Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

“This sport will never die, but it will never again be, as it was until recently, the subject of uncomplicated national enthusiasm.” This thesis statement introduces us to the basis of what this article sets out to convey. Football is a tradition that is loved by America, but previously lacked the issue of concern that it does now. The most concerning issue that the author is talking about is chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Caused by multiple head injuries, over a span of time, this disease results in atrophy of the brain, mood disorders, and dementia. The hidden damage caused by these injuries is taken into consideration when deciding to play football, however it is believed that this risk will deter players from joining in

CTE is a brain disease found in individuals with annals of head trauma. It has specifically been found in athletes with numerous concussions. So far it can only be diagnosed in the deceased, but Dr. Julian Bales and his staff in UCLA have discovered symptoms in living players such as Hall of Famer Anthony “Tony” Dorsett, Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, and NFL All-Pro Leonard Marshall. CTE can cause memory loss, dementia, depression, suicidal thoughts, cognitive and emotional difficulties (Waldron par 1, 2, 3). Is it a compelling issue? A total of 171 concussions were reported in the NFL in the 2012-2013 season; 88 thus far in the 2013-2014 season (Frontline pt). Those are just numbers in the professional level. There are thousands of kids playing football either in youth, middle school, high school, or college level. The diagnosis is currently in progress, researchers are optimistic this could lead to a legitimate treatment, how to manage, and hopefully a cure. Furthermore, this can also possibly lead to an answer to a connection between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Junior Seau, Mike Webster, Terry Long, and Justin Strzelczyk (all of whom are dead now) are all men who played in the NFL for an extent period of time. This is not the only thing they have in common. These former players had an uncustomary

CTE affects many different athletes all over the world. Chronic Traumatic encephalopathy or normally referred to as CTE is a brain disease that affects people who have had multiple head injuries. It is found in many cases of ex NFL players who took many hits to the head when playing over their careers. There are many documented cases of it across other sports and some military veterans as well. We have made large strides in learning more and more about the terrible disease. The game of football has changed since we have learned so much more about the terrible disease in recent years. We could prevent concussions by changing the way players practice.

There was a new movie released called Concussion, addressing a neurological deficiency called CTE or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE is quoted as a “degenerative brain condition”, in a Newsweek article titled “CONCUSSION: CAN A WILL SMITH MOVIE CHANGE THE WAY WE LOOK AT FOOTBALL?” This disease was first discovered and diagnosed by Doctor Bennet Omalu, during an autopsy on Mike Webster, legendary former Pittsburgh Steeler.

While examining his brain, they found the first case of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) in a football player (Ezell). Dr. Omalu continued into the brains of football players. He diagnost another player with CTE. After that, two other doctors connect concussions to dementia. Dr. Bailes and Dr. Guskiewicz wrote, “that the onset of dementia-related syndromes may be initiated by repetitive cerebral concussions in professional football players” (Ezell). This was the first major finding connecting football to brain injuries.

Research have examined 168 total brains of former professional football players and found that 97% of professional players and 79% of all players showed evidence of CTE. The short-term is sequalae of acute brain injury including subdural hematoma and catastrophic brain injury may lead to death. CTE give athletes depression which magnifies other response also impact recovery. For example, when athlete's injury is significant they can suffer both physically as well as emotionally. In the 14 cases 20% there was prominent mood disturbance.

Since 2009 over 500 players have come forward with personal legal suits regarding long term effects of concussions. The NFL conducted research from 1994 to 2009 lead by one Elliot Pellman [1]. At the time he was employed by the Jets franchise and claimed that no data had shown up. He then reported that they did not find any direct connections between head injuries received while playing, to long-term consequences. Since this study funded by the NFL, a lot of progress has been made proving them wrong. One of these big discoveries was CTE. CTE stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found most commonly in athletes. It is caused by multiple concussions that then trigger progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, including the build up of an abnormal protein called tau. [1]. These changes to the brain can begin months, years, or even decades after the last concussion or end of active lifestyle. This can lead to memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, paranoia, impulsive control problems, aggression, depression, and eventually progressive dementia [6]. In 2008 Dr. Robert Cantu of Boston University’s school of medicine partnered with a team to create the worlds first research center dedicated to studying CTE [6].

After many famous football players lives started to go down tract, Dr. Omalu discovered the presence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in many other football player’s brains. He explained that CTE was present in many athletes who had a history of repetitive brain trauma, especially concussions. Dr. Omalu explained that football may be hindering the brains of the players, as the head goes backwards and hits inside of the skull. This disease affected many players including Mike Webster and Junior

Post-concussive syndrome can ultimately lead to diseases such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). A CTE is a neurodegenerative disease associated with repetitive brain trauma and characterized pathologically by the accumulation of protein in specific areas of the brain (Abreu, Cromartie, & Spradley, 2016). In 2005, Bennet Omalu allowed Americans to become more aware of the term CTE after completing research on a professional national football league (NFL) player and releasing the study to the public. The issue of CTE in the NFL was not easy to uncover during this time due to the hiding and denying of test results ran on cadavers. This finding sparked a chain of events that ultimately forced the NFL to settle a class-action lawsuit from

In recent times, arguments have arisen surrounding the safety of athletic involvement in high risk sports, specifically football, and its links to the onset manifestation of neurological illnesses such as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, otherwise known as CTE, is a neurodegenerative illness caused by repeated concussive or subconcussive impacts to the brain. The disease is diagnosed posthumously and is characterized by the excessive accumulation of the tau protein inside the brain, ultimately leading to the atrophy of the cerebral hemispheres. People with CTE exhibit early signs of

People often view the concept of the truth as _______. To many people, the truth is important and must not be ignored, but others lie so frequently that it is seemingly part of their speech pattern. The problem is that lying can have huge effects, not only on the person telling the lies or omitting information, but also on the people being given these falsehoods, and the effect of this deception can be devastating.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that develops in people that suffer from multiple traumatic brain injuries, multiple concussions, or multiple sub-concussive injuries. It can take several years or decades to before any symptoms may arise. Chronic Traumatic encephalopathy was introduced by Martland in 1928. During that time Chronic traumatic encephalopathy was termed “punch drunk” which was mostly sustained by professional boxers.

Amen, spoke about 2 different studies just this year, the first looking at 28 former players and noticing the substantially lower hippocampus volumes of these individuals. There was another study done using MRI imaging and 54 retired players along with 53 controls. In this they found that 29% of the athletes had depression, 22% had anxiety and 13% had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. On top of that they were shown to have hyper connectivity and hyper activation in the frontal lobe, which is associated with executive dysfunction. Omalu one of the leading researchers in this field did a study on a single retired NFL player that was published in 2010, This player had been playing football since the age of 15, played college football and then 9 years in the NFL. He had many of the symptoms associated with CTE such as memory loss and forgetting conversations and meetings within a few years of retiring. The symptoms worsened to have mood swings and isolating himself as well as aggression and depression. The player committed suicide and from the pathological findings in his brain it was determined that he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy. There were neurofibrillary tangles as well as

While the NFL is putting new rules and regulations on equipment and which type of tackles are allowed, living retired NFL players are found to already have symptoms of CTE (Fainaru, 2013). Through brain scans and research done by UCLA, they have identified proteins in player’s brains that cause CTE, which as Dr. Julian Bailes, co-director or North Shore Neurological Institute said, is the “holy grail” to studying CTE and finding ways to cure and prevent it (Fainaru, 2013). While this is a break through, there is still no cure or way to treat CTE (Fainaru, 2013). But this research also raises questions about CTE and the NFL. Will players be required to be tested for CTE? Can players be denied playing anymore if CTE is found? Will this greatly affect the way that football is currently played? As the research is still being collected, there is still no definite answer to any of those questions, but the NFL has acknowledged the correlations of CTE and concussions caused by playing in the NFL and assures that they will do all they can to help prevent severe brain trauma to their players, including donating $30 million to the National Institutes of Health to conduct further research on CTE (Kroll, 2013).

The core of Christianity comes down to one central tenant above everything else. In modern society, Christianity is often depicted as a group of hyper-judgmental, overzealous, backwards hypocrites, but the reality is that we are centered on one thing and one thing alone. That central point is the Gospel. Once you understand the Gospel, you understand that those things I mentioned above that are often used in depictions of Christians should simply not be. The Gospel is the basis for the entire Christian faith and, if you are a Christian, the basis for all knowledge and understanding.