A new study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds the highest number yet of people proven to have a progressive brain disease associated with sports injuries.
The study found 177 football players—from high school to the NFL—out of a sample of 202 players had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Of the 111 former NFL players studied, 110 had the disease, according to researchers who emphasized that their findings are not indicative of the prevalence of CTE in the league or elsewhere.
The players all showed possible signs of CTE while alive, but the only way to be absolutely certain about the diagnosis is by a brain autopsy.
Dr. Dan Daneshvar is a Boston University researcher and a lead author of the study. He says one thing seems clear: repeated hits to the head are bad for anyone, and could put them at risk for CTE, which can mimic dementia.
Daneshvar says the study confirms that one concussion doesn't seem to lead to CTE later in life, and that parents of younger football players will want to know that.
"The individuals in this study all had multiple repetitive hits to the head over years,” Daneshvar says, “so no one here was exposed to a single concussion and then developed the disease."
Daneshvar says helmet sensors have shown that pro football players take thousands of hits every year. He says the study is “a stepping stone to answer questions for individuals who are struggling with CTE now, or who may be at risk of developing CTE in the future.”
Daneshvar says he hopes the new data in the study can eventually aid in treatment and prevention of the disease, and that he suspects similarities in the brains of Alzheimer’s victims and those found to have CTE could point the way to possible treatments.
