DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) – A new study out of Boston University found that 99 percent of former NFL players who donated their brain for research were diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as CTE.
CTE is caused by excessive head trauma often associated with extreme contact in sports like football, boxing and soccer.
Doctor Brandon Brock with Cerebrum Health Centers said the hits athletes take during the games have potentially long-lasting effects.
“You accumulate enough trauma and the inflammatory cells in the brain turn on and can really start to create some devastating physiological effects. You do that long enough and you start to lose brain matter and the cells in the brain will misfire,” he said.
The disease is only detectable after death but Brock said there are still some symptoms to look for.
“Anywhere from fatigue, to mental confusion, to irritability, to anger, to sadness. You name it, it depends on the part of the brain that is most effective. It’s degenerative. It’s not curable at this point,” said Brock.
He said the disease puts young athletes at risk long term.
“Less than one percent of these kids even have a chance of playing professional football and if you go and destroy that you might do something that would lower your career. It really concerns me that they want to continue to play football knowing that they’re never going to make it to the NFL,” said Brock.
The study also shows that more than 20 percent of high school football players develop the condition.
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