America must change its “suck-it-up culture” when it comes to responding to head injuries, President Barack Obama said at a White House event on Thursday, during which he revealed his suspicion that he himself sustained concussions as a young athlete.
As the Department of Defense and National Collegiate Athletic Association announced a $30m research programme into the effects of repeated concussions in sport, the president said the biggest problem was attitudes that prevent players from resting after receiving blows to the head.
“We have to change the culture that says 'suck it up',” said Obama. “Identifying concussion and being able to self-diagnose is something that does not make you weak, it makes you strong.”
The concern was echoed by army chief of staff Ray Odierno, who said only 16% of the army's 200,000 cases of traumatic brain injury were combat-related and added: “The biggest problem is recognising that it is OK to come forward”.
The danger of repeated concussion in amateur and professional sport has become a growing issue in recent years, but a panel of experts said that danger was still not fully understood, and that there should be more education of the public. Many parents, the experts said, believed concussion injuries only affected a few full-contact sports, such as American football.
“All across the country, parents are having a troubling conversation, and that’s about the risks of concussions. There’s a lot of concern but there’s a lot of uncertainty,” said Obama.
“Concussions are not just a football injury … every season, you’ve got boys and girls who are getting concussions in lacrosse and soccer and wrestling and ice hockey, as well as football.”
The panel heard from two soccer players who suffered long-term neurological problems from repeated blows sustained in collisions with other players, while heading the ball or in clashes with goalkeepers.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control suggests young people in the US make 250,000 emergency room visits a year with brain injuries sustained in sports and recreation.
But medical experts caution that there is huge variation in the severity of such injuries, and say the most important steps are to recognise the symptoms of concussion and to take players off the field or court if there is any suspicion at all of a head injury.
“The term 'mild concussion' is a misnomer,” said Dr Gerard Gioia, chief of pediatric neuropsychology at Children’s National Medical Center. “They are like snowflakes: every one is different.”
The panel of medical experts also said it was vital that concern about the risks of concussion did not deter parents from letting children take part in sport.
“We want to make sure parents put this into context,” said Dr Dawn Comstock, who runs the National High School Sports Injury Surveillance programme. “The negative consequences of an inactive lifestyle are still much worse.”
This was echoed by Obama, who said the event was intended to give parents more information, not to scare them.
“Obviously there’s a huge public-health interest in making sure that people are participating in sports,” he said.
“But sports is also just fundamental to who we are as Americans and our culture … So with all of these questions swirling around, as a parent and as a fan, and in discussions with a lot of other parents and fans who happen to be in this White House, we decided why not use our convening power to help find some more answers.”
In a number of unscripted comments during the event, the president also spoke of his own experiences as a sportsman and a parent.
“When I was young and played football briefly, there were a couple of times where I’m sure that that ringing sensation in my head and the need to sit down for a while might have been a mild concussion, and at the time you didn’t think anything of it,” he said.
“The awareness is improved today but not by much.”
