At one point smoking cigarettes was perceived as glamorous and healthy. People smoked in classrooms, at the office, and in restaurants, it was common to turn these events into airborne toxic events. Fast-forward, a few decades and the research has shown that inhaling nicotine along with the other carcinogens found in cigarettes isn’t as healthy or as glamorous as once thought. All in all, smoking is a lot like concussions. In recent years, concussions have become a national concern due to their rise across all levels of athletics especially at the youth level. In fact, many of us may have experienced a concussion or may know someone who has. I know the effects of concussions first hand because through my 10 years of experience in several contact sports such as football, basketball, boxing, and soccer I experienced a total of 5 concussions. Today, I will focus on discussing what makes up a concussion, symptoms of a concussions, and preventative measures. I will also talk about the effects of concussions on a child’s brain and lastly, the improvements of equipment in sports to prevent concussions and diagnose them. I believe that through …show more content…
Short term effects of concussions can include missing time from school and as a result falling behind in class. Other short-term effects may include changes in behavior and irritability. However, the short-term effects of concussions are just a small portion of the overall effects. The long-term effects are the most commonly known, concussions can cause degenerative brain diseases when athletes suffer multiple head injuries. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease and dementia all have been linked to long-term effects of concussions. Having discussed the possible short-term and long-term effects of concussions we can move on to the improvements in athletic equipment to prevent and diagnose