CTE found in 99% of studied brains from deceased NFL players

[deucetz]

CTE found in 99% of studied brains from deceased NFL players

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/25/health/ct ... index.html

Maybe it was a strategic plan by the school to not be competitive in football.

[malonish]

Versus what % in the normal population? (I say before reading btw)

For example, 100% of deceased football players will have formaldehyde in their blood but that doesn't make them unique.

[mrydel]

I can assure you that I suffered many concussions during my time. I was rendered unconscious on many occasions and back on the practice field the next day or the game the next play. We did not know what damage was being done. I still say the best way to do away with concussions would be to play without helmets. A player would be forced to protect their head. But I suppose we have gone too far to revert to that.

[BUS]

I have to agree to take the helmet off or just leather.
Check to cheek tackle.
oops that is and smu mistake.

[edwa]

Get rid off all padding, rugby doesnt face half the problems football does.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

The answer to problems with helmet to helmet collisions is bigger helmets.

[PK]

The answer to problems with helmet to helmet collisions is bigger helmets.

Yeah, then they will look like bobbleheads.

[ponyboy]

People will adjust their behavior to their perceived level of risk. Take helmets off and we'll still have the same number of concussions. Encase players in bubble wrap, same level of concussions. Add air bags to cars, same level of accidents -- just untold millions wasted.

[HarvCrimYaleBlue]

The answer to problems with helmet to helmet collisions is bigger helmets.

I concur.

[mrydel]

People will adjust their behavior to their perceived level of risk. Take helmets off and we'll still have the same number of concussions. Encase players in bubble wrap, same level of concussions. Add air bags to cars, same level of accidents -- just untold millions wasted.

Just not true. I have played tackle football with no pads, soccer, rugby. Never suffered an injury until
I put on the equipment that made me "invulnerable ".

And how would airbags stop accidents? They are designed to save lives in the accidents. I have flipped a car going 70 mph and an airbag saved my life. It was too inanimate to stop the accident.

[ponyte]

First, this is a highly biased study and any conclusion is purely speculation. The brains studied were those donated. That means a decision was made to give brain tissue for study of those players or their family that agree to do so. That means a lot of players didn't donate their brain. So we only have brains to study from those that donated. Imagine the bias of a poll if the only sample were those donating to the cause. And this is a cause. Not only do we not know the percentage of normal in this study, we don't know the percentage of brain injury in the total population of players. The article points out these biases but of course it is well after the sensational headline.

The next thing is CTE is a diagnosis made at autopsy. There is no clinical diagnostic criteria as symptoms are similar to other forms of dementia. And the prevalence is unknown in the general population. Remember, diagnosis of autopsy so there has to be a voluntary consent to autopsy. The vast majority of those suffering from dementia do not get autopsies. There are no biomarkers or imaging criteria to identify CTE in living individuals. Until such testing can be identified, it will be impossible to determine incidence and prevalence in the normal population.

Also, do genetics play a role cause not all people subject to repeated head trauma develop CTE. Since this is a diagnosis of autopsy, with well know clinical history of the subject, is this a condition that can be identified in others without repeated head trauma or other forms of head trauma? We don't know. We do know that CTE was recently identified in soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with repeated head trauma. We now know the condition isn't limited to football players. What other repeated head trauma occupations develop this condition?

The science on this condition is in its infancy and still controversial because of the limitations of diagnosis, inability to identify it in living individuals and the unknown of the incidence and prevalence of this condition in non athletic population.

[mrydel]

All that gives me a headache

[One Trick Pony]

All that gives me a headache

Put this on nothing's going to happen

[malonish]

Wear a Navy RB's helmet and it will go untouched too.

[PK]

All that gives me a headache

Perhaps you have CTE.