The new film “Concussion,” which opened in theaters Christmas Day, chronicles the discovery by Dr. Bennet Omalu of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in conducting autopsies of former NFL players who had suffered concussions. Healthy Headlines attended an advance screening of the film with Dr. Michael Miller, medical director of St. Elizabeth Sports Medicine since its inception in 1989. Here are five takeaways Dr. Miller had from the film:
No. 1: IT’S GOOD FOR AWARENESS
I think my biggest takeaway is this is going to make people ask questions, and that’s a good thing. It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you have little kids, or adolescents, or collegiate athletes. It’s going to make people go back and start talking to their physicians, their athletic trainers, their coaches. If you’re a parent and you have a young athlete in peewee football, you want to know: What things are you going to do to protect my little boy? Are you aware of the proper tackling techniques? Are you up on all the rules, and are you going to enforce all the rules? Are you making sure we have good equipment and that it fits properly? This is going to be huge for awareness.
No. 2: THERE ARE PROBABLY MORE CONCUSSIONS THAN WE THINK
There are some really important messages that I don’t know if everybody will pick up on. For example, you don’t have to get knocked out to have a concussion. In fact, probably 90 percent of the concussions related to sports, you don’t lose consciousness. ” I think the actual incidence of concussion, we still probably underestimate. It’s still sort of a hidden epidemic. The kids don’t recognize what’s wrong with them, or more concerning, they don’t want to come forward because they don’t want to come out of a game. That’s the kind of stuff where maybe the movie will have an impact. The next time that kid says, “You know what? I just got hit pretty hard. Instead of keeping my mouth shut ” I better go tell somebody. And that might be one of the greatest things that can come of it.”
No. 3: IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A CONCUSSION TO BE A CONCERN
We also are very concerned with these what we call sub-concussive events. They appear harmless, but we actually don’t know. That’s important, there’s still so much that we don’t understand, and we’re still trying to figure it all out, but there’s some real concern that the little sub-concussive events add up, dinger after dinger after dinger.
No. 4: FOR ALL WE’VE LEARNED, THERE’S MUCH STILL UNKNOWN
There’s still a lot of debate in the medical community about the cause and effect between head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. I think we all realize that not every retired NFL player has or will get CTE. How come? What’s the difference between this one that has it and this one that doesn’t? The concern is valid. Are there other mental health issues that play a role? Are there other issues that cause dementia in some of them, or substance use, alcohol, drugs, steroids? I’m not saying that definitively, but these are questions that must be asked. ” We have to be good scientists. I think there’s a danger you can walk out (of the theater) and say, “Oh, they’re all going to have brain damage.” We have to be responsible in how we work through this.
No. 5: KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW NOW, WOULD YOU LET YOUR OWN KIDS PLAY FOOTBALL?
I have two girls. But I have thought about that. I would have concern. My daughter plays soccer, and she did have a concussion, and I was very concerned. I think where we are right now is most parents are going to have to make their own decision on an individual basis. What I would tell parents is get engaged with your kids’ program, at a young age. Be a part of any rule changes that would promote safety. Encourage enforcement of the rules. I would want to know, my son’s coach, does he get this? Does he respect these concerns? Is he going to teach good technique? Is he going to make sure my son’s helmet fits properly, and is used properly? Those would be the things I would encourage parents to do ““ stay involved ““ and then they can make an informed decision. I don’t think it’s appropriate just yet to walk out and say, “OK, football’s terrible, don’t ever play it again.”
Photo provided by © 2015 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved. From left to right: Will Smith, the real Bennet Omalu and director Peter Landesman on the set of Columbia Pictures’ “Concussion.”
