ABSTRACT
Reading news headlines could lead someone to believe that playing contact sports such as football will lead to a degenerative neurological condition in early adulthood. Indeed, participation in sports such as high school football has declined as the number of news reports of concussion in sports has increased (11). However, research indicates that although higher than the normal population, only a low percentage of former athletes such as NFL players are reporting such problems (20). Since most of these players were likely exposed to thousands of subconcussive (and some concussive) impacts over a career, why are only some athletes exhibiting problems? The answer may lie in intrinsic factors such as genetics in combination with their environment (repetitive head impacts). Thus, risk of poor mental or cognitive health may not come from playing contact sports alone, but playing them in addition to having a specific genetic predisposition. In this chapter, we will explore genes and polymorphisms potentially associated with sport concussion.
