Concussions in Sports: Frequency, Risks & Long-Term Effects

Question
I am a freshman at Temescal Canyon High School researching Concussions that occur in out modern sports. If you could please answer a couple questions that would be great.
1. How often are Concussions in sports?
2. Do you think Sports are taking Concussions seriously?
3. Other than brain damage, what other long term affect could come into play after a concussion?
Thank you for your time.

Answer
This is a very hot topic that is getting a lot of press and a lot of research.....


1) concussions are very common.... a lot more that we thought.

2) with the new press it is receiving, better guidelines are being developed.... the biggest being that repetetive concussions in short succession do a lot more damage than each one individually.  There should be a protective phase for 4-6 weeks after a true concussion to prevent the compounding of damage.

3)Primarily, it is the brain damage..... that is an excellent topic to do a paper on..... good luck with it.