25-Year-Old Former College Football Player Diagnosed With CTE

[LiberalArkie]

A 25-year-old former college football player who sustained repeated hits to the head showed signs of brain damage after his death that may offer fresh clues about how concussions impact athletes, U.S. researchers report.

The young man had what’s known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a traumatic brain disorder that can only be diagnosed during an autopsy. He died of cardiac arrest related to an infection in his heart, but the autopsy showed signs of brain damage consistent with CTE, researchers report in JAMA Neurology.

“There is a common perception that CTE affects only professional athletes; this case as well as many others shows us that contact sports athletes at the amateur level are also at risk for the disease,” lead study author Dr. Ann McKee of Boston University said by email.

While this isn’t the first former football player to be diagnosed with CTE after years playing contact sports, this particular athlete had a series of psychological and cognitive tests before his death that offer some insight into how symptoms of CTE might develop, McKee and colleagues note in their report.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/25-year-old-cte-college-football_568bc7dfe4b014efe0db8c87

[cantbeserious]

1. Go See Concussion - Excellent Movie On The Topic

eom

[bdwker]

2. Ian Thomas at age 18 Committed suicide.

Played line backer at Notre Dame.

Found to have CTE.