Health & Fitness
NFL Pro-Bowler: Education Key To Preventing Head Injuries
Former New York Giants defensive lineman Leonard Marshall wants to make football safer.
Former New York Giants defensive lineman Leonard Marshall wants to make football safer. That’s something that a New York neurosurgeon feels can be accomplished through education, which is Marshall’s latest endeavor.
Marshall has teamed with the lawyer who first sued the NFL over concussions to do an educational road show on how to avoid and treat sports-related head injuries. Marshall suffers from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which may be linked to concussions he suffered while playing football during the 1980s and ‘90s.
“Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is defined as a buildup of proteins accumulating in the brain after repetitive head injury, which includes concussion,” said Jamie Ullman, MD, director of Neurotrauma at North Shore University Hospital.
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“CTE is often manifested by memory disturbance, erratic behavior, anxiety, depression, and, in later stages, by Parkinson’s-type symptoms of tremors (shaking) and abnormal gait (walking). “
The condition resembles Alzheimer’s disease, said Dr. Ullman. It is currently only diagnosed after death by an autopsy of the brain, but researchers are looking for ways of diagnosing the condition by special MRI or blood tests.
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Marshall, 53, a defensive lineman who played for the Giants when they won the Super Bowl XXI in 1987 and Super Bowl XXV in 1991 says he suffers from mood swings and erratic behavior.
Marshall told NBC’s “Meet The Press” that the NFL “had to know something” regarding traumatic brain injuries, when he was playing years ago.
“Education is important in helping athletes recognize the signs of concussion, emphasize the importance of reporting each and every concussion, and to be taken out of play until the concussion symptoms resolve so as to allow the brain to heal,” said Dr. Ullman. “If an athlete returns to play before the brain has properly healed, a second concussion can have significant and long-lasting effects. In rare cases, it can be fatal.”
Marshall’s educational tour takes to the road this spring.
