Annotated Bibliography

1. Fainaru-Wada, Mark, and Steve Fainaru. League of Denial. New York: Crown Archetype, 2013. Print. 

            “League of Denial,” written by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru in 2013, is a book about the connection between football and brain injuries, depression, and altered brain activity that lead to early deaths, retirements, and players being diagnosed with serious and life-threatening conditions, the most significant of which being, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Even though today, the fact that concussions and football are linked, a few years ago no one knew enough about concussions and associating the two caused a great deal of upheaval and struck many debates and researches.

2. Guskiewicz, Kevin M, et al. "Association between recurrent concussion and late-life cognitive impairment in retired professional football players." Neurosurgery 57.4 (2005): 719-726. MEDLINE. Web. 12 Jan 2015.

            In the 2005 Neurosurgery article written by Kevin M Guskiewicz and many other authors, “Association between recurrent concussion and late-life cognitive impairment in retired professional football players,” bring to light the misunderstood and obscure effects of recurrent concussions on the brain and the lingering neurological symptoms and conditions.

3. Hazrati, Lili-Naz, et al. "Absence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in retired football players with multiple concussions and neurological symptomatology." 24 May 2013. Frontier Human Neuroscience. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

            Lili-Naz Hazrati and quite few of her colleagues wrote an article in 2013 called, “Absence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in retired football players with multiple concussions and neurological symptomatology.” This article focuses on the science behind CTE, the study of CTE in football players, the results of those studies and the connection between football and other brain-related conditions.

4. Gardner, Andrew. "The complex clinical issues involved in an athlete's decision to retire from collision sport due to multiple concussions: a case study of a professional athlete." 27 Sept. 2013. Frontier Neurology. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

            In September 2013, Andrew Gardner wrote an article called, “The complex clinical issues involved in an athlete’s decision to retire from collision sport due to multiple concussions: a case study of a professional athlete.” Gardner confronts the issue of early retirement and the factors athletes have to think of when thinking about retirement. Many athletes have been advised to retire early because of their past concussive history.

5. Doolan, Amy W, et al. "A Review Of Return To Play Issues and Sports Related Concussion." Annals of Biomedical Engineering 40.1 (2012): 106-113. MEDLINE. Web. 12 Feb 2015.

            The article, “A review of return to play issues and sports-related concussions,” written by Amy W Doolan and a few others in 2012, highlights the importance of “return to play guidelines.” It will serve as a background information source.

6. Strain, Jeremy, et al. "Depressive symptoms and white matter dysfunction in retired NFL players with concussion history." Neurology 81.1 (2013): 25-32. MEDLINE. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. 

            Jeremy Strain, along with multiple other authors, wrote the 2013 article, “Depressive symptoms and white matter dysfunction in retired NFL players with concussion history.” This article brings us along their experimental path to connect depression in professional football players to head injuries by observing white matter in retired NFL players, who have a multiple concussion history, using brain scans.

7. Sedney, CL, J Orphanos, and JE Bailes. "When to consider retiring an athlete after sports-related concussion." Clinics in Sports Medicine 30.1 (2011): 189-200. CINAHL Complete. Web. 14 Feb 2015.

            CL Sedney, J Orphanos, and JE Bailes discuss when to consider retiring and what factors to contemplate before retiring in the 2011 article, “When to consider retiring an athlete after sports-related concussion.” They examine different conditions that come from multiple concussions, brain assessments based on imaging and diagnoses, and how it could affect you psychologically.

8. Bass III, Pat F. "Managing a patient after concussion." 01 Aug. 2014. Advanstar Communications Inc. Modern Medicine Network. 27 Jan. 2015.

            Pat F. Bass III highlights the protocol doctors take when caring for someone who has received a concussion in his 2014 article, “Managing a patient after concussion.” Bass clarifies the basic, yet crucial steps to take when addressing a concussed patent. This article is useful for background information on concussion care and is more elaborate than Amy W Doolan’s “A review of return to play issues and sports-related concussion” article.

9. Cantu, RC, and JK Register-Mihalik. "Considerations for return-to-play and retirement decisions after concussion." PM & R: The Journal of Injury, Function, and Rehabilitation 3.10 Suppl 2 (2011): S440-S444. MEDLINE. Web. 15 Feb 2015.

            RC Cantu and JK Register-Mihalik wrote the article, “Considerations for return-to-play and retirement decisions after concussion,” in 2011 to acknowledge the growing struggle of deciding whether to risk getting injured further or just retire from the game. They weigh in on the “complexity” of decisions, and the vast amount of components that come into play when deciding. They also set out to supply athletes with suitable fact-based information to use when deciding.

10. Span, Emma. "Briana Scurry." Sports Illustrated 121.1 (2014): 72-75. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Feb. 2015.

            In the 2014 Sports Illustrated article, “Briana Scurry,” Emma Span told the unfortunate story of the U.S. women’s national team’s goalkeeper, Briana Scurry. Span examines the concussion Scurry received in 2010 that caused her to retire early and resulted in surgery and mental depression. Scurry’s injury highlights the risk for high school female soccer players to receive concussions as well.

11. Reinburg, Steven. "Extra Rest May Not Be Best For Kids' Concussions: Two days proved more effective than five days in small study of teens." HealthDay (2013-2015). WebMD. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.

The article written by Steven Reinburg, “Extra Rest May Not Be Best For Kids’ Concussions: Two days proved more effective than five days in small study of teens,” talks about how not only less rest not effect the recovery, but it actually helps. Working on school work or work that involves brainpower actually helps in the recovery process & more rest can prove ineffective. The title is pretty self-explanatory.

12. KH, May, et al. "Table 6: 6-Step Return-to-Play Protocol." Chart. F. Bass III, Pat. "Managing a patient after concussion." 01 Aug. 2014. Modern Medicine Network. 27 Jan. 2015.

      This source, made by May KH and others, is an image of a chart that appears on the Pat F. Bass III’s article “Managing a patient after concussion." The chart portrays the “6-Step” process that most doctors agree on when treating a concussion patient. These are the steps that an athlete must complete, without skipping, to be cleared to play their sport again.

13. Kurowski, B, et al. "Factors that influence concussion knowledge and self-reported attitudes in high school athletes." Sept. 2014. J Trauma Acute Care Surgery. Web. 14 Feb 2015.

      The 2014 article, “Factors that influence concussion knowledge and self-reported attitudes in high school athletes,” written by B Kurowski and others is mostly as it seems. High school athletes commonly have a dilemma when pondering whether to report their concussions. They can either self-report and take a test, be diagnosed with a concussion, and be suspended from their sport until they get cleared, or they can keep playing without any short-term problems. The second choice sounds much more appealing than the first, but its all short-term benefits. This article confronts the factors that influence the decision teenage athletes make for self-reporting.

14. Chen, Yun, Wei Huang, and Shlomi Constantini. "The differences between blast-induced and sports-related brain injuries." 14 Aug. 2014. Frontier Neurology. Web. 15 Feb 2105.

      The article written by Yun Chen, Wei Huang, and Shlomi Constantini, “The differences between blast-induced and sports-related brain injuries,” informs us of the seriousness of both injuries, but the differences between the two. This article is very good for background information because it deals with how athletes tend to think sports-related concussions aren’t as serious as blast-induced concussions and then get injured further because they keep playing, which is called a secondary concussion, and can be taken out from their sport longer, or even permanently.

15. Kumar, Neil S, et al. "On-Field Performance of National Football League Players After Return From Concussion." American Journal of Sports Medicine 42.9 (2014): 2050-2055. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition. Web. 15 Feb 2015.

      Neil S. Kumar and his colleagues’ article, “On-Field Performance of National Football League Players After Return From Concussion,” really helps informing the public on the effects of concussions on athletes. Concussions are a lot more serious than most people think and they can seriously affect performance levels of athletes in quite a few different ways.

16. Omalu, Bennet. Play Hard, Die Young: Football Dementia, Depression, and Death. Lodi, CA: Neo-Forenxis, 2008.

      Bennet Omalu’s book Play Hard, Die Young: Football Dementia, Depression, and Death enlightens the public of the seriousness of multiple concussions and what many football players are dealing with and the reason why many football players had to retire early, or why they died at a young age. Concussions can cause some of the worst brain illnesses there are, but athletes still keep playing their sport, and keep getting concussed.

17. Otto, Jim (with Dave Newhouse). Jim Otto: The Pain of Glory. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing Inc., 2000.

            The story of Jim Otto’s career involves his numerous injuries, frequent surgeries, and how those injuries translated into a struggle to live during his life of retirement. It focuses on the psychological side of how the injures affected him and how the “glory” eventually resulted in a painful struggle.

18. Pellman, Elliot J., et al. "Concussion in Professional Football: Repeat Injuries--Part 4." Neurosurgery 55 (Oct. 2004): 860-876. Web. 15 Feb 2015.

            The article, “Concussion in Professional Football: Repeat Injuries--Part 4” written by Elliot J. Pellman and his colleagues is the medical data of a 6-year study on professional football players who have received multiple concussions. The data from this study shows the signs, symptoms, and management of those athletes.

19. Pellman, Elliot J., et al. "Concussion in Professional Football: Neuropsychological Testing--Part 5." Neurosurgery 55 (Dec. 2004): 1290-1305. Web. 15 Feb 2015.

      This article is the same 6-year study of the same professional football players’ neuropsychological testing after they have received one or more concussions. Neuropsychological testing is a high-intensity IQ test that tests different kinds of brain activity/power. This test allows doctors to see how the concussion has affected these athletes, and what part of the brain is most affected.

20. Pellman, Elliot J., et al. "Concussion in Professional Football: Players Returning to the Same Game--Part 7." Neurosurgery 56 (Jan. 2005): 79-92. Web. 15 Feb 2015.

      Part 7 of the 6-year study of the athletes who’ve received one or more concussions, is the “returning to the same game” aspect of concussions. It involves the decision making of the athletes who have gone through concussion symptoms and neuropsychological testing on whether or not they should return to playing, or retire. Sometimes the decision is for the doctors to make because it becomes a serious medical issue.