Concussion-related brain disease found in living athletes, study finds

[Redfairen]

Source: Toronto Star

A new study has offered the first evidence CTE, a concussion-related brain disease, can be identified in living athletes, a discovery experts say could shake up the way professional sports treats concussions and head trauma in players.

Currently, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is diagnosed only after death, using an autopsy. The new findings are a step toward identifying the disease while players are still alive. “It suggests we’re on the right track,” UCLA neuroscientist Gary Small, an Alzheimer’s specialist and lead author on the study, said in an interview.

“We have an approach or a strategy to detect the problem early so we can develop treatments before there’s extensive damage.”

In the study, published Tuesday in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, UCLA researchers injected a biomarker into five retired NFL players ages 45 to 73 with a history of CTE symptoms, as well as a control group of healthy adults. They then ran all the participants through a brain scan to look for tau proteins, an indicator of CTE, locating significant amounts in the retired players’ brains.

Read more: http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/1318488--concussion-related-brain-disease-found-in-living-athletes-study-finds

[benld74]

1. These same proteins are found in Alzheimer patients as well

need a much bigger sample, but I am glad people are looking into the issue.

[hedgehog]

8. I've read elsewhere that while the same type of damage is seen,

it is seen in different areas of the brain. That's even more intriguing, I think.

[The Second Stone]

2. All head injuries are really bad

and you don't want to get them. American football should be voluntarily dropped. Same as boxing. Way too dangerous in the long haul.

[tblue37]

3. Especially it should not be a sport played by kids! nt

[DollarBillHines]

4. I've lost count of the concussions I have suffered

and I have had two skull fractures.

I never played a sport.

[pnwmom]

5. And lots of people get cancer even though they haven't smoked.

That doesn't mean it's a good idea to smoke.

[dballance]

6. I'm Stretching to Find Your Point. Maybe I'm Just Dumb or Obtuse. That's a Valid Conclusion.

Help me out here. What are you trying to say?

[TheMadMonk]

9. What point were you trying to make? You're a klutz?

You're 7 feet tall in a world of 6'8" doors? You eschew safety gear? You're wife favours cast iron over aluminium?

[pnwmom]

11. I thought you were implying something

and it seems I was wrong.

Sorry you've had all those concussions -- it sounds pretty unusual to have had so many. Were you in active combat, or some other dangerous job?

[awoke_in_2003]

13. Get rid of soccer then, too

concussionstoo concussions are a big problem in that sport.

[slackmaster]

7. This is very big news. Ability to diagnose CTE in vivo has been an elusive goal for a long time.

[formercia]

10. I hope this will be of use for wounded Veterans

The Military and VA have been quick to dismiss the thousands of Men and Women who have suffered from Brain injuries.

[pnwmom]

12. That was my first thought, too. n/t

[Javaman]

14. This will be, along with Depleted Uranium exposure, the next "agent orange" type

problem about 20 years from now.

[formercia]

15. There's an easy way to eliminate these problems

Not start Wars

[Javaman]

16. No one ever wants to take the easy way out. ;)

Cheers.