WEBVTT - Do concussions cause early death? 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.840 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.520 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you Should Know 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:16.400 from House Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome to 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.439 the podcast. I'm with Charles W. Bryant and I am 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:28.000 Josh Clark. Yeah. How you doing? Good man? What? Good man? Okay? 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:33.560 M ang Chuck? Have you been concussed? No? Man? Are 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:37.120 you sure? I'm acting like you're showing some classic symptoms here. 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:38.519 You know, if I was concussed, you know what that 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:41.639 would mean. What that would mean my brain moved and 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:45.519 hit my skull. Yes, that's what a concussion is. This 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:48.880 is a new, fresh, segue free edition of Stuff You 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:52.120 Should Know? Right, You like this one? I want it so? 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:56.840 Uh yeah. Concussion there. It's in the news all over 0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:01.640 the place today, right oh big time is the NFL? Yes, right, Chuck. 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:07.120 A concussion is put simply where, uh, your skull stops moving, 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:10.240 but your brain keeps moving and it slaps the inside 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:12.640 of your skull, which is pretty hard. I'm kind of 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:16.280 surprised the human body didn't. We've evolved in such great 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.559 ways to prevent things like that. I'm surprised there wasn't 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:23.320 like a built in Hans system like NASCAR uses something 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:25.920 like a web around the brain. We have that memory. 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.840 Remember that's what shrinks when you have a hangover. Well, 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:30.520 it clearly doesn't work that well if you can still 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:32.640 hit your skull. That's what I'm saying. It's true. I 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.720 wish it was such that concussions wouldn't even happen. We 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.240 need like a padding of foam rubber like in between, 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:42.039 like an interior football helmet. Right, let's get on that, 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:45.640 all right, No bell prize, Gonna go do some gene 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:47.760 splicing after this. It would end up being an Igno 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:53.720 Bell Prize with us though. Yeah, lots of chuck. Where 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:56.360 does the word concussion come from? Josh? It is Latin, 0:01:56.840 --> 0:01:59.760 like most medical terms, and I believe the word is concuteer, 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:05.800 which means which means to shake violently. Yeah, so there 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:07.880 you have it. So your brain is being shaken violently, 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:11.480 and uh it's nay good when that happens. My friend 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.000 Chris Jones was I think his first article that he 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:17.480 wrote for this. He's a freelancer. Uh and as he 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:20.880 put it, un of yours, I would say, more buddy 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:23.919 than a crony. He didn't get him hired. Oh yeah, okay, yeah, 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:27.720 he's a crony. Okay, Um, he's good, he is. He 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:30.200 is a good guy, he writes for the Motley fool To. 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:34.160 Actually he's all over the place. Um he wrote that, 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:37.920 in an ironic twist, the one bone specifically designed to 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.680 shield our gray matter from injury ends up doing the 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:43.520 most damage. Great sentence. Yeah, So I mean, like you said, 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:46.720 we need like something a football helmet around our brain 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:49.720 within our skull. Yeah, or just don't hit your head 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:53.040 hard on something, right, which apparently is a little more 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:57.480 difficult than one would think. And I think that one 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:00.600 of the reasons we're podcasting about this now. I was like, 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.799 you said that it's kind of big. NFL is all 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:05.760 over it. Well, you know, the NFL is doing the 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:08.160 opposite of being all over it, and it's getting lots 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:10.160 of press attention. Now. They're all over it now, though, 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:14.799 are they? Yeah? Yeah, just this week? Right, okay, all right? Um. 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:16.560 I think one of the one of the reasons that 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.960 we're podcasting about concussions that this article got written is 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.680 it's big. It's big. Right now we're finally starting to 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:25.919 realize that it's not you don't just get your bell 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:29.720 wrong or you're not a little rattled. What we're starting 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:35.520 to see is that concussions lead very easily to early death, 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:41.120 specifically multiple concussions or dementia or Alzheimer's. Yeah, bad stuff, 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:47.880 all from one horrible moment or or several. Yeah, so Chuck, 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.080 what are some of the ways you can be concussed? 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:55.840 I've been concussed and I can't get up. Uh. Actually 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:57.640 what you should do is not get up, but we'll 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.600 get to that too. Yeah, so Chuck, what are some 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:03.680 of the symptoms of a concussion. Let's say you are 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:08.800 a University of Georgia UM cheerleader, sure, and you want 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:12.840 to come over and diagnose poor Baccari Rambo, who is unconscious? Right? What? 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:15.520 What's what's just? What? What? What are you looking for? Well? 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.360 I would look at Baccari first. If he was nauseous 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:22.960 or uncoordinated, no balance, confused, had a slurred speech or 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.960 memory loss, or delayed reaction time, that would be my 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.480 immediate diagnosis. If I'm looking at him and I see 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:32.799 some of those symptoms that he might in fact be concussed. 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:36.760 Those are some outward symptoms, right, There's also ones that 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:42.400 the concussed person will experience like, Um, sensitivity to light 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:47.160 and sound, yes, Josh, that is called phonophobia and photophobia. 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:50.320 Loud loud noises and bright lights no good if you're 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:54.240 concussed loud noises, right, yeah, you don't want that. Um. 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.520 It can make you dizzy, give you a headache, make 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:04.279 you nauseated. Um, it's just bad stuff. Your sleep, Um, 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:09.000 your ability anxiety, as far as emotional impact, right, depression, sure, 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:13.840 and uh, your ability to think. Actually, um, A lot 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:19.400 of times there is an accompanying amnesia to concussion. Yeah, 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:24.600 and it's usually immediate, like after if the person loses consciousness. Um, 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.320 they they when they wake up, they may have some 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:31.720 sort of uh amnesia, or even if they don't lose consciousness, 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:35.080 they can still have some amnesia for you know, from 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:38.240 the moment that impact took place, the moment their brain 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:40.480 slept the inside of their skull. Yeah, so that's what. 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:43.280 That's why when you see like on a football sideline 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.880 or in a boxing ring, there's a just a battery 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.160 of questions. I'll be asking like who are you, do 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.720 you know where you are? Um? And if they say 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:52.839 something like you know, I'm playing football, they need to 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:54.960 get a little more specific than that, what city are 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:59.480 we in, what team are we playing? Right? And it's 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:01.800 time to get out of the game, right, which is 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:06.760 kind of a it's it's difficult. Actually, did you see 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:10.640 that testimony by Ray Lewis. Yeah, Hey, they were talking 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:12.960 about getting out of the game, and you know, even 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:15.840 knowing just a little bit that we know now about concussions, 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.400 Lewis was still like, depends on what's going on in 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.560 the game, you know, Um, from what what I understand, 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.240 if you have a concussion, you don't go back in 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:28.960 that game. Well, as of yesterday, that's the new rule, 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.920 is it. Yes, let's talk about then Let's let's back 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:37.839 up a second, because the NFL has long um been 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:41.400 not too sensitive to concussions and taking a lot of 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:44.880 heat over the years for having their team doctors allow 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.479 guys to go back into soon or leading up to 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:52.000 the player who you know, wildly under reports concussions NFL 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:56.800 players do, or all athletes, I would imagine, and uh, 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.359 there's a guy named John McKay and he was on 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.640 the San Diego Chargers in the early seventies. Sadly, he 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:05.640 played with a guy named Ralph Winzel Uh for the 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.520 entire nineteen seventy two season and neither one of them 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:12.120 remember playing with each other as teammates. Wow, very sad. 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:18.320 So McKay's wife led this charge. Um to get this 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.520 on the NFL's radar, because she started making calls and found, 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:26.000 she said, at least twenty people whose husbands were suffering 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:30.760 from Alzheimer's in early dementia. And we're talking age. There's 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.880 others that are suffering as early as their thirties and forties. 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.600 So um, she wrote Commissioner Tagliboo at the time a letter. 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:42.320 He got the ball rolling and they created the plan 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:47.080 which was McKay's number, and they now families can receive 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:50.000 up to eighty eight thousand dollars a year for care 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:53.400 if they from the NFL. Yeah, if they qualify. That's 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:56.640 so that happened. And then two days ago the NFL 0:07:57.320 --> 0:07:59.920 because the concussions have been big news this year, especially 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.840 lot of high profile guys Ben Roethlisberger for the Steelers 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:05.520 and a couple of other high profile dudes have been 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:09.920 concussed Hurt Warner, and the new rule takes effect this week. 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:13.080 It's like an immediate rule, which is unusual. And uh, 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.560 if you have fleeting symptoms you're allowed to return to 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:20.000 the game, but if you have amnesia, poor balance, or 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:24.720 an abnormal neurological examination, you cannot go back into the 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.720 game at all. That's that's a good rule. It's very 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:31.000 good rule. Although from what Chris Jones says, if you've 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.439 been concussed, if you show any evidence of concussion, you 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:36.400 shouldn't be going back into the game at all. Well yeah, sure, 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:38.840 I guess baby steps right. And I think they're also 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:42.040 bringing in for the post game evaluations after, you know, 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:46.680 the coming days after uh. They have now required this 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:50.240 independent doctors have to perform the test and not the 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:54.600 team doctor, because if you've seen any given Sunday, I 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.120 think the notion of the team doctor is kind of 0:08:57.120 --> 0:08:59.880 a joke. In the NFL UM I read about an 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:04.280 other group of ex athletes led by a guy named 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.280 Kris Nowinski. He played football for Harvard, but then he 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:10.920 went onto the w w E and he had several 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:13.480 concussions and then took a kick to the chin and 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:16.560 that was it lights out for him career. Over um 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:20.560 and he started to read studies on concussions because he 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:24.200 had like headaches for five years and depressed depressions. A 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:29.360 big big part of comorbidity of concussions UM. And he 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.520 ended up founding the Sports Legacy Institute with a guy 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:35.520 named Dr Robert Cantu, who I know, whose name you'll 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:40.240 recognize because he founded one of the UM I guess 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:47.360 indices for grading UH concussions. Yes, um. But they they 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:52.040 got together and created the Sports Legacy Institute, and they 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:56.240 take donations of ex football players brains once they die 0:09:56.880 --> 0:10:01.120 for study and the study that they've been doing together. 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:07.920 So basically no Winsky recruits families to donate their dead, 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:12.320 you know, football players brains, and then Canto turns around 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.880 and dissects the brains at this place called the Center 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:20.559 for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, which he co directs. 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:24.000 And this group, the c s t E are finding 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:27.640 some really startling stuff in the brains of people who 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.800 are like forty fifty. They got their hands on a 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:33.439 brain of an eighteen year old kid who was a 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:38.000 multi sports athlete died at eight team. They got his brain, 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:41.719 and he his brain and the other brains that they've 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.240 looked at so far all look like eighty year old 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.120 UM Alzheimer's patients brains. Well that's I was just about 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:50.760 to say those Philadelphia Eagle former Eagle named Andre Waters 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:53.800 that committed suicide last year. He was forty four, and 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:55.920 they said the same thing. He had the brain of 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.080 an eight year old Alzheimer's patient. Yeah, and he's not 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:00.880 the only one. He committed suicide. UM. Some other guys 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:04.640 have been drinking themselves to death. UM. A guy named 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:07.800 Ted Johnson who used to play for the Pats um 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:11.439 has pre he's donated his brain when he dies. H 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:14.400 And I think he's in his like thirties or early forties. 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:18.760 And um, he spent two years with his curtains clothes 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:23.079 hold up in his house from just major depression. M 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:26.040 sad Man. I'm a huge NFL fan. It's just you 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:28.000 always hear about and these are just the head injuries. 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.679 You always hear about these old warriors from before they 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:32.600 made a ton of money that are like destitute and 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:34.880 they can't walk. And that's what they think that that's 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:38.880 another thing in an ability to work to manage money 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:40.959 like that maybe one of the reasons why a lot 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:44.360 of these guys go bankrupt. It's like eight or seventy 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:48.520 of NFL players go bankrupts in like four years actually 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:52.720 after leaving well the average uh lifespan of or not lifespan, 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:55.560 but tenure of an NFL player is really short. I 0:11:55.559 --> 0:12:00.160 mean it's like two or two seasons or something especial. See, 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:04.200 if you've suffered multiple concussions, Apparently one concussion, your brain 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:10.079 can restore its faculties, can umully itself. Yeah, but if 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:12.439 you have a concussion, then you you have a secondary 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.840 concussion um before the first one has time to heal, 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.920 or you have multiple concussions over your lifetime, you're in 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:22.720 deep trouble. Yes, Josh, that what you just talked about. 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:24.600 When you have the second one before the first one heal, 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:30.160 that is called potentially second impact syndrome, and you can die. Yeah, 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:32.800 that's way worse because the what the arteries in the 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:36.640 brain swell. Yeah, it's it triggers a train, a chain reaction. 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:43.840 It starts with the disordered cerebral vascular autoregulation, and that 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.360 means the brain loses its ability to keep the rhine 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:49.920 amount of blood pressure basically, so the brain swells and 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:55.800 that leads to UH congestion and pressure and herniation and death. Yeah. 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:58.800 Once once your brain stem is herniated, once it's um 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:01.800 no longer getting it supply of blood and oxygen and 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.840 everything it needs. You know, there goes your breathing and 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:07.880 your heartbeat and all the very primal basic stuff that's 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:10.880 controlled by the brainstem. I'm surprised this hasn't happened yet, 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:15.160 and I'm surprised actually what brains herniation. I'm surprised an 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.200 NFL player has not died on the football field yet. 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.559 That's shocking to me that that has not happened. And 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:25.640 I think it's gonna take something like that. Unfortunately, although 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:28.240 that they're going in the right direction now, I used 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.079 to think that it would take something that drastic to 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:34.080 really make drastic changes. Maybe who knows. Maybe it's not 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:36.280 that much of a blood sport. It's very physical support. 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.160 But you know, people don't go out like hockey. Yeah, 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:42.480 people want to see somebody get their throat slit by Like, 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:48.520 did you never saw that that happened where hockey goalie 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:51.760 had his jugular vein cut in a in a hockey game. 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.800 Is it on video somewhere? It's gotta be. I saw 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:56.760 it on TV when it happened, like it was a 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:59.000 while ago, was probably ten years ago. But the guy 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.640 like Ben down on his knees and grabs his throat 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:04.320 and in like three seconds you see a pool of 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:07.040 blood go from like a drop to like eight feet 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:10.720 in diameter. Now he didn't die. In fact, he was 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.920 back with the team the next day. They sewed him, 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:17.319 sewed him up and like refilled the pump full blood 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:19.560 and he was good to go. There you go. Yeah, man, 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:21.960 what a time to be alive. So we should talk 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:26.320 about treatment and uh stuff like that, okay, because you know, 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:29.760 if it's not just NFL players you get concussed at home, 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:34.960 your kid can easily get concussed. The leading head injury 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:37.160 for children. Yeah, I wanted to mention that, Chuck, Like, 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:40.920 we've been talking about the NFL, but the NFL isn't 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:44.960 the only group out there playing football. Um, there's tons 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:47.120 of kids. And actually I was reading an article by 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.280 forward right who you don't want to see? Have you 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:52.960 ever seen a picture of Frank Nafford. It's one of 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:54.800 those ones where you're like, man, I wish I didn't 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:56.720 see that. This is nothing like what I thought the 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:59.000 guy looked like. And really that's what Frank l DeFord 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:03.480 looks like. Wow, I know I have seen him, actually have, 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:09.360 but like your local shopping mall like change. Um Well, 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:13.480 he wrote an article about concussions and he was basically 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:17.000 goating the NFL into doing something. Um And he also 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:20.120 points out that it's not just the NFL who like suiting. 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.800 Up at one point two million high school students every 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:28.040 year play football, and they apparently are much more prone 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:31.920 to concussions than older guys because they're like the impacts 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:35.440 are actually at a higher velocity than in the NFL 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:37.840 because they're not worried about their careers, are trying to 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:40.520 get to the career, so they're killing anybody who gets 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:43.360 in their way, Whereas an NFL player would be more 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:45.960 likely to Number one, he knows his way around the 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:47.840 football field, he knows what he's doing. He's been playing 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:51.160 for a long time, right And number two he's worried 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:53.800 about making it out the next Sunday. Two, so's gonna 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:56.200 take it a little easier on himself too. Well, maybe 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:58.480 they also under report in the NFL, though, just because 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.920 they don't want to like kind word. Called out Ben 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:04.360 Roethlisberger last week for being a wuss basically for not 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.360 playing because he had headaches. A week later, come on, heinz, Yeah, 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:10.200 he felt bad for it. He did. Yeah, good he should. 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:16.200 Um so Chuck, Yes, we were talking about treatment. Yes, Josh. 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:18.520 The first thing you should do if you even suspect 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:22.000 your concussed is stop whatever the heck you were doing 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.240 to get concussed. Do not drop and roll either, just stop. 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.440 Just just stop at the stop no movement. And if 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:30.280 you should also we should also mentioned that whole thing 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:33.000 about don't go to sleep if you're concussed. Not true, No, 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:35.520 it's not rest is actually exactly what you know. Chris 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:38.080 points out sleep deprivation is not a good treatment for 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:40.800 a concussion. I wouldn't think so. So you should stop 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:44.600 what you're doing immediately. Um, if you think it's could 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:48.200 possibly be worse than a concussion, you should, you know, 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:50.400 immediately go to the doctor. Probably get a CT scan 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:52.760 or mri I. Although the weird thing is that they 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:56.640 can't you can't see a concussion, right like you can't 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:59.560 diagnose a concussion from an m r I or CT scan. 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.200 What they're doing when they do skin you was ruling 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:05.800 out other types of um traumatic brain injury, Yeah, like 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:09.320 internal bleeding and that kind of thing. So, uh, a 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:12.520 minority of uh the cases you you will have something 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.520 called post concussion syndrome, and that can be a couple 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:20.000 of weeks or months of side effects basically prolonged everything 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:23.560 we talked about, fatigue, dizziness, confusion, nausea, that kind of thing. 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:27.239 But that doesn't always happen. That's why concussions are like 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:30.919 still sort of a mystery. Sometimes it sometimes it happens, 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.919 sometimes it doesn't. Some some people recover faster than others. 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:36.000 It's really hard to diagnose, like you said, because you 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:38.640 can't see it and people under report it. So it's 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:41.440 really you're up against the battle here trying to get 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.840 it diagnosed and treated correctly. Definitely, but I think groups 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:50.480 like um, the cst E is that what it was called. Sure, Yeah, 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:54.320 I think so. Um they you know, once, once they've 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:56.320 been cracking open the brains, I think the mysteries are 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:59.000 starting to be solved a little more. Um. We talked 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:01.959 about how they look like the brains of Alzheimer's patients. 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.280 One of the reasons they draw that comparison is not 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.960 just because the symptoms are the same. They actually have 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:13.960 protein tangles that are characteristic of Alzheimer's in the brains 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:19.520 of multiple concussion sufferers. UM, so they're they're the brains 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:22.160 can't communicate the brain, the neurons can't communicate with each 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:25.800 other any longer. Basically, stuff, these protein buildups that should 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:28.560 have been carried out his waist aren't any longer. And 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:30.879 now they're just coming up the works, which can actually 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:33.400 kill the brain cells, which leads to brain death, which 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:37.680 leads to death. Wow. Yeah, much more serious. And people think, 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:40.399 have you ever been concussed? I don't think I have. 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:42.240 I think I have been a couple of times. My 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:44.800 little girlfriend has. Really Yeah, I got hit in the 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:49.280 head with a softball bat once and I've never had 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.680 my bell rung like that before. Yeah, not like Managine, 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:55.040 like the dude was in the on deck circle and 0:18:55.040 --> 0:19:00.160 I walked up and didn't see him right there? Did 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:04.040 you go unconscious? But I staggered and you know, saw 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:08.680 angels above my head. Actually, I may have been concussed 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:12.919 because I had the same the same symptoms after I 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.040 was shooting it a little propane tank with the high 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:19.119 powered rifle. I'm not kidding. We should say you should 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:21.920 never ever do something that you think that this. Every 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:24.520 podcast should start out with a disclaimer, like, don't do 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:27.720 what Josh talks about. Um and I didn't have the 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:33.600 stock against your shoulder from onst my shoulders. I had 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:36.359 an under in my armpit and the thing had a 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:40.199 scope and it was to boom, and um, I just 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:42.359 looked at my friend and handed him the gun and 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:44.400 kind of staggered off. And yeah, I was seeing all 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:49.160 sorts of chicks on YouTube. If you searched girl with shotgun, 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:52.000 there's like hundreds of videos of girls that don't know 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:53.960 how to shoot a rifle properly and getting knocked out. 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:57.000 That's exactly who And it is not funny on YouTube. 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:59.800 It's funny because they put the I didn't get knocked out, 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:03.080 but I still have a scar. You see, I see 0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:06.160 the little crescent right there, that's from the scope. Yeah, 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:09.520 I bet we've both been concussed. Jerry's like, let's move along. 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:13.040 Who cares if you've been concussed. We should finish up 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:15.560 Josh with a little debate. There's some debate in the 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:19.480 medical community about whether it is a structural or functional 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:22.480 issue with the damage. Yeah, I think I think that 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:24.600 the opening up of the brains is starting to show 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:27.840 that it's um structural. And do you think so? Yeah, 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:30.760 the protein tangles is definitely structural. But I guess it 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:33.760 would be both because it's in the structural changes are 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:36.600 interfering with the function. Well yeah, but some people say 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:40.520 that since a concussion is short lived and you fully recover, 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:44.120 then it may not be structural. Maybe it's from multiple 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:47.440 concussions or the severity of the concussion. That'd be my guess. Yea, 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:51.040 they both have good points. Do you got anything else, buddy? 0:20:51.480 --> 0:20:54.920 Uh No, that's about it. I think where your bicycle helmets? Kids? 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:58.440 That's another one. Always always wear your seatbelt. Auto accidents 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:03.280 are another major source of concussions. Horseback riding incidents, yeah, 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:06.760 bikes are huge though. Bikes sure, Um, falling in any 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:10.520 any little kids too are in particular danger because they 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:14.440 haven't gotten their their their coordination, they don't have their 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:16.960 sea legs yet, so they fall over, hit their head 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:20.879 and then actually they can prevent their development further on 0:21:20.960 --> 0:21:24.720 in life. Right Um yeah, I think, uh, just being 0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:28.920 smart and trying to keep your head safe. And and kids, 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:31.320 if you're out there playing like touch football and you 0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:33.560 get you know, tackled, and your head hits the ground 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:38.040 real hard, seriously, stop playing. Your friends might make fun 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:41.480 of you, but you know, tell him if bign Roethlisberger 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:43.240 can take himself out of a game that I can. 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:46.800 That's what I would say. That's good stuff. Who's ah, 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:50.240 So that's concussions uh. And if you want to learn 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:52.720 more about it, you might want to type the word 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:57.240 concussion uh into the handy search bar how stuff works 0:21:57.320 --> 0:22:01.000 dot com. Uh. And always listen to your uncle Chuck too. 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:03.640 That was really good advice, Chuck. Thank you, Josh. So 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:10.280 this means it's time for listener Mayo. I'm a professional uncle, 0:22:10.320 --> 0:22:14.760 by the way, uncle to Reagan Shelby Abbey and no one, 0:22:14.880 --> 0:22:18.000 I don't know that your professional or you paid for that. No, 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:21.120 but I'm good at it. I'm sure you are. It's 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:23.479 a good it's a good gig, all right. I've got 0:22:23.560 --> 0:22:27.480 two quickies from two cute little kids who wrote and 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:29.600 I can never turn these down? Are you uncle to 0:22:29.680 --> 0:22:34.000 these kids? Now? This comes from Will in Arlington, Virginia. 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:38.560 He's twelve. Hi, guys. After hearing your podcast How Flirting Works, 0:22:38.600 --> 0:22:41.080 I realized how much I flirt with girls on a 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:44.920 daily basis. With me being twelve and relationships and dates 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:47.760 being just around the corner, I feel middle school would 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:51.159 be the perfect time to fetch myself a gal. You're kidding. 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:54.080 I know. I was not like this when I was twelve. 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:59.080 I was like meet girls? Uh? Was that me when 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:02.760 I was swell for me? Thank God I'm married. I 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:05.359 do like some girls, but I'm too shy to tell them. 0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:07.520