Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Brain Disease Found In NFL Players

Posted by Soulskill on from the do-you-mean-smashing-your-head-isn't-safe dept.

SternisheFan sends this excerpt from ABC: "On the heels of the latest NFL suicide, researchers announced today that 34 NFL players whose brains were studied suffered from CTE, a degenerative brain disease brought on by repeated hits to the head that results in confusion, depression and, eventually, dementia. The study was released just days after the murder-suicide of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher. It's not yet known what triggered Belcher's action, but they mirror other NFL players who have committed suicide. Researchers at Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy published the largest case series study of CTE to date (abstract), according to the center. Of the 85 brains donated by the families of deceased veterans and athletes with histories of repeated head trauma, they found CTE in 68 of them. Of those, 34 were professional football players, nine others played college football and six played only high school football. Of the 35 professional football players' brains donated, only one had no evidence of the disease, according to the study." It's a good thing we protect our youth from conditions like this.

4 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Did we really need a study for this? by Press2ToContinue · · Score: 5, Funny

    Do we really need a study to show that repeated hits to the head result in confusion, depression and dementia? If so, I'd like to sign up to be the guy on the research team that whacks this researcher on the head repeatedly so he can discover the effects.

    I just want to help. Really I do.

    --
    Sent from my ENIAC
    1. Re:Did we really need a study for this? by Lord+Kano · · Score: 5, Funny

      Then you are not thinking this through properly.

      I, on the other hand, would like to volunteer for the study that seeks to prove that receiving oral sex to completion from large breasted women is pleasurable.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
  2. Re:1000 ziplocs anyone? by NFN_NLN · · Score: 5, Funny

    Going to be interesting to see if Belcher's brain had this disease, seeing as it was spread all over the parking lot.

    One of his former colleagues shot himself in the chest instead, for precisely that reason...

    Geez, I thought you were trolling but he LITERALLY... "sent a text message to his family saying he wanted his brain to be used for research at the Boston University School of Medicine, which is conducting research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) caused by playing professional football" ... and then shot himself in the chest!

    This guy was the definition of team player.

  3. Re:1000 ziplocs anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Going to be interesting to see if Belcher's brain had this disease, seeing as it was spread all over the parking lot.

    One of his former colleagues shot himself in the chest instead, for precisely that reason...

    Geez, I thought you were trolling but he LITERALLY... "sent a text message to his family saying he wanted his brain to be used for research at the Boston University School of Medicine, which is conducting research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) caused by playing professional football" ... and then shot himself in the chest!

    This guy was the definition of team player.

    Lucky for him that his heart was in the right place.