By Katie Harrison

While a kid close to your heart may be vying to become the next big NFL linebacker or WME star, there is a strong warning from Dr. Bennet Omalu on the irreversible damage these sports and other sports that involve potential head injuries, can generate.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a degenerative brain disease that may result after numerous blows to the head. In a recent Op-Ed in The New York Times, Dr. Omalu says that children who a diagnosed with CTE will begin to experience symptoms that will last their lifetime: “Depending on the severity of the condition, the child now has a risk of manifesting symptoms of C.T.E. like major depression, memory loss, suicidal thought and actions, loss of intelligence as well as dementia later in life. C.T.E. has also been linked to drug and alcohol abuse as the child enters his 20s, 30s and 40s.”

Dr. Omalu, who first published his findings on this disease in 2002, is strongly urging children to not participate in playing football, and other sports like boxing that pose a risk for CTE. “If a child who plays football is subjected to advanced radiological and neurocognitive studies during the season and several months after the season, there can be evidence of brain damage at the cellular level of brain functioning,” he says.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Pediatric Society also recommended in a 2011 paper that “children should no longer be allowed to engage in high-impact contact sports, exemplified by boxing, and willfully damage their developing brains.”

On December, 25, Concussion, starring Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, will premier. The movie is billed by Sony Pictures as “a dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. Omalu’s emotional quest puts him at dangerous odds with one of the most powerful institutions in the world.” With such high stakes, the movie is not without its controversy.

While it may not be an aunt’s decision on whether or not a nephew – or niece – participates in a sport that makes them susceptible to CTE, a warning to their parents is important. While disappointment may be in the near future, the likelihood of CTE is not.

Photo: Concussion Trailer
Published: December 16, 2015