Sports leagues' concussion guidelines must be broadened as brain health concerns rise
Recently, the Australian Football League (AFL) was rocked when it was revealed a Geelong player with a history of concussion had been asked to waive his legal rights to claim for any future brain trauma.
The Australian Football League (AFL) and other contact sports in Australia have primarily focused on concussion prevention, diagnosis, and management in their concussion guidelines, according to recent analysis. However, the bigger concern should be chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative brain disease linked to repetitive brain trauma.
Recent research suggests that subconcussive impacts, which are rarely symptomatic, may pose the actual risk of developing CTE. Despite the links between repeated subconcussive impacts and CTE, these guidelines do not mention subconcussive impacts or the risk of repeated head impacts. The AFL's guidelines, for instance, mention concussion 264 times but do not address subconcussive impacts or repetitive nonconcussive head impacts.
Other leagues, such as rugby league, soccer, and rugby union, also lack any mention of subconcussive impacts in their guidelines. The article calls for an update to these guidelines to include information about the risks posed by subconcussive impacts and potential measures like contact limits, delayed exposure to contact, and impact monitoring to better inform athletes, families, and officials about the seriousness of brain health in contact sports.
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