STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Dr. Teena Shetty has been listening with us. She is a neurologist, author of the upcoming book "Healing The Brain," and she is here to help us understand what the findings mean for young people. Good morning.
TEENA SHETTY: Good morning.
INSKEEP: The lead author of this study says that brain damage begins far before the NFL. How early?
SHETTY: The concern is really with the subconcussive blows, the ones that athletes don't necessarily go to a doctor or a neurologist with. They're not ever even seeing a physician for this because they don't even realize that it's dangerous. And the other concern is the cumulative effect of many of these subconcussive blows as the brain is developing. As the study pointed out, a lot of these hits probably happen in youth in contact sports and may or may not actually develop into concussions. And that is something that we as physicians and coaches are not able to monitor because they don't fully understand the dangers of those blows.
INSKEEP: I just want to understand what you're telling me. You're telling me if I'm watching a football game or even a football practice, and I say, man, that was a hard hit, and the player got up after the hit and walked away, that nevertheless was a dangerous incident.
SHETTY: We don't know that yet, and that's exactly the concern.
INSKEEP: OK. And you said something about repetition as well. I'd like to know how important that is. I mean, are one or two hard hits in youth not such a big deal, but the real problem is 10 years or 20 years of it?
SHETTY: Not necessarily. Every hit may or may not result in a concussion, which is a constellation of neurological symptoms chronologically following a blow to the head or the neck. So it's much easier to have a concussion than one realizes. It's also much easier to not even realize you have a concussion or really be in denial about it. And this is why awareness of concussion is one of the most important lessons from this study.
INSKEEP: I hear your caution here. It sounds to me like you know you have a problem, but it is hard to get your hands around the exact scope of it or exactly what the danger is in any given hit.
SHETTY: Exactly.
INSKEEP: Wow. I know that high schools have struggled with this. Sometimes they get a lot more careful. Sometimes they get a little less careful and say, listen, we got to play the game. How do you think high schools are doing with this issue?
SHETTY: High schools are improving a great deal. I think it's very different to how it was 20 years ago. And there are high school trainers and coaches, depending on the school and their resources, who are there on the field to look out for these injuries. Having said that, the ultimate danger is that only the person who's experiencing it can really speak up. So it's very important for others around them to be aware of the injury, to be cognizant and to be educating youth, especially those who are participating in contact sports, of the risks of these injuries and the long-term consequences, which many people are not aware of.
INSKEEP: I was in a meeting yesterday. And a parent said, I'd never want my kids to play football. If someone came to you asking for your recommendation - should I play football? - what would you tell them?
SHETTY: I discuss this question very often. And it really is a very personal risk-versus-benefit ratio, often, if the person is not someone who's had multiple concussions that took a long time to recover from and if those concussions were not also close together. So it's really a discussion of the importance of contact sports in their life, as well as their potential personal risk of developing a neurological illness. So some people are perhaps maybe genetically more vulnerable. Or they may be more vulnerable because of other medical risk factors, whether it be a history of multiple concussions or migraines or other brain problem.
INSKEEP: Dr. Teena Shetty, a neurologist, author of "Healing The Brain," thank you so much.
SHETTY: Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE LAST THING ON MY MIND")
PORTER WAGONER AND DOLLY PARTON: (Singing) Be unkind. You know that was the last thing on my mind. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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