Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Heres a scary statistic for you: 96% of deceased NFL football players tested
positive for CTE. But CTE is not just an NFL problem. It also extends to other
contact sports, most notably boxing. So, what exactly is CTE and should you
be concerned? Lets look at the facts.
What is CTE?
CTE, which stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, is a progressive
degenerative brain disease brought on by repeated trauma to the brain,
namely through concussions.
CTE is also known as being punch drunk because it was initially associated
with boxing. Doctors have observed the effects of this brain disease since the
1920s. However, no one recognized that athletes from other sports outside of
boxing could also show punch drunk symptoms.
That is until Dr. Bennet Omalu, a neuropathologist, discovered that NFL
football players also exhibited symptoms in line with being punch drunk. He
researched Mike Webster, a deceased NFL football, to confirm that CTE
affects professional football players and other athletes whove experienced
repetitive brain trauma.
with
other
One out of three cases of CTE also has additional degenerative brain
diseases; including Lewy body dementia (16%), Motor neuron disease
(12%), Alzheimers disease (11%), and Frontotemporal lobar degeneration
(6%).
In a 2012 study, the risk of death from degenerative diseases such as
Alzheimers and ALS was up to four times higher for NFL football players than
the general population.