Mild Concussions Ignored Lead to CTE
Through research, Rose Gracie has grasped a deeper understanding of what it means to have a concussion – and even more importantly, what can be done to improve it. The daughter of Master Helio Gracie stressed that a lack of education is one of the biggest problems when dealing with a very serious issue.
“They don’t understand what’s wrong with them, so they treat them for depression,” Gracie said. “Treatment for depression is a joke. You give them medicine to hide symptoms. You’re not curing the problem with depression; you’re just hiding symptoms. Then they give them something else on top of it.
Unlike other sports, MMA has an unusual correlation to CTE. Since CTE develops after 20 years of repetitive impacts on the brain, many fighters encounter the condition while they are still fighting.
“The problem with other sports like NFL (or soccer), these guys are usually retired and long gone when these symptoms start popping up,” Gracie said. “With MMA, it’s very different because these guys started training martial arts at a very young age. And they usually have a wrestling background. They’ve had many years of training before they actually stepped into MMA.
“The symptoms are popping up either as they’re coming out of it or still kind of fairly known. So, I think you’ll bring a lot more attention to the disease right now for the simple fact guys are hitting big time CTE right now. Guys that were fighting 20 years ago. PRIDE day fighters. These guys, some of them are still fighting to this day.”
Contrary to popular belief, Gracie said she is not trying to take striking out of fighting. What she is trying to do, however, is erase the stigma that comes with unnecessary ‘toughness’ in the gym.
“The best way for me to approach this situation is not trying to stop punching everybody in the head,” Gracie said. “That’s not the goal. The goal is to educate people. The worst damage doesn’t actually happen at the fights. People think that, ‘Oh my God. This happened at the fight.’ The worst damage that happens to them is actually inside of the gym. And there’s not enough information for them to know, ‘OK, I just got knocked out,’ or ‘I just felt a little groggy,’ or ‘I just have a headache.’
“They are not even associated they could have possibly had a concussion unless they really flat out on the ground. Then their trainers will give them two weeks to come back, two months, or some will be like ‘Get up. Are you feeling okay? Continue training. What’s the matter with you?’”
To learn more about the Gracie Concussion Challenge, visit the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
-MMAJunkie.com
