Dr. Bennet Olamu: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

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

Concussion is based on the true story of Dr. Bennet Omalu who first discovered the deadly brain disease known as CTE or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. When Omalu first discovered CTE in 2002 during an autopsy of Mike Webster, a Hall-of-Fame Steelers' professional, the NFL largely ignored him. They used to attribute this problem with older patients as having Alzheimer's but that was not the case. In fact, the NFL went on full offense to deny the existence of such a disease, and they did their best to discredit Omalu because they did not want to have to pay for it.

In a study of 92 former NFL players, it was found that a total of 88 (96%) of them were afflicted with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE (Tyler). With such a high percentage of former NFL players suffering from this disease, one would think solid efforts would be being put forward towards a cure, or that a cure may even have already been found. But this is not the case. Very little is known about this disease, and there is no known cure for it yet. As the leading influence in the game of football, the NFL has the moral responsibility to fund research and put forth an effort towards reducing the risk of and eventually eliminating head trauma in the game of football.

Jeanne Marie Laskas’s “Concussion” (Random House) is a book about profiling Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathologist from Nigeria who discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the brain damage develops from concussions and leads the NFL players to have brain trauma, depression and commit suicide. With courage and piousness, he faced many personal battles. Other than the NFL’s allegations against him of being unethical, practicing voodoo, and telling him to retract his scientific paper, Bennet also countered civil war, self-discovery, depression, death, race, belonging, and comparing America to Nigeria.

Dr. Benett Omalu, a forensic pathologist, was the one who brought attention to concussions through his research on chromic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is brain degeneration suffered by professional football players. During his research, Dr. Omalu performed an autopsy on former Pittsburgh Steelers lineman Mike Webster and the initial evaluation showed no abnormalities. Eventually, through more research, Dr. Omalu found the problem in the build-up of tau proteins, which he saw while examining pieces of Webster’s brain under a microscope, leading to a groundbreaking diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Dr. Omalu published his discovery in a journal and as other athletes experience the same diagnosis, Dr. Omalu took it upon himself to raise public awareness about the dangers of football-related head trauma. Finally, concussion injuries were starting to be taken seriously; efforts were being made to help stop concussions from occurring at all levels.

former and current NFL players throughout the article "87 Deceased NFL Players Test Positive for Brain Disease". While tested at the nations largest brain bank, " 87 out of 91 former NFL players have tested positive for the brain disease"(Breslow 2).

Football has been in the spotlight after many suicides and even murders. The National Football League (NFL) has been the cause of 87 cases of CTE. (“New”, 2015). Many of these cases were hidden from the public by the NFL. It was only until a doctor, by the name of Bennet Omalu, took on the NFL. The recent movie “Concussion” starring Will Smith showed how Dr. Omalu found the disease. Dr. Omalu is the reason why the NFL has started taking preventive measures for this disease. Dr. Omalu recently stated that 90% of all NFL players have CTE. Many players have retired from their football careers because of the fear they have for this disease. Jovan Belcher’s case was one of the worst. Belcher was a standout linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs. On December 1, 2012 he shot and killed his girlfriend. Belcher then drove to the Chiefs training facility where he shot and killed himself in front of the general manager and head coach. His autopsy had revealed that he had CTE at the age of 25. (“NFL”, 2015). Some star NFL players have also suffered from CTE: Junior Seau died at the age 43, Dave Duerson died at age 50, Andre Waters died at age 44, Chris Henry died at the age of 26, Ray Easterling died at 62. (“The NF.L.s”, 2014). These cases all have two things in common, each player had CTE and each of them committed suicide. There are 82 more cases, just like these, from NFL

The epidemic of CTE became evident to the public after Mike Webster, the former Pittsburgh Steelers’s player, sued the NFL claiming his football career destroyed his brain. Four years later, in 2002, Webster died suddenly and he became Patient Zero, after Dr. Omalu performed the autopsy that found CTE. Dr. Bennet Omalu and Dr. Ann McKee made headway with research and found that CTE forms from poisonous protein build up in the brain and causes victims to feel their own livelihood slowly deteriorate (League of Denial). The history of CTE explains that it does not just appear over one jarring occurrence. This protein in the brain tissue builds up after multiple head injuries, also described as a concussion. When football players make a tackle and their bodies collide the brain rattles around in its protecting barrier, the skull. Concussions are very tough to detect because a typical MRI cannot pick up the tearing in the microscopic tissue. Mild traumatic brain injuries show no signs of physical damage to the naked eye. The only factor medical examiners can base their prognosis off of is the state of the athlete presented to them. After a hit the brain deforms, and if shaken hard enough parts of neurons can stretch and even tear. When torn, molecules begin to leak in the brain containing several proteins including tau. With concussion after concussion, the axons in the brain wear down due to excess calcium and a build up of tau forms

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.

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Concussion revolves around Dr. Bennet Omalu and the research that established Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Omalu is a forensic neuropathologist from Nigeria who came to America to chase dreams as a doctor and researcher. Omalu’s discovery began in the brain of Mike Webster, a National Football

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or better known as CTE has gained momentum in areas of public awareness and scientific involvement in recent years due to the popularized sport on American Football. During recent years, the media has been swaying and educating the public on the adverse outcomes that CTE can initiate. However, the first discovery of this disease was diagnosed by pathologist Harrison Martland and can be related back to the late 1920’s; the first true cases were identified in the physical sport of boxing. During that time, CTE was commonly known as dementia pugilistica meaning “punch drunk” from the wobbly nature of boxers during repetitive hits to the head.1,2 It was determined that dementia pugilistica (also known as boxer’s

Bennet Omalu made concussions a big deal and not just a keeping it in the dark from people and the the players for the NFL. He was the one who discovered Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy AKA(CTE) a disease caused by trauma to the head. He discovered CTE do to the death of Mike Webster. Mike died unexpectedly Dr.Omalu believed it was do to the mood disorders,depression ,drug abuse,destitution and Mike one Attempted suicide do to the depression. Dr.Omalu did a self analyses Mike brain tissue and he found out that Mike suffered from dementia pugilistica which is caused by repeated hits to the head. Dr. Omalu finally discovered CTE after the death of Tony Long he committed suicide in

After the suicide of NFL player Junior Seau last May and the murder-suicide of Kansas City Cheifs player Jovan Belcher, the issue of head trauma and the long term effects it has on players in the NFL has become a very hot topic in the sports and medical field. While the cause of Belcher’s depression has not been diagnosed as caused by any specific disease, the official diagnosis of what made Seau end his life has been cited as CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) (Zeigler, 2012). CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative brain disease which is caused by repetitive head trauma, such as concussions (SLI, 2012). CTE is known to cause depression, severe mood swings,

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