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Truth Doesn't Have a Side

Page 29

by Bennet Omalu


  10.Mark Maske, “Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones: ‘Absurd’ to Think Current Data Shows Clear Link between CTE, Football,” Washington Post, March 23, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2016/03/22/jerry-jones-does-not-believe-a-link-between-football-and-brain-disease-has-been-established (accessed February 1, 2017).

  11.Zak Keefer, “Colts Owner Jim Irsay on Concussions: ‘No One Knew Anything,’” Indianapolis Star, March 28, 2016, www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2016/03/28/colts-owner-jim-irsay-concussions-no-one-knew-anything/82341376 (accessed February 1, 2017).

  Chapter 16: “In the Name of Christ, Stop!"

  1.The story is told by Theodoret of Cyrus in The Ecclesiastical History, Book V, Chapter XXVI (“Of Honorius the emperor and Telemachus the monk”), www.newadvent.org/fathers/27025.htm (accessed February 1, 2017).

  2.Bennet I. Omalu et al., “Fatal Fulminant Pan-Meningo-Polioencephalitis Due to West Nile Virus,” Brain Pathology 13.4 (October 2003): 465–72, www.mailman.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/legacy/fatalfulminantpan-meningo-polio encephalitisduetowestnilevirus.pdf (accessed February 17, 2017).

  3.H. B. Armah, G. Wang, B. I. Omalu et al., “Systemic Distribution of West Nile Virus Infection: Postmortem Immunohistochemical Study of Six Cases,” Brain Pathology 17.4 (October 2007): 354–62.

  4.B. I. Omalu et al., “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in a National Football League Player,” Neurosurgery 57.1 (July 2005): 132, www.jeannemarielaskas.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CTE-NFL-part-1.pdf (accessed February 1, 2017).

  5.Romans 8:28, 31, 35, 37–39.

  Chapter 17: The Baton Is Passed

  1.Ira R. Casson, Elliot J. Pellman, and David C. Viano, “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in a National Football League Player: To the Editor,” Neurosurgery 58.5 (May 2006): E1003, http://journals.lww.com/neurosurgery/Fulltext/2006/05000/Chronic_Traumatic_Encephalopathy_in_a_National.35.aspx (accessed February 1, 2017).

  2.Ed Bouchette, “Surgeon Disagrees with Wecht That Football Killed Long,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 15, 2005, www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2005/09/15/Surgeon-disagrees-with-Wecht-that-football-killed-Long/stories/200509150517 (accessed February 1, 2017).

  3.Bennet I. Omalu et al., “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in a National Football League Player: To the Editor: In Reply,” Neurosurgery 58.5 (May 2006): E1003, http://journals.lww.com/neurosurgery/Fulltext/2006/05000/Chronic _Traumatic_Encephalopathy_in_a_National.36.aspx (accessed February 1, 2017).

  4.Donald W. Marion, “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in a National Football League Player: To the Editor: In Reply,” Neurosurgery 58.5 (May 2006): E1003, http://journals.lww.com/neurosurgery/Fulltext/2006/05000/Chronic _Traumatic_Encephalopathy_in_a_National.41.aspx (accessed February 1, 2017).

  5.Robert Dvorchak, “Wecht: Long Died from Brain Injury: Had Head Trauma from NFL Days,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 14, 2005, www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2005/09/14/Wecht-Long-died-from-brain-injury/stories/200509140347 (accessed February 1, 2017).

  6.Quoted in Ed Bouchette, “Surgeon Disagrees with Wecht That Football Killed Long,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 15, 2005, www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2005/09/15/Surgeon-disagrees-with-Wecht-that-football-killed-Long/stories/200509150517 (accessed February 1, 2017); Jonathan Silver, “Suicide Ruling in Long’s Death Hasn’t Ended Controversy,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 26, 2006, http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2006/01/26/Suicide-ruling-in-Long-s-death-hasn-t-ended-controversy/stories/200601260352 (accessed February 1, 2017).

  7.Paula Reed Ward, “Wecht Indicted by Grand Jury: Medical Examiner Accused of Public Use, Private Gain,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 21, 2006, 1,

  8.Paula Reed Ward, “Wecht Charges Dropped: Forensic Pathologist Call Buchanan ‘a Sore Loser,’” June 3, 2009, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2009/06/03/Wecht-charges-dropped/stories/200906030214 (accessed February 1, 2017).

  9.Steve Almasy and Jill Martin, “Judge Approves NFL Concussion Lawsuit Settlement,” CNN, April 22, 2015, www.cnn.com/2015/04/22/us/nfl-concussion-lawsuit-settlement (accessed February 1, 2017); Christian Red, “Supreme Court Ruling Paves Way for NFL Retirees to Receive Concussion Benefits,” New York Daily News, December 12, 2016, www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/nfl-1-billion-concussion-settlement-approved-supreme-court-article-1.2908003 (accessed February 1, 2017).

  10.See Robert Dvorchak, “Steelers Doctor Says Concluding Football Led to Long’s Demise Is Bad Science,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 16, 2005, www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2005/09/16/Steelers-doctor-says-concluding-football-led-to-Long-s-demise-is-bad-science/stories/200509160237 (accessed February 1, 2017).

  11.“FDA Allows Marketing of First-of-Kind Computerized Cognitive Tests to Help Assess Cognitive Skills after a Head Injury,” FDA News Release, August 22, 2016, www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm517526.htm (accessed February 1, 2017).

  12.Bennet I. Omalu et al., “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in a National Football League Player: Part II,” Neurosurgery 59.5 (November 2006): 1086–93, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6656243_Chronic_traumatic_ encephalopathy_in_a_National_Football_League_player_Part_II (accessed February 1, 2017).

  13.David C. Viano, “Concussion in Professional Football: Performance of Newer Helmets in Reconstructed Game Impacts,” Neurosurgery 59.3 (September 2006): 591–606, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6962379 _Concussion_in_Professional_Football_Performance_of_Newer_Helmets _in_Reconstructed_Game_ImpactsPart_13 (accessed February 1, 2017).

  14.Alan Schwarz, “Expert Ties Ex-Player’s Suicide to Brain Damage,” New York Times, January 18, 2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/sports/football/18waters.html (accessed February 1, 2017).

  Chapter 18: Marginalized, Minimalized, Ostracized

  1.Luke 17:11–19.

  2.Tom Gerencer, “How Much Money Do NFL Players Make?” Money Nation, January 5, 2016, http://moneynation.com/how-much-money-do-nfl-players-make (accessed February 1, 2017).

  3.Cited in Ann McKee et al., “The Spectrum of Disease in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,” Brain 136 (January 2013): 43–64.

  4.Kurt Badenhausen, “Average MLB Player Salary Nearly Double NFL’s, But Still Trails NBA’s,” Forbes, January 23, 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2015/01/23/average-mlb-salary-nearly-double-nfls-but-trails-nba-players/#6f38440d2d5d (accessed February 1, 2017).

  5.Pablo S. Torre, “How (and Why) Athletes Go Broke,” Sports Illustrated, March 23, 2009, www.si.com/vault/2009/03/23/105789480/how-and-why-athletes-go-broke (accessed February 1, 2017).

  Chapter 20: Finding Life in the Wilderness

  1.Mark 4:1–20.

  2.Romans 12:2.

  3.David C. Viano, Ira R. Casson, and Elliot J. Pellman, “Concussion in Professional Football: Biomechanics of the Struck Player—Part 14,” Neurosurgery 61.2 (August 2007): 313–28, www.researchgate.net/publication/6077137_Concussion_in _profession_football_Biomechanics_of_the_struck_player_-_Part_14 (accessed February 1, 2017).

  4.David C. Viano et al., “Concussion in Professional Football: Animal Model of Brain Injury—Part 15,” Neurosurgery 64.6 (June 2009): 1162–73, www.researchgate.net/publication/26258654_Concussion_in_professional_football _Animal_model_of_brain_injury_-_Part_15 (accessed February 1, 2017).

  5.Bennet I. Omalu et al., “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in a National Football League Player: Case Report and Emerging Medicolegal Practice Questions,” Journal of Forensic Nursing 6.1 (Spring 2010): 40–46, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1939-3938.2009.01064.x/abstract (accessed February 1, 2017).

  6.Jeanne Marie Laskas, “Game Brain: Bennet Omalu, Concussions, and the NFL: How One Doctor Changed Football Forever,” GQ, September 14, 2009, www.gq.com/story/nfl-players-brain-dementia-study-memory-concussions (accessed February 1, 2017).

  Chapter 21: Omalu Goes Hollywood

  1.Bennet I. Omalu et al., “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in a Prof
essional American Wrestler,” Journal of Forensic Nursing 6.3 (Fall 2010): 130–36, http://muchnick.net/omalu_ journal_article.pdf (accessed February 1, 2017).

  2.Bennet I. Omalu et al., “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Suicides and Parasuicides in Professional American Athletes: The Role of the Forensic Pathologist,” American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 31.2 (June 2010): 130–32, www.protectthebrain.org/documents/CTE_Suicides-and-Parasuicides _Orange-Journal_2009.pdf (accessed February 1, 2017).

  3.Bennet I. Omalu et al., “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in an Iraqi War Veteran with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Who Committed Suicide,” Neurosurgical Focus 31.5 (November 2011): E3, www.researchgate.net/publication/51761867_Chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy_in_an_Iraqi_war _veteran_with_posttraumatic_stress_disorder_who_committed_suicide (accessed February 1, 2017).

  4.Bennet I. Omalu et al., “Emerging Histomorphologic Phenotypes of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in American Athletes,” Neurosurgery 69.1 (July 2011): 173–83, www.researchgate.net/publication/50227449_Emerging _Histomorphologic_Phenotypes_of_Chronic_Traumatic_Encephalopathy_in _American_Athletes (accessed February 1, 2017).

  Chapter 22: Concussion

  1.Luke 1:38.

  2.Matthew 17:20–21.

  Afterword: I Bet My Medical License That O. J. Simpson Has CTE

  1.Romans 12:2.

  2.Matthew 11:19.

  3.1 John 4:7.

  Index

  Abiola, Moshood, 49–50

  academic papers, 178–79

  aggression, 280

  AIDS, 93–95

  Aikman, Troy, 167

  alcohol abuse, 175, 280

  Allegheny County medical examiner’s office, 100–107, 111, 119–28, 200–201, 219

  ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), 274, 280

  Alzheimer’s disease, 140, 145, 149, 278

  America, contradictions in, 87–97

  American Academy of Pediatrics, 166–67

  American Association of Neuropathologists (AANP), 215–16

  American Association of Physician Leadership, 217–18

  American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 234

  American Medical Association, 217–18

  amyloid proteins, 144, 145, 190, 236

  Apuzzo, Michael, 180–81, 182–83, 184, 228, 235

  attention, loss of ability, 280

  autopsy pathology, 93–95

  Babangida, General, 49, 50

  Baggar, Amal, 238, 239

  Bailes, Julian, 208–9, 210, 211, 234, 235, 236

  Baldwin, Alec, 218

  Baltimore Ravens, 182

  baseball, 204

  basketball, 204

  behavioral symptoms, 280

  Benoit, Chris, 208–10, 213, 228, 234

  Biafra, 23–26, 28–30, 267

  Bible reading, 226–27

  biomechanical loading, 146–47

  blows to the head, 146, 259, 272, 276, 280–81

  as cause of brain damage, 169

  recent discoveries about, 269

  blunt force trauma to the head, 146, 148

  BMX bikers, 277

  Boston University, 211–12, 224–25, 231

  boxing, 145, 146, 167, 169, 173, 190, 214, 235, 275, 277, 282, 283

  brain, human, 122–23

  and concussions, 281

  damage caused by subconcussive hits to, 169, 263

  fixing, 123–24

  full development of, 276

  inability to regenerate, 276–77, 279

  neurodegenerative diseases of, 149

  protecting, 267

  repetitive injuries, 274–75

  vulnerability of, 260

  “brain crisis,” 16

  brain trauma, 124, 144, 235. See also CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy)

  questions from parents about, 269–83

  Canadian Pediatric Society, 167

  Casson, Dr. Ira, 189, 190

  Chicago Bears, 167

  children

  alternative sports to football, 270–71, 272

  and CTE, 282–83

  and football, 13, 166–67, 174–75, 203, 268–83

  protecting brains of, 267

  questions from parents about brain trauma, 269–83

  risks when playing high-impact, high-contact sports, 258–59

  cigarette industry, 172

  civil war, Nigerian, 23–26, 27–36, 45–46

  cognitive dissonance, 167, 266

  cognitive symptoms, 266, 279–80

  College of American Pathologists, 148, 217–18

  College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, 38–44

  Columbia University, 84–85, 88–97, 106–7

  concentration, problems with, 166, 236

  Concussion (movie), 16, 27, 109–10, 117, 149, 207–8, 218, 229

  impact on moviegoers, 262–63

  Omalu’s reaction to, 245–47

  premier, 245–54

  concussions, 147, 281–82

  and brain damage, 269, 281

  frequency in sports, 179

  and helmets, 195, 273

  imPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing), 193–94

  long-term effects of, 168

  and NFL in 1994, 167

  protocols, 230

  reaction to, until recently, 263–64

  research about dangers of, 165

  conformational intelligence, 47–48, 50, 167, 173, 181, 185, 199, 214, 227, 266

  Congress of Neurological Surgeons, 87, 167–68. See also Neurosurgery

  Congressional Judiciary Committee, 218

  contact sports, 235

  and conformational intelligence, 47–48

  questions from parents about, 269–83

  research about concussions and head injuries, 165

  Conyers, John, 218

  criminal behavior, 175, 265–66, 280

  CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), 15

  cause of, 280–81

  chance NFL players suffer from, 15

  and children, 282–83

  condition given a name by Omalu, 164–65

  controversy about prevention of, 199

  definitive diagnosis, 200, 235–37, 278

  delayed symptoms, 174–75

  diagnostic tool, 237

  in military veterans, 228, 234, 237

  no possibility of reversal, 277

  number of football players affected by, 173, 203

  as occupational disease, 164

  and O. J. Simpson, 173, 265–68

  Omalu writes first case study paper about, 163

  in other sports besides football, 277

  presumptive diagnoses, 277–78

  prevalence in high-impact, high-contact sports, 173

  and prisoners, 265–66

  research denied by NFL, 87

  research group at Boston University, 211–12, 224–25

  symptoms, 229–30, 273–74, 279–80

  treatment for, 278–79

  Waters becomes third confirmed case of, 196

  Dallas Cowboys, 167

  D’Amico, Carmen, 132–33, 137, 157, 161

  Daubert standard, 164

  DeKosky, Steven, 149–50, 180, 184, 201

  dementia, 140, 144, 149, 203, 278

  dementia pugilistica, 145, 190, 214

  depression, 175, 280

  Bennet Omalu, 38–43, 69, 95, 127, 202

  and Mike Webster, 41, 126

  diffuse axonal injury, 171

  disinhibition, 175, 265–66, 280

  domestic violence, 175, 266, 275

  drug abuse, 175, 280

  election, Nigerian (1993), 49–50

  Embassy, U.S., 56, 58–60, 62, 160

  emotions, inability to control, 280

  Enugwu-Ukwu, Nigeria, 17, 23, 25, 45–46

  executive functioning, 266, 280

  face masks, 166

  Fainaru, Steve, 238

  Fainaru-Wada, Mark, 238

  faith,
39, 85

  FBI, 192

  FDA (Food and Drug Administration), 216–17

  FDDNP, 236–37

  Fitzsimmons, Bob, 193–94, 211, 234, 236

  flag football, 273

  football. See also NFL (National Football League)

  alternative sports for children, 272

  appropriate age for playing, 283

  blows to the head, 259

  brain and head injuries, 166–67

  “brain crisis,” 16

  changes resulting from Teddy Roosevelt’s intervention, 165–68

  and children, 13, 166–67, 174–75, 203, 268–83

  high school and college players, 170

  junior, 269

  Omalu’s first exposure to, 34

  popularity of, 142–43, 167, 218

  research about concussions and head injuries, 165

  risk of brain injury, 271

  what happens to body when playing, 146–47

  forensic pathology, 99

  forgetfulness, 202, 236

  forgiveness, 263–64

  ghost cells, 140, 143

  Gifford, Frank, 191

  God

  as end of all knowledge, 77

  importance to Omalu, 52, 54, 175

  love for, 268

  Omalu’s anger with, 83–84

  and perfection, 33

  trust in, 128, 161

  Golden Rule, 122

  GQ magazine, 231, 233

  Hamilton, Ronald, 149, 180, 184

  Hammers, Jennifer, 234

  Harlem, NY, 91–92

  Harlem Hospital Center, 84, 92, 100, 102, 106

  Harpo Studios, 233, 238

  Hausa people, 22, 45–46, 49

  head injuries, 166, 167. See also concussions; CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy)

  headaches, 234, 280

  helmets, 166, 229

  and concussions, 273

  lack of protection provided by, 271

  MTBI concludes brain is protected by, 169

  NFL claims better helmets are answer to concussion problem, 195

  NFL collaborates to make concussion-proof, 168

  high-impact, high-contact sports, 166–67, 235, 282, 283

  and children, 267

 

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