CTE found in nearly 90 percent of brains donated by football players

[BisonTru]

CHICAGO -- Research on 202 former football players found evidence of a brain disease linked to repeated head blows in nearly all of them, from athletes in the National Football League, college and even high school.It's the largest update on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a debilitating brain disease that can cause a range of symptoms including memory loss.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20153831/cte-found-nearly-90-percent-brains-donated-deceased-football-players

[PaladinFan]

The causal link is too clear to ignore. I do think the caveat with the sample is that the brains analyzed would have been selected by families who thought their loved one suffered from some brain-related injury.

Football has a real problem. Its a great game, and ingrained in our sports culture, but I can get a big picture of things starting to deteriorate. Athletes will start choosing other sports that don't carry the risk of brain trauma.

[ASU33]

Stuff like this worries me. I played football every year of life from 1990-2011 with the only year I missed being 2006 due to injury. I only sustained one concussion while playing but sometimes I wonder how will my playing days effect me and my family.

[bonarae]

Football has a real problem. Its a great game, and ingrained in our sports culture, but I can get a big picture of things starting to deteriorate. Athletes will start choosing other sports that don't carry the risk of brain trauma.

Hmm... is that the reason why many average Americans choose to play soccer and also indoor sports such as bowling and other European and British sports (e.g. handball, netball, etc.)?

[Bisonoline]

The causal link is too clear to ignore. I do think the caveat with the sample is that the brains analyzed would have been selected by families who thought their loved one suffered from some brain-related injury.

Football has a real problem. Its a great game, and ingrained in our sports culture, but I can get a big picture of things starting to deteriorate. Athletes will start choosing other sports that don't carry the risk of brain trauma.

Then how do you explain the popularity of boxing and mma all over the world? They dont have any protective gear.

As far as football the helmets are so much better now than when I first started playing. First helmet I remember had a foam rubber lining. Then the came out with the suspension helmets which was a web of canvas straps. Then in 1971 they came out with the air pocket suspension helmets like they have today.

Plus the game has changed. When I played you put your face in the numbers and couldnt use your hands. Today you can use your hands to gain control and postion. So alot of the head banging has been eliminated. As far as certain defensive players you arent going to get away from banging heads just like the running backs.

Fact is you arent going to be able to eliminate it. Its football.

[cx500d]

These samples were all from people whose families already suspected head injuries, so it's not surprising the data would be skewed. It's a biased sample.


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[Bisonoline]

There are approx 1.5 million football players a year. Every year. How many brains were symptomatic? 200?

That is an exceedingly small percentage. IMO this is nothing more than alarmist. There is always inherent danger in sports.

[cx500d]

There are approx 1.5 million football players a year. How many brains were symptomatic?

They only looked at samples donated by families that suspected brain damage, not by people that lived normal lives and died of old age or some unrelated issue


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[citdog]

I played the game and my head only hurts occasionally. LOOK it's a squirrel!

[PaladinFan]

Then how do you explain the popularity of boxing and mma all over the world? They dont have any protective gear.

As far as football the helmets are so much better now than when I first started playing. First helmet I remember had a foam rubber lining. Then the came out with the suspension helmets which was a web of canvas straps. Then in 1971 they came out with the air pocket suspension helmets like they have today.

Plus the game has changed. When I played you put your face in the numbers and couldnt use your hands. Today you can use your hands to gain control and postion. So alot of the head banging has been eliminated. As far as certain defensive players you arent going to get away from banging heads just like the running backs.

Fact is you arent going to be able to eliminate it. Its football.

You are confusing the popularity of watching a sport and the popularity of playing it.

- - - Updated - - -


There are approx 1.5 million football players a year. Every year. How many brains were symptomatic? 200?

That is an exceedingly small percentage. IMO this is nothing more than alarmist. There is always inherent danger in sports.

Of course, you have to take a brain apart after death. So, not really the same comparison.

[Bisonoline]

You are confusing the popularity of watching a sport and the popularity of playing it.

- - - Updated - - -



Of course, you have to take a brain apart after death. So, not really the same comparison.


There are approx 30,000 boxers and 6,000 MMA fighters in the USA alone. 1.5 million football players every year in the USA alone.
200 brains found to have CTE. xrolleyesx

[bonarae]

Meanwhile...

One NFL OL was shocked to find out about the findings and retires; he will pursue his doctorate at MIT full-time... xcoffeex

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2724133-ravens-ol-john-urschel-retires-after-cte-study-will-pursue-mit-doctorate?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

[Bisonoline]

Meanwhile...

One NFL OL was shocked to find out about the findings and retires; he will pursue his doctorate at MIT full-time... xcoffeex

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2724133-ravens-ol-john-urschel-retires-after-cte-study-will-pursue-mit-doctorate?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

After reading the article I have to ask---where in the article did it say he was shocked at the findings? He actually said there isnt a story to it. He did say that he couldnt think as well after a concussion in 2015 and took awhile to recover his mathematical thinking skills.

[bonarae]

However, I apologize for the poor post choice earlier. Here is a better post; another former NFL OL caused minor uproar last April in Ypsilanti, MI, when he ran through a glass door in an auto parts store there. At the hospital, police and doctors thought he was on drugs but his wife admitted he may be suffering from CTE.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/watch-frightening-video-shows-ex-nfl-player-running-through-a-glass-door/

Quote:

"Mentally, some days I struggle a lot," Price told WDIV (https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/former-nfl-player-describes-shocking-ypsilanti-township-incident). "But as a man and as a friend and a father you don't want people to see it. But at the same time I know I'm not the only one going through this."

[cx500d]

However, I apologize for the poor post choice earlier. Here is a better post; another former NFL OL caused minor uproar last April in Ypsilanti, MI, when he ran through a glass door in an auto parts store there. At the hospital, police and doctors thought he was on drugs but his wife admitted he may be suffering from CTE.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/watch-frightening-video-shows-ex-nfl-player-running-through-a-glass-door/

Quote:

Yep, and his brain will eventually be donated and added to the rest of the biased sample for this study.

[Bisonoline]

However, I apologize for the poor post choice earlier. Here is a better post; another former NFL OL caused minor uproar last April in Ypsilanti, MI, when he ran through a glass door in an auto parts store there. At the hospital, police and doctors thought he was on drugs but his wife admitted he may be suffering from CTE.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/watch-frightening-video-shows-ex-nfl-player-running-through-a-glass-door/

Quote:

Could very well be explained by taking to many steroids during his playing days.

[Smitty]

Yep, and his brain will eventually be donated and added to the rest of the biased sample for this study.

The lead researcher of this study admitted that it was biased since all the donated brains were from families who suspected their deceased family member to have CTE. However, it is still a big deal that 110 out of 111 brains were confirmed to have this.

There was another study with a control group that ESPN wrote about in 2016 (Here (http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/14982032/nfl-admission-football-lead-brain-disease-came-amid-new-science-suggesting-sports-related-trauma-becoming-more-common)) where they examined 66 brains of people who played contact sports - note that it was 66 brains of people who played "primarily high school and college football, but also boxing, wrestling, rugby and soccer." In the group of contact sports, 21 brains showed signs of CTE.

They also examined 198 control brains; i.e. brains of people who did not play contact sports in high school or college. In the control group, not a single brain was diagnosed as having CTE.

So the sample size is small but there does seem to be a pattern and more brains will need to be studied.

[Smitty]

Probably the best answer would be remove helmets all together. Take away their helmets entirely (or go back to leather helmets) and I would bet money that concussions and serious head injuries decline sharply. If a bunch of kids can play tackle football in the backyard with minor bumps and bruises, you can make pros do it too.

[POD Knows]

Probably the best answer would be remove helmets all together. Take away their helmets entirely (or go back to leather helmets) and I would bet money that concussions and serious head injuries decline sharply. If a bunch of kids can play tackle football in the backyard with minor bumps and bruises, you can make pros do it too.This is a good point, I wonder what the stats would be comparing American football to Rugby, both contact sports.

[Professor Chaos]

Hell, just look at the average populace and I bet you'd be surprised how many people have some level of CTE. Boxing and MMA have already been mentioned but I'd add sports like soccer, lacrosse, auto racing, rodeo, and even basketball and baseball to the list of sports where contact, especially to the head, happens plenty often enough to cause damage. It shouldn't be shocking that long time athletes for any of these sports have some level of CTE. In the words of Dan Hawkins "If you don't like it... go play intramurals brother."

[walliver]

This is a good point, I wonder what the stats would be comparing American football to Rugby, both contact sports.

The only contact in rugby is between ball-carrier and tackler. There is no blocking and no unprotected receivers. They also rarely play on asphalt covered with carpet or ground-up car tires. It is probably a safer sport, with more danger associated with the after-game parties than the games themselves.

[Smitty]

The only contact in rugby is between ball-carrier and tackler. There is no blocking and no unprotected receivers. They also rarely play on asphalt covered with carpet or ground-up car tires. It is probably a safer sport, with more danger associated with the after-game parties than the games themselves.

Some of the hard hits in Rugby are amazing to watch though.

[POD Knows]

The only contact in rugby is between ball-carrier and tackler. There is no blocking and no unprotected receivers. They also rarely play on asphalt covered with carpet or ground-up car tires. It is probably a safer sport, with more danger associated with the after-game parties than the games themselves.I understand it is different, hell, in football, the forward pass may be as responsible for the increase in head injuries than anything.

[Smitty]

I understand it is different, hell, in football, the forward pass may be as responsible for the increase in head injuries than anything.

It would be interesting to see this broken down by position to see which is more susceptible to concussions. I would think that WR would suffer the majority of them, followed up with the people who are tackling them. Those would be just big hits though, one would think that the trenches would suffer more hits to the head than the rest of the field.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Wait....almost every person who is symptomatic of CTE has signs of trauma in the brain in autopsy? I'm shocked.

So where's the actual revelation here?

[catamount man]

I've said it a million times and I will keep on saying it...there is a little sticker on the back of each helmet. In other words, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING INTO.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Studying CTE is certainly something I think is a good idea, but I loathe that, in the general populace, the impression is given and never corrected that CTE is ONLY something that affects football players and not, say, hockey players, rugby players, soccer players, etc. The reveals of this stuff are always done in a way to generate headlines, while still leaving key elements unanswered. Like, was the CTE there before they ever played football? Is CTE something that happens in the general populace over time? Is there a way to diagnose CTE while alive? Is the CTE the cause of whatever issues these former players had, or were there other things (like cocaine abuse, painkillers, etc.)? All of these critical questions remain unanswered.

[Bisonoline]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/im-brain-scientist-let-son-play-football-135727314.html

(https://www.yahoo.com/news/im-brain-scientist-let-son-play-football-135727314.html)The study population in the most recent CTE paper represents a biased sample, as stated by the authors themselves. This means only the brains of self-selecting people who displayed neurological symptoms while living were studied. This is important because this sample was not a reflection of the general football population. The study was based on 202 brains out of the millions of people who’ve played football – 111 of which are former NFL players.
So, when you hear “99 percent of football players had CTE,” that doesn’t mean that almost every football player will get CTE, and it doesn’t mean your child has a 99-percent chance of developing CTE if he or she plays football. It means 99 percent of a specifically selected study sample had some degree of CTE; not 99 percent of the general football population. This is an important distinction.


(https://www.yahoo.com/news/im-brain-scientist-let-son-play-football-135727314.html)

[BisonTru]

Aaron Hernandez Found to Have Severe C.T.E.
Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots tight end who committed suicide in April while serving a life sentence for murder, was found to have one of the most severe forms of C.T.E., the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma that has been found in more than 100 former N.F.L. players.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/sports/aaron-hernandez-cte-brain.html

[Reign of Terrier]

From what I've read/heard, it's hard to say what specifically causes CTE (beyond, obviously, blows to the head), but there's a correlation between longevity in playing football and CTE at the least. In that regard, it seems that football itself isn't as dangerous for most of the people who play it and don't make it past high school, but it's more dangerous to the seasoned pros. Hernandez I think is outlier, but at the same time there definitely needs to be more studies on the issue.

I'm not in the looney liberal crowd of "football is immoral" but I definitely think it would be immoral to not seek a full understanding of the consequences of the game.

[bonarae]

Meanwhile...

BU researchers have found out that CTE is also developed by repeated subconcussive hits, not just concussions.

https://sports.yahoo.com/new-study-shows-development-cte-comes-repeated-hits-head-not-just-concussion-174612826.html

[Bisonoline]

Meanwhile...

BU researchers have found out that CTE is also developed by repeated subconcussive hits, not just concussions.

https://sports.yahoo.com/new-study-shows-development-cte-comes-repeated-hits-head-not-just-concussion-174612826.html

There goes boxing, MMA and soccer.