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by: Linda Carroll; David Rosner

ISBN: 9781451627220 | 145162722X

Brings the explosive but largely invisible epidemic of concussions out of the shadows through stories of kids and pro ball players and doctors.

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FOR FAR TOO LONG, the menace of concussions has been hidden in plain sight. On playing fields across America, lives are being derailed by seemingly innocuous jolts to the head. From the peewees to the pros, concussions are reaching epidemic proportions. This book brings that hidden epidemic and its consequences out of the shadows.

As frightening as the numbers are—estima... MOREtes of sports-related concussions range from 1.6 million to 3.8 million annually in the United States—they can’t begin to explain the profound impact of a hidden health problem that can strike any of us. It is becoming increasingly clear that concussions, like severe head traumas, can rob us of our memory, our mental abilities, our very sense of self. Because the damage caused by a concussion is rarely visible to the naked eye or even on a brain scan, no one knows how many millions might be living lives devastated by an invisible injury too often shrugged off as “just a bump on the head.”

This book puts a human face on a huge public health crisis. Through narratives that chronicle the poignant experiences of real people struggling with this invisible and often unrecognized brain injury, Linda Carroll and David Rosner bring home its potentially devastating consequences. Among those you will meet are a high school football player whose college dreams were derailed by a series of undiagnosed concussions, a hard-driving soccer star whose own struggles with concussions pushed her to crusade for safety reform as a coach and soccer mom, and an economist who lost her career because of lingering concussion symptoms from a fender bender.

The Concussion Crisis weaves these human dramas with compelling stories of scientists and doctors who are unraveling the mysteries of how an invisible injury can wreak such havoc. It takes readers into the top labs, where scientists are teasing out what goes wrong in the brain after a jolt to the head, and into the nation’s leading concussion clinic, where patients get cutting-edge management and treatment. Carroll and Rosner analyze the cultural factors that allowed this burgeoning epidemic to fester unseen and untreated. They chronicle the growing public awareness sparked by the premature retirements of superstars like NFL quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Steve Young. And they argue for an immediate change in a macho culture that minimizes the dangers inherent in repeated jolts to the head.

The Concussion Crisis sounds an urgent wake-up call to parents, coaches, trainers, doctors, and the athletes themselves. The book will stand as the definitive exploration of this heretofore-silent health crisis. It should be required reading for every parent with a child playing sports—in fact, by everyone who has ever suffered a hard bump on the head.

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The first book to bring the silent epidemic of sports concussions out of the shadows, with dramatic true-life stories of victims—high school football players, college basketball stars, professional sports heroes—and the doctors and scientists who are unraveling the mysteries of concussions and crusading to prevent this devastating injury.

• Follows in the footsteps of classics: Like what Fast Food Nation did for the American diet and The Noonday Demon did for depression, The Concussion Crisis puts a human face on a huge but largely invisible public health crisis.

• An epidemic that afflicts millions: In the United States alone, 1.7 million people are seen in the ER each year for traumatic brain injuries, mostly concussions—more than for invasive cancers, heart attacks, and strokes. Experts estimate that millions more go undiagnosed and untreated. And yet, each day, parents around the country send their kids off to play sports completely unaware of the risk to their children’s brains. The Concussion Crisis is essential reading for every family.

• A hidden health crisis revealed: Concussions can rob their victims of memory, mental ability, even a sense of self. Because the damage is rarely visible and barely registers on a brain scan, it’s easy to miss something that all too often is shrugged off as “just a bump on the head.”

• Filled with poignant true-life examples: Readers meet a high school football star whose college career is derailed by concussions, a soccer mom who herself suffered concussions and now advocates for safety reform, a doctor who treats student athletes as well as pro players suffering from concussions, and more.

• A call to action: The Concussion Crisis argues for a wholesale change in our culture—in how we think about and play sports at all levels, from peewee leagues to the Big Leagues.