Boxing
Medical Aspects

A comprehensive review of the medical literature and scientific knowledge surrounding the sport of boxing and its impact on neurological functions.

Friedrich Unterharnscheidt (Edited by), Julia Taylor Unterharnscheidt (Edited by)

9780127091303, Elsevier Science

Hardback, published 22 April 2003

900 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 4.4 cm, 2.59 kg

"The book repeatedly enters uncharted territory. The table of contents includes everything from the mechanics of head injury to hand injuries to theologians' view of pugilism. Friedrich Unterharnscheidt is a medical scientist, a neurologist, and neuropathologist. He states, 'It is not my intention to support or oppose boxing as a sport; my own research and experience with head trauma and boxing injuries compels me as a physician and a scientist to let the findings be known so that prospective boxers and in some cases their parents, can make an informed decision to accept the risks.'...The authors do lay out the body of available scientific knowledge of boxing and a large amount of literature from newspapers, magazine, and books in an attempt to provide debate regarding perpetuation of the sport...the boxing photographs in the book are magnificent and provide a medical history of the sport that has never been done before. This alone would be fascinating to any boxing fan. From a physician's perspective, the chapters dealing with brain injuries, including statistics, studies, and pictures of actual boxers' brains are truly insightful." --Margaret Goodman, MD for THE RING, October 2005

This book neither argues for or against the continuation of boxing, but lays out the literature and the body of scientific knowledge that are necessary to provide a meaningful background for the ensuing debate. It provides a comprehensive resource for those who are involved in regulating boxing and those who participate directly, as well as for the medical and scientific communities. Includes carefully quoted case histories and research as well as an extensive body of medical literature on boxing injuries to demonstrate that brain damage is a natural consequence of boxing.

Impact of Mechanics and Neuropathology of Closed Head Injury
Classification of Head and Brain Injuries
Injury Producing Mechanisms
Clinical Diagnoses
Types of Injuries of the Brain and Its Enveloping Structures
General Aspects of Biomechanics of Boxing
Importance of Animal Models for the Interpretation of Boxing Injuries
Injuries Apart from CNS Damage
Eye Injuries
Hearing Impairments
Injuries to the Hand, Wrist, Muscles, and Peripheral Nerves
Injuries to Internal Organs
Damage to the Central Nervous System
Acute Clinical Findings
Chronic Clinical Findings
Electroencephalographic Findings in Boxers
Acute Pathomorphological Findings
Chronic Pathomorphological Findings
Case Histories of Histologically Examined Boxers
Punch Drunk Syndrome
Examples of Brain Damaged Boxers
Fatal Incidents in the Boxing Ring

Subject Areas: Boxing [WSTB], Neurology & clinical neurophysiology [MJN]