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New idea for preventing CTE


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5 hours ago, BUFFALOKIE said:

So, accoring to some of you, jumping off of an 18 inch step ladder, landing on your feet and absorbing the impact with your legs (and every part of you body below your skull) will lead to CTE if you do it enough times? Because inertia.

 

Well, I think some of you are wrong. Inertia can be slowed down. The OP's idea is valid. Slowing that inertia over a longer distance and greater mass is certainly a plausible improvement.

 

So slow down the speed of the game.  Create playing surfaces and shoes that make it more difficult for players to accelerate.

 

This wouldn't be a cure-all but could be part of the solution.

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6 hours ago, BUFFALOKIE said:

So, accoring to some of you, jumping off of an 18 inch step ladder, landing on your feet and absorbing the impact with your legs (and every part of you body below your skull) will lead to CTE if you do it enough times? Because inertia.

 

Well, I think some of you are wrong. Inertia can be slowed down. The OP's idea is valid. Slowing that inertia over a longer distance and greater mass is certainly a plausible improvement.

It's a function of energy delivery to the brain.  Small amounts of energy, no matter how they are delivered or reduced, will take more instances to achieve the same damage than larger amounts.  Larger energy doses will require fewer repetitions, presumably.


It's not hard to figure out.  

 

And yes, it's a very simple calculation to figure out how many times jumping off an 18" step ladder will cause CTE, if some value for causing CTE is known.  The number of repetitions might be huge, and therefore impractical to cause CTE, but presumably there is some threshold number that could be reached. 

 

Also, playing football in the NFL is not like jumping off an 18" step ladder.  The energy involved is much greater.

 

Mass x acceleration = force.

 

240 lb. guy running 15 MPH hits 240 lb. guy running 15 MPH; both stop suddenly in their tracks....lots of force being delivered to both bodies.

 

 

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13 hours ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

 

When you make a shoulder tackle you aren't getting CTE  nor concussions. This would do the same.

 

 

Actually the experts claim any jarring hit in any way transfers g forces to brain causing it to rattle inside skull. 

Yes not to the degree a direct hit to helmet/skull creates but a constant effect nonetheless.(this repetitiveness exposure is the catalyst for developing CTE)

 

The Hans device in NASCAR prevents internal decapitation and death when head whips during hard contact with wall and other cars etc etc with head at strange angles. Added benefit is it reduces but does not eliminate concussions during these violent crashes. NASCR drivers do not get CTE as they do not have constant head trauma hits like contact sports.

 

This idea the OP proposes seems to have merit and should be studied. It sounds somewhat like the Zero1 new helmet technology without the connection to shoulder pads that NFL players are using this past year. Alex Smith wears one.

 

I would caution though if every hit to shoulder pads results in g forces more directly going to helmet it may make things worse. The tech would need to address that but the idea sounds interesting.

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I'd like to see the whole NFL move to helmets like these:

 

https://www.wired.com/2016/01/the-zero1-flexible-football-helmet-may-save-players-brains/

 

The flexibility of the material reduces the force much more effectively. If my kids ever want to play football, I'll definitely be getting them these.

 

All hard pads, helmets, braces, etc should be removed from the game and replaced with flexible, force absorbing materials.

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14 hours ago, BUFFALOKIE said:

So, accoring to some of you, jumping off of an 18 inch step ladder, landing on your feet and absorbing the impact with your legs (and every part of you body below your skull) will lead to CTE if you do it enough times? Because inertia.

 

Well, I think some of you are wrong. Inertia can be slowed down. The OP's idea is valid. Slowing that inertia over a longer distance and greater mass is certainly a plausible improvement.

 

Exactly

 

 

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14 hours ago, BUFFALOKIE said:

So, accoring to some of you, jumping off of an 18 inch step ladder, landing on your feet and absorbing the impact with your legs (and every part of you body below your skull) will lead to CTE if you do it enough times? Because inertia.

 

Well, I think some of you are wrong. Inertia can be slowed down. The OP's idea is valid. Slowing that inertia over a longer distance and greater mass is certainly a plausible improvement.

 

No, the OP's idea is not valid, because transmitting the force of the impact from head to shoulders does not decrease the deceleration inflicted on the brain.  The brain experiences the same forces if the body is slowed by the same impulse, no matter where that impulse is applied.

 

Source: I'm a physicist.

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