PCS McGee is in serious denial. The statistics show that 5 percent of head injuries result in life long disabilities. My disabilities started in elementary school. It was not until my "mild" concussion at 46 years old that those disabilities magnified to be job and major life function disabling.

As I said, love your little boy to pieces and let him experience life. It is reasonable to teach him the dangers of alcohol and drugs with his history of head injury. It may be something that will need to be done as he gets older, say 10 to 12 years old. Using a helmet should also not be a hard concept to teach him. My first concussion was the year (9 yo) before my bad concussion at 10 yo. I fell down the stairs and got a good bump on my forehead. It most likely set me up for more serious damage from the second concussion.

I would be interested to see what PCSMcGee has to say in ten or fifteen years if he has another concussion and becomes disabled.

The issue of drugs and alcohol are two fold. The chemical damage done to the brain and the risk of a concussion from a trauma as a result of being drunk or even mildly impaired. There is also research that show that getting drunk during the teen years or younger has lifelong implications. The brain becomes much less tolerant of alcohol as an adult. Those who minimized alcohol to the point of no bad drunk episodes, are much more able to tolerate alcohol after the age of 25. This is due to the interruption of the brain's maturing during the teen years.

McGee, I think you understand the point here. If you had slowed down with your drinking, you might not have suffered the later concussions. And, you are wrong, researchers believe that 60 to 80 percent of the population never suffers a concussion. Once a concussion is suffered, the likelihood of a second concussion increases three to four fold. Concussion numbers in the USA are at one half of one percent of the population. That does not adjust out the multiple concussions. The repeat concussion statistics show that most are not the first concussion. This leaves the likelihood of first concussion at possibly below one tenth of one percent or one out of 1,000. Lifetime statistics would follow that one out of fifteen people suffers a concussion during their lifetime (7 percent). Remember that second concussions can manifest from a much lower impact force. This accounts for most of the repeat concussions.

The vast majority of repeat concussions occur during sports activities. This is also when concussions are more likely to be spaced close together. This close spacing of even minor concussions is far more damaging than the infrequent more serious concussion.

On of the premier concussion researchers in the US is working to develop a concussion monitoring device that can be worn during sports, football, rugby, soccer, etc, so that the player can be pulled from the field. There are two systems that are used to track recovery in school sports concussions. One is called ImPACT, the other is called CNS Vital Signs. The insurance companies are beginning to take serious notice of the damage from repeat concussions.

I knew to be careful about concussions ever since my third at 16 years old. Still, I have suffered 10 more since then, most being very minor impact forces.

The prison system in British Columbia did a study and found that 60 percent of the inmates have symptoms of a head injury. Similar studies have been done on the homeless and found similar head injury symptoms. The US prison population reports an 87 percent concussion prevalence.

Having watched too many people suffer from dementia and be unable to remember or recognize family, ending life with Mild Cognitive Impairment is something that should cause people to take all reasonable precautions. A simple observation of the retired NFL football players who suffer from serious dementia in their 40's will cause you to think twice about concussion risk. They are suing the NFL Players Association and league for better care of these poor men.