San Francisco Chronicle - Partnerships Needed On Brain Injuries
September 21, 2012
By Congressman Mike Thompson
Like many young Americans, I grew up playing football. I've watched as the game has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. Every fall it is played by people from Pop Warner to the NFL.
Along with football's skyrocketing popularity, we have seen significant research connecting the game to brain injuries. Each year, nearly 2 million people across our country suffer a traumatic brain injury, including NFL players and athletes of all ages in all sports.
We have also seen a dramatic increase in the number of military personnel diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries. This invisible wound is becoming the signature injury among those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan - more than 244,200 service members have been diagnosed with it since 2000.
What these numbers show is that far too many American heroes defending our nation overseas, and far too many athletes who give their heart and soul to our nation's most popular sports, suffer from traumatic brain injury.
Millions of dollars are being invested to better understand, prevent and treat this injury. Through public-private partnerships, we can leverage these federal dollars and bring together the resources and research needed to develop technology and equipment required to prevent brain injury, and treat those already suffering from it.
As co-chairman of the Congressional Military Veterans Caucus, I hosted a bipartisan hearing this month with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III to discuss the public-private efforts we need to better combat this injury.
Working together with leaders in Congress, the NFL, Army, and organizations like One Mind, we can enact public policies that make smart investments in the kind of research, equipment and technology needed to reduce the rates of injury and improve treatments for those with brain trauma.
Along with football's skyrocketing popularity, we have seen significant research connecting the game to brain injuries. Each year, nearly 2 million people across our country suffer a traumatic brain injury, including NFL players and athletes of all ages in all sports.
We have also seen a dramatic increase in the number of military personnel diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries. This invisible wound is becoming the signature injury among those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan - more than 244,200 service members have been diagnosed with it since 2000.
What these numbers show is that far too many American heroes defending our nation overseas, and far too many athletes who give their heart and soul to our nation's most popular sports, suffer from traumatic brain injury.
Millions of dollars are being invested to better understand, prevent and treat this injury. Through public-private partnerships, we can leverage these federal dollars and bring together the resources and research needed to develop technology and equipment required to prevent brain injury, and treat those already suffering from it.
As co-chairman of the Congressional Military Veterans Caucus, I hosted a bipartisan hearing this month with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III to discuss the public-private efforts we need to better combat this injury.
Working together with leaders in Congress, the NFL, Army, and organizations like One Mind, we can enact public policies that make smart investments in the kind of research, equipment and technology needed to reduce the rates of injury and improve treatments for those with brain trauma.