no transfer, no second one. That’s worth protecting.
Read more: About Repeated Head Impacts — CDC
The Global Pulse 