Post-concussion syndrome
Though no universally accepted definition of postconcussive syndrome exists, most of the literature defines the syndrome as the development of at least 3 of the following symptoms: headache, dizziness, fatigue, irritability, impaired memory and concentration, insomnia, and lowered tolerance for noise and light. One complication in diagnosis is that symptoms of PCS also occur in people who have no history of head injury, but who have other medical and psychological complaints. In one study 64% of people with TBI, 11% of those with brain injuries, and 7% of those with other injuries met the DSM-IV criteria for post-concussion syndrome. Many of these PCS sufferers were misdiagnosed as having other unrelated conditions due to commonality of symptoms. (see diagnosis, below).
Concussions in American football
The NFL spent years trying to deny and cover up any link that emerged connecting head injuries sustained while playing football with long-term brain disorders. The NFL Mild Traumatic Brain Committee, first formed in 1994, reported in December 1999 that the number of head injuries had remained "remarkably the same over the course of four years." The committee went a step further in 2004 when it suggested in an article published in "Neurosurgery" that "NFL players have evolved to a state where their brains are less susceptible to injury." Two months after that, MTBI publishes another article that concludes "Players who are concussed and return to the same game have fewer initial signs and symptoms than those removed from play. Return to play does not involve a significant risk of a second injury either in the same game or during the season." However, when Dr. Bennet Omalu examined the brain of former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster, he discovered a new brain disease, which he called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. He outlined his findings in a scientific paper published in "Neurosurgery" in July 2005. The NFL's MTBI committee wrote in May 2006 that the article be retracted. Dr. Omalu instead wrote a second paper in the same magazine, this time about former Pittsburgh Steeler Terry Long. Dr. Ira Casson, who was then co-chair of MTBI, denied in a televised interview that there was any link between head injuries sustained playing in the NFL and long-term brain damage. His repeated denials won him the nickname "Dr. No." In September 2009, "The New York Times" published an article of an NFL-funded study stating that former players are 19 times more likely than the general population to have dementia, Alzheimer's or other memory-related diseases. The NFL's spokesperson, Greg Aiello, publicly said, "the study did not formally diagnose dementia, that it was subject to shortcomings of telephone surveys." Two months later, Aiello told "New York Times" reporter Alan Schwarz that "it's quite obvious from the medical research that's been done that concussions can lead to long-term problems." It was the first time any League official had acknowledged a link between the two.