Page 48 - summer2016

Understanding the

Concussion Epidemic:

The Importance of Nourishing the Brain

Merinda Teller, MPH, PhD

hen the film Concussion was released in late

2015, pundits noted that the topic of sports-
Wrelated traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) had “gone

Hollywood.” Although the movie focuses on National
1
Football League stonewalling and obfuscation about foot-

ball-related head trauma, it also taps into growing collec-
tive anxiety about the broader risks associated with sports-

related head injuries. A national survey conducted with
2
over fifteen hundred parents in 2014 found that 89 percent

of parents worried about the risk of sports injuries for their
children, and concussion and head injuries were the lead-

ing injury of concern.
3
Parents’ fears about head injuries are not unfounded. It is conservatively
estimated that between 1.6 and 3.8 million concussions occur annually in
the United States as a result of athletic involvement. Moreover, the rate of
4,5
sports-related concussions has been increasing, with one prospective study
finding a 15.5 percent annual increase over an eleven-year period.
6
48 Wise Traditions SUMMER 2016 Wise Traditions