“There is an urgent need to improve concussion awareness, screening and management”

2024-07-31 09:00:03

“I hurt my body” :Words from footballer Raphael Varane teamApril 2 was a tipping point for necessary awareness about concussions. A little-known change in brain function caused by an impact or sudden deceleration, a concussion is never a trivial matter.

At least 100,000 such injuries occur in France every year Play multiple sports, both amateur and professional. A large portion is neither documented nor supported. Some athletes will experience the aftereffects for months or even years: anxiety, balance problems, irritability, headaches, insomnia, depression… This phenomenon is especially serious in young people whose brains are still developing.

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If zero risk does not exist, there is an urgent need to improve concussion awareness, screening, and management. What better opportunity than this Olympic year to celebrate responsible sport, exercise that is practiced without unnecessarily exposing such a vital organ like the brain?

Releasing the Voices of the Wounded

Because dangerous situations involve many sports, Olympic or not: tackles in rugby, repeated collisions and heads in football, impacts in hockey, handball or basketball, boxing, horse riding and skiing accidents, mountain biking, motor sports, sailing Even hits in figure skating.

So what to do? First, it is important to allow the injured person to speak freely and inform their loved ones. Actor and director Roschdy Zem is one of those helping to break this taboo. his movies mineReleased in 2022, it was inspired by the story of his younger brother, who suffered damage to his frontal lobe following a fall.

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Often, the athlete and those around him are unaware of the damage caused by this shock. A concussion, which causes the brain to shift suddenly within the skull, is an apparently benign trauma because it triggers a cascade of reactions in the brain, particularly leading to inflammation of nerves..

Repeated concussions carry the risk of neurodegenerative diseases, such as chronic post-traumatic encephalopathy, which can irreversibly progress to a state of dementia. Symptoms vary and depend on the area of ​​the brain affected: convulsions, balance disorders, confusion, disorientation, shocked expression, and loss of consciousness occur in approximately 15% of cases.

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