The Concussion Crisis

Anatomy of a Silent Epidemic

By: Linda Carroll, David Rosner

Narrated by: Pam Ward

Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

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---estimates 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.

©2011 Linda Carroll and David Rosner (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This noteworthy book issues a challenge to the "macho play-through-the pain" sports culture and urges a rethinking of safety versus spectacle." ( Publishers Weekly)

Not what I expected

This book starts out informative, explaining what happens in the brain with a concussion. Then, too much attention to the history of boxing. I haven't finished the entire book yet, but unless it takes a turn for the better I wouldnt recommend it. I want up to date info, not what multiple hits to the head in boxing did to Joe Frazier, etc.