CTE Case Study

CTE is a brain disease found in individuals with annals of head trauma. It has specifically been found in athletes with numerous concussions. So far it can only be diagnosed in the deceased, but Dr. Julian Bales and his staff in UCLA have discovered symptoms in living players such as Hall of Famer Anthony “Tony” Dorsett, Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, and NFL All-Pro Leonard Marshall. CTE can cause memory loss, dementia, depression, suicidal thoughts, cognitive and emotional difficulties (Waldron par 1, 2, 3). Is it a compelling issue? A total of 171 concussions were reported in the NFL in the 2012-2013 season; 88 thus far in the 2013-2014 season (Frontline pt). Those are just numbers in the professional level. There are thousands of kids playing football either in youth, middle school, high school, or college level. The diagnosis is currently in progress, researchers are optimistic this could lead to a legitimate treatment, how to manage, and hopefully a cure. Furthermore, this can also possibly lead to an answer to a connection between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Junior Seau, Mike Webster, Terry Long, and Justin Strzelczyk (all of whom are dead now) are all men who played in the NFL for an extent period of time. This is not the only thing they have in common. These former players had an uncustomary

CTE affects many different athletes all over the world. Chronic Traumatic encephalopathy or normally referred to as CTE is a brain disease that affects people who have had multiple head injuries. It is found in many cases of ex NFL players who took many hits to the head when playing over their careers. There are many documented cases of it across other sports and some military veterans as well. We have made large strides in learning more and more about the terrible disease. The game of football has changed since we have learned so much more about the terrible disease in recent years. We could prevent concussions by changing the way players practice.

While the NFL is putting new rules and regulations on equipment and which type of tackles are allowed, living retired NFL players are found to already have symptoms of CTE (Fainaru, 2013). Through brain scans and research done by UCLA, they have identified proteins in player’s brains that cause CTE, which as Dr. Julian Bailes, co-director or North Shore Neurological Institute said, is the “holy grail” to studying CTE and finding ways to cure and prevent it (Fainaru, 2013). While this is a break through, there is still no cure or way to treat CTE (Fainaru, 2013). But this research also raises questions about CTE and the NFL. Will players be required to be tested for CTE? Can players be denied playing anymore if CTE is found? Will this greatly affect the way that football is currently played? As the research is still being collected, there is still no definite answer to any of those questions, but the NFL has acknowledged the correlations of CTE and concussions caused by playing in the NFL and assures that they will do all they can to help prevent severe brain trauma to their players, including donating $30 million to the National Institutes of Health to conduct further research on CTE (Kroll, 2013).

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is most commonly found in pro athletes, military victims, and boxing/MMA(Mixed Martial Arts). Lately people in the NFL and people looking into the NFL have been finding some players to have some kind of brain disease or damage because of the

Concussions have been shown to be the cause of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or “CTE”, which has led to player suicides and other debilitating symptoms after retirement, including memory loss, depression, anxiety, headaches, and also sleep disturbances. “In CTE, a protein called Tau forms clumps that slowly spread throughout the brain, killing brain cells. CTE has been seen in people as young as 17, but symptoms do not generally begin appearing until years after the onset of head impacts.”(What Is CTE). This is why people are studying and trying to understand concussions fully in order to prevent and treat future ones. Concussions are very serious and shouldn’t be taken lightly which is why it has become a major topic in football. As much as professional and young athletes want to prove their toughness and continue to play, new research is proving that concussions are far more dangerous than anyone could have predicted.

First, I am going to talk about the science behind concussions, CTE, and why it is such an issue for a football player. Concussions are very damaging to the brain and experiencing a lot of them can lead to CTE. I will also discuss people that influenced the understanding of concussions and CTE. In 2002, a neurologist named Dr. Bennet Omalu tried to tell the NFL about the brain damage he found while doing a former NFL player’s autopsy, but the NFL did not really listen. In 2009, another researcher by the name of Dr. Ann Mckee tried to get the NFL’s attention about her concerns about football players and concussions as well. The NFL once again ignored these assumptions. However, the NFL did listen to Dr. Elliot Pellman, who told the league as early as 1994, that concussions were not a big problem and just part of the game. I will discuss how NFL players were treated when they got their “bell rung” during a big game; and what kind of medical treatment they

These risks in sports were understood to be dangerous, and science has evolved to make sports safer. So much has changed and been updated in concussion protocol in American sports within the last few years, giving credence to the group that believes that the status quo is adequate in addressing concerns for CTE among sports. The National Football League, NFL, believes that they have been earnestly seeking answers as far back as the 1990’s when they launched a committee on “mild traumatic brain injury” after “two star offensive players retired before the age of 30 due to concussion concerns” (Lartey). Their conclusion then was that concussions were a minor concern. Since then, as new research has brought new revelations of CTE and former players, the NFL has acknowledged this and has taken steps “to warn players about the potential connection between concussions and long-term brain injury” (Florio).

CTE is a brain disease that is due to repeated head trauma that as you know affects many pro football players. Almost all of the brains that have been donated for research by NFL players have had traces of CTE. This

One major medical term that is thrown around when people bring up head injuries in sports is CTE or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE is progressive degenerative disease that can only be found and diagnosed postmortem. This is found in players of sports at all ages but mostly found in players of middle age and players of football, ice hockey and most contact sports. Most people that suffer from CTE have sustained multiple concussions or head injuries and ignored the symptoms or came back to early from the injury. Most professional sports athletes know of this disease and one hockey player stated

"You get a concussion, they've got to take you out of the game. So if you can hide it and conceal it as much as possible, you pay for it the next day, but you'll be able to… stay in the game." Washington Redskins fullback Mike Sellers. 76 of 79 brains of former deceased NFL athletes by scientists have shown signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE (Sappenfield, 2015) which is believed to be caused by the innumerable amount of hits taken to the head through the duration of their short careers. Throughout the years, concussions have become a massive issue, especially for the NFL and its athletes as former NFL athletes are now developing brain diseases like CTE due to the repeated head trauma received over their short careers which is

Concussions can seriously alter one’s life. Concussions are the result of moderate to severe impact to the head with another object. These impacts shake the brain, which is suspended in cerebral fluid, and cause it to scrape against the skull. Concussions can have mild to severe symptoms including insomnia, an inability to concentrate and headaches. Symptoms manifest both physically and mentally and may appear days after the initial trauma, with the possibility of lasting for months. Concussions are extremely prominent in contact sports such as football and hockey at all ages of play, professional to amateur. Multiple concussions may be accompanied by CTE, a neurodegenerative disease associated with

It has been found that the average high school football player receives somewhere near 650 hits to the head each season (Tyler). Imagine the impact this has on the brain. Then imagine how much worse the impact must be when getting hit by highly trained, full grown men. The NFL for the longest time would have liked us to think differently. “According to the doctors in the NFL’s employ, playing a game involving violent, head first collisions had no connection to future brain injuries,” reports “The Progressive” in their article “High Price of Concussions”. Finally, in 2009, “(the National Football League) acknowledged publicly for the first time that concussions suffered while playing football

CTE, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, has become a serious issue for NFL players and that issue is only continuing to grow. CTE is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes, mostly boxers and football players, with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions as well as hits to the head.

Although hits to the head are considered illegal they still occur leading to a large amount of concussions. Former National Hockey League players who had been in serious fights and had brain examinations had shown to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Which is a degenerative disease of the brain most likely due to repetitive hits to the head. This causes mental impairment as well as changes in personality and behavior. Any hits to the head or loss of consciousness can have detrimental effects, either in short term or long term, to

Researchers from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University have found CTE in 79 percent of all football players, and 96 percent of NFL players. The disease is believed to be caused by repeated trauma to the head, and the effects of CTE can be memory loss, depression, and dementia (Breslow 2).