What is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?
What is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Awareness Day is dedicated to helping those who suffer from CTE as well as finding ways to prevent CTE, and of course, bringing awareness to what CTE is.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is due to repetitive brain trauma as a result of accident, illness or playing contact sports. Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) such as concussions and repeated blows to the head cause this progressive and fatal brain disease. Risk factors include being in the military, playing contact sports, accidents when followed by a secondary blow to the head, prior domestic violence, and repeated banging of the head.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Sports
Sports-related traumatic brain injuries are estimated to be between 1.6 million and 3.8 million each year, and they account for about 20% of overall traumatic brain injury cases in the United States. Most documented cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in sports have occurred in athletes involved in contact sports such as boxing, American football, wrestling, ice hockey, rugby and soccer. has become increasingly common since the release of The NFL Handbook and Brain Injury in Football by David Jaffe published several years ago.
American football has a particularly high incidence of concussions. For example, high school football players sustain an average of 24 head impacts per game. Recently developed protective equipment can help mitigate the effects of high-impact forces, but athletes' perceptions of lower levels of risk may spur more risky behavior, which can result in more severe TBI impacts. That is one reason that awareness is key.
Since 2000, more than 100 former NFL players have died after sustaining head injuries while playing football. Boston University’s CTE Center studied the brains of 111 former NFL players. The study used brain tissue of former NFL players who had and had not shown symptoms in their lifetime. It found that of the 111 former NFL athletes, there was only one without CTE.
Many of the governing bodies for sports do not mandate the best available protection for their athletes.
Professors at Virginia Tech conducted a study of 10 different football helmets and found that the protection levels varied greatly. Only one of the 10 helmets (the Riddell Revolution Speed) was given a 5-star rating, two of the most popular helmets in the NFL, the Riddell VSR4 and Adams A2000 Pro Elite, received a score of 0-1 stars.
Secondary Effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
The primary effect of CTE is in developing structural changes that interfere with long-term memory processing. Secondary effects of CTE include behavioral issues, mood disorders, and cognitive difficulties.
CTE is also associated with the development of dementia. At least 80% people with CTE develop Alzheimers’ symptoms within 10 years of their initial diagnosis. This causes rapid cognitive decline and memory loss during adulthood.
While there have been no definitive studies to suggest that CTE can contribute to suicide attempts, researchers have suggested notable patterns in people with CTE.
While new technology aims to heal traumatic brain injuries, it will still be some time before these treatments are available to the public. Researchers have also seen promising results using red light therapy to mitigate some of the damage caused by TBIs.
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