Slashdot Mirror
Degenerative Brain Disease Found In Nearly All Donated NFL Player Brains, Says Study (npr.org)
A new study published Tuesday in the journal American Medical Association found that 110 out of 111 brains of those who played in the NFL had degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). NPR reports: In the study, researchers examined the brains of 202 deceased former football players at all levels. Nearly 88 percent of all the brains, 177, had CTE. Three of 14 who had played only in high school had CTE, 48 of 53 college players, 9 of 14 semiprofessional players, and 7 of 8 Canadian Football League players. CTE was not found in the brains of two who played football before high school. According to the study's senior author, Dr. Ann McKee, "this is by far the largest [study] of individuals who developed CTE that has ever been described. And it only includes individuals who are exposed to head trauma by participation in football." A CTE study several years ago by McKee and her colleagues included football players and athletes from other collision sports such as hockey, soccer and rugby. It also examined the brains of military veterans who had suffered head injuries. The study released Tuesday is the continuation of a study that began eight years ago. In 2015, McKee and fellow researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University published study results revealing 87 of 91 former NFL players had CTE.
Correlation does not equal causation. Just because all professional NFL players appear to have brain damage, it does not mean that football causes brain damage.
It could also mean that only a brain damaged person would play tackle football.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Or, perhaps it's just that those with bad brains have a propensity toward football as a career choice. There's a reason for the "dumb jock" stereotype. Which is the cause, which is the effect?
If I could be paid millions of dollars a year to exercise for hours every day, travel the country, and play a game a weekend for a few months a year, and I knew the paycheck came with the risk of brain damage, would I? Yeah, probably. Would you? I'm guessing you have would have a price not much different that what NFL players make.
As long as players are aware of risks, it should be their decision to accept or turn down contracts. I think the problem many have with the current situation is that the NFL and other agencies (allegedly) attempted to hide the risks from players.
The "allegedly" means that I don't know for fact, and don't care to debate the allegation. If they did, it's wrong but I believe it has been since corrected.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
The methods section (emphasis mine)
Study Recruitment In 2008, as a collaboration among the VA Boston Healthcare System, Bedford VA, Boston University (BU) School of Medicine, and Sports Legacy Institute (now the Concussion Legacy Foundation [CLF]), a brain bank was created to better understand the long-term effects of repetitive head trauma experienced through contact sport participation and military-related exposure. The purpose of the brain bank was to comprehensively examine the neuropathology and clinical presentation of brain donors considered at risk of development of CTE. The institutional review board at Boston University Medical Campus approved all research activities. The next of kin or legally authorized representative of each brain donor provided written informed consent. No stipend for participation was provided. Inclusion criteria were based entirely on exposure to repetitive head trauma (eg, contact sports, military service, or domestic violence), regardless of whether symptoms manifested during life. Playing American football was sufficient for inclusion. Because of limited resources, more strict inclusion criteria were implemented in 2014 and required that football players who died after age 35 years have at least 2 years of college-level play. Donors were excluded if postmortem interval exceeded 72 hours or if fixed tissue fragments representing less than half the total brain volume were received (eFigure in the Supplement).
It sounds like they selected from donated cadavers for people who had played football. This is quite different from football players who suspected they had brain damage from football donating their brains. There would still be bias, as families who were convinced their loved ones were suffering from brain damage would be more likely to say yes to being in the study. But that's likely NOT NEARLY as big a bias as what GP is suggesting.
The problem with CTE is it's cumulative. The more trauma, the more damage. Some of the more aggressive players have unfortunately succumbed with devastating results. Basically, who was once a family man suddenly has behavioral changes which include sudden outbursts of anger and violence that are unprovoked. Who if they weren't football players, we may have normally had jailed or committed.
Some are even suicidal, which is a shame because most take a bullet to the head, which destroys any evidence. (Some do have enough presence of mind left to avoid damaging the head and thus allowing researchers to diagnose CTE).
The only reason for doubt is because the NFL is rather self-interested in not promoting tackle football causes CTE. Two reasons. First, they are worried - yes, scared sh*tless - that if the association is made, parents will withdraw their kids from football programs. This may lead to lowered interest in football, which means the millions of dollars it brings in could dry up.
The second reason is the players associations - they have successfully sued the NFL over hiding or discounting the medical issue which is more than career ending, it's life changing.
Before CTE was even discovered, it was thought brain damage happened as a result of a major event - it was thought the brain could handle getting hit and recover, when instead it recovers irregularly. CTE is the result of repeated minor brain damage caused by the brain banging against the skull causing scarring and bruising, and which builds up over time.
The sports associations are heavily into discounting CTE because it really affects their bottom lines. It's also why there's a ton of research going into smart helmets that can indicate when a potentially damaging event occurs, and why at least at the college level and below, the threshold for benching someone has gone from knockout or concussion to a blow that exceeds 75Gs or so, even if the player is still conscious and lucid. And after a concussion, the bench time has a fixed minimum - no longer you wake up and you're in the next game, it's minimum 4-6 weeks benched, and only the doctor can clear you. Heck, some teams have even banned tackling during practice to avoid causing more damage than necessary.
The link between football (and other contact heavy sports) and CTE has been long proven. There are many well regarded papers behind it. The only question left is what percentage of the football playing population has CTE.
And finally, this is a VERY recent discovery. Bennet Omalu discovered this in 2002, and the NFL reluctantly acknowledged CTE's existence in 2009, after 7 years of trying to discredit Omalu. It's just like leaded gas, cigarettes, CFCs, and global warming all over again.
But then there's this quote from the BBC article, which makes it sounds like it was from families who suspected that the deceased had CTE
"Dr Ann McKee, director of Boston University's CTE Center, which led the study, cautioned against drawing any immediate conclusions.
"There's a tremendous selection bias," she said, explaining how many of the brains were donated specifically by families who had suspected that their loved ones were suffering from CTE, which researchers believe is caused by repeated blows to the head."
The best way to predict the future is to invent it.