scholarly journals Molecular Deficits Relevant to Concussion Are Prevalent In Football Players Entering the NFL Draft

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura J Kunces ◽  
John A Keenan ◽  
Caleb M Schmidt ◽  
Michael A. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Brain Injury ◽  
National Football League ◽  
Metabolic Phenotype ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Reference Ranges ◽  
Omega 3 ◽  
Acid Ratio ◽  
Poor Outcomes ◽  
And Function ◽  
Collegiate Football

Abstract BackgroundFactors influencing individual susceptibility to brain acceleration forces or to poor outcomes in brain injury are not well understood. Characterization of blood variants in athletes entering the highly competitive contact environment of professional football, when coupled with longitudinal follow-up of future concussion incidence and trajectory, may provide additional insight into factors that influence brain injury. We observed the metabolic phenotype of collegiate football players entering the 2016 National Football League (NFL) draft. The principal aims were to characterize the molecular status of individual athletes and quantify the prevalence of athletes with multiple concurrent molecular deficits. MethodsBlood was taken from 30 elite American collegiate football players seven weeks before the NFL scouting combine and 15-weeks before entering the NFL draft. ResultsAverage results revealed undesirable values in Omega-3 Index (avg ± std, 4.66 ± 1.16 %), AA:EPA fatty acid ratio (29.13 ± 10.78), homocysteine (11.4 ± 3.4 µmol/L), vitamin D (30 ± 11.4 ng/mL), and RBC magnesium (4.1 ± 0.8 mg/dL). Using sport optimized reference ranges from previously published research, 10% presented with 3, 40% presented with 4, and 50% of athletes presented with 5 undesirable values at once. ConclusionWe conclude molecular deficits in this cohort entering the NFL draft were common, with a significant number of athletes presenting with multiple abnormalities, all with relevant influence on brain health and function. This data warrants extensive metabolic phenotyping and prophylactic precision nutrition countermeasures for athletes entering contact environments.

scholarly journals Fluid Consumption and Sweating in National Football League and Collegiate Football Players With Different Access to Fluids During Practice

2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Fowkes Godek ◽  
Arthur R. Bartolozzi ◽  
Chris Peduzzi ◽  
Scott Heinerichs ◽  
Eugene Garvin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Football League ◽  
National Collegiate Athletic Association ◽  
Sweat Rate ◽  
Fluid Replacement ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Fluid Consumption ◽  
Sweat Loss ◽  
Sports Drinks ◽  
Football Team ◽  
Collegiate Football

Abstract Context: Considerable controversy regarding fluid replacement during exercise currently exists. Objective: To compare fluid turnover between National Football League (NFL) players who have constant fluid access and collegiate football players who replace fluids during water breaks in practices. Design: Observational study. Setting: Respective preseason training camps of 1 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II (DII) football team and 1 NFL football team. Both morning and afternoon practices for DII players were 2.25 hours in length, and NFL players practiced for 2.25 hours in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon. Environmental conditions did not differ. Patients or Other Participants: Eight NFL players (4 linemen, 4 backs) and 8 physically matched DII players (4 linemen, 4 backs) participated. Intervention(s): All players drank fluids only from their predetermined individual containers. The NFL players could consume both water and sports drinks, and the DII players could only consume water. Main Outcome Measure(s): We measured fluid consumption, sweat rate, total sweat loss, and percentage of sweat loss replaced. Sweat rate was calculated as change in mass adjusted for fluids consumed and urine produced. Results: Mean sweat rate was not different between NFL (2.1 ± 0.25 L/h) and DII (1.8 ± 0.15 L/h) players (F1,12  =  2, P  =  .18) but was different between linemen (2.3 ± 0.2 L/h) and backs (1.6 ± 0.2 L/h) (t14  =  3.14, P  =  .007). We found no differences between NFL and DII players in terms of percentage of weight loss (t7  =  −0.03, P  =  .98) or rate of fluid consumption (t7  =  −0.76, P  =  .47). Daily sweat loss was greater in DII (8.0 ± 2.0 L) than in NFL (6.4 ± 2.1 L) players (t7  =  −3, P  =  .02), and fluid consumed was also greater in DII (5.0 ± 1.5 L) than in NFL (4.0 ± 1.1 L) players (t7  =  −2.8, P  =  .026). We found a correlation between sweat loss and fluids consumed (r  =  0.79, P < .001). Conclusions: During preseason practices, the DII players drinking water at water breaks replaced the same volume of fluid (66% of weight lost) as NFL players with constant access to both water and sports drinks.

scholarly journals Identification Of Blood Biomarkers Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury In Collegiate Football Players

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 740
Author(s):  
Eunhan Cho ◽  
Nathan Lemoine ◽  
Bailey Theall ◽  
Amy Turner ◽  
Jack Marucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Blood Biomarkers ◽  
Collegiate Football

Professional Football Scouts: An Investigation of Racial Stacking

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 356-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Woodward
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
National Football League ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
White Athletes ◽  
Collegiate Football

In this article the author examines sports guides that are dedicated to critiquing collegiate football players eligible for the annual National Football League amateur draft. An effort is made to assess whether the scouts in these guides describe collegiate players in ways that correspond with U.S. race logic as articulated by Coakley (1998). More specifically, the article focuses on the mental and physical descriptions of African American and White athletes by professional scouts. The results show that African American players are more likely to be described in physical terms (rather than mental terms) than are White players in the same positions.

Examination Of Vascular Structure And Function In Collegiate Football Players

2009 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 61-62
Author(s):  
Peter H. Brubaker ◽  
J Brian Moore ◽  
Devon A. Dobrosielski ◽  
Daryl Rosenbaum
Keyword(s):  
Structure And Function ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Vascular Structure ◽  
And Function ◽  
Collegiate Football

scholarly journals Prevalence of Shoulder Labral Injury in Collegiate Football Players at the National Football League Scouting Combine

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 232596711878398
Author(s):  
Sandeep Mannava ◽  
Salvatore J. Frangiamore ◽  
Colin P. Murphy ◽  
Anthony Sanchez ◽  
George Sanchez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Football League ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Collegiate Football ◽  
Labral Injury

Linear and Angular Head Acceleration Measurements in Collegiate Football

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Rowson ◽  
Gunnar Brolinson ◽  
Mike Goforth ◽  
Dave Dietter ◽  
Stefan Duma
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Human Head ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Head Acceleration ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Acceleration Data ◽  
Measurement Devices ◽  
Collegiate Football

Each year, between 1.6×106 and 3.8×106 concussions are sustained by athletes playing sports, with football having the highest incidence. The high number of concussions in football provides a unique opportunity to collect biomechanical data to characterize mild traumatic brain injury. Human head acceleration data for a range of impact severities were collected by instrumenting the helmets of collegiate football players with accelerometers. The helmets of ten Virginia Tech football players were instrumented with measurement devices for every game and practice for the 2007 football season. The measurement devices recorded linear and angular accelerations about each of the three axes of the head. Data for each impact were downloaded wirelessly to a sideline data collection system shortly after each impact occurred. Data were collected for 1712 impacts, creating a large and unbiased data set. While a majority of the impacts were of relatively low severity (<30 g and <2000 rad/s2), 172 impacts were greater than 40 g and 143 impacts were greater than 3000 rad/s2. No instrumented player sustained a clinically diagnosed concussion during the 2007 season. A large and unbiased data set was compiled by instrumenting the helmets of collegiate football players. Football provides a unique opportunity to collect head acceleration data of varying severity from human volunteers. The addition of concurrent concussive data may advance the understanding of the mechanics of mild traumatic brain injury. With an increased understanding of the biomechanics of head impacts in collegiate football and human tolerance to head acceleration, better equipment can be designed to prevent head injuries.

The ENIGMA Brain Injury Working Group: Approach, Challenges, and Potential Benefits

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth A. Wilde ◽  
Emily L. Dennis ◽  
David F Tate
Keyword(s):  
Brain Injury ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Group Approach ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
And Function ◽  
Neuroimaging Genetics

The Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) consortium brings together researchers from around the world to try to identify the genetic underpinnings of brain structure and function, along with robust, generalizable effects of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The recently-formed ENIGMA Brain Injury working group includes 8 subgroups, based largely on injury mechanism and patient population. This introduction to the special issue summarizes the history, organization, and objectives of ENIGMA Brain Injury, and includes a discussion of strategies, challenges, opportunities and goals common across 6 of the subgroups under the umbrella of ENIGMA Brain Injury. The following articles in this special issue, including 6 articles from different subgroups, will detail the challenges and opportunities specific to each subgroup.

scholarly journals Effect of Resisted Sprint and Plyometric Training on Lower Limb Functional Performance in Collegiate Male Football Players: A Randomised Control Trial

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 6702
Author(s):  
Shahnaz Hasan ◽  
Gokulakannan Kandasamy ◽  
Danah Alyahya ◽  
Asma Alonazi ◽  
Azfar Jamal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Performance ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Training Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Plyometric Training ◽  
Sprint Training ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Hop Test ◽  
Collegiate Football

The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the short-term effects of resisted sprint and plyometric training on sprint performance together with lower limb physiological and functional performance in collegiate football players. Ninety collegiate football players participated in this three-arm, parallel group randomized controlled trial study. Participants were randomly divided into a control group and two experimental groups: resisted sprint training (RST) (n = 30), plyometric training (PT) (n = 30), and a control group (n = 30). Participants received their respective training program for six weeks on alternate days. The primary outcome measures were a knee extensor strength test (measured by an ISOMOVE dynamometer), a sprint test and a single leg triple hop test. Measurements were taken at baseline and after 6 weeks post-training. Participants, caregivers, and those assigning the outcomes were blinded to the group assignment. A mixed design analysis of variance was used to compare between groups, within-group and the interaction between time and group. A within-group analysis revealed a significant difference (p < 0.05) when compared to the baseline with the 6 weeks post-intervention scores for all the outcomes including STN (RST: d = 1.63; PT: d = 2.38; Control: d = 2.26), ST (RST: d = 1.21; PT: d = 1.36; Control: d = 0.38), and SLTHT (RST: d = 0.76; PT: d = 0.61; Control: d = 0.18). A sub-group analysis demonstrated an increase in strength in the plyometric training group (95% CI 14.73 to 15.09, p = 0.00), an increase in the single leg triple hop test in the resisted sprint training group (95% CI 516.41 to 538.4, p = 0.05), and the sprint test was also improved in both experimental groups (95% CI 8.54 to 8.82, p = 0.00). Our findings suggest that, during a short-term training period, RST or PT training are equally capable of enhancing the neuromechanical capacities of collegiate football players. No adverse events were reported by the participants.

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