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Repeated Head Hits, Not Just Concussions, May Lead To A Type Of Chronic Brain Damage

"The concussions we see on the ballfield or the battlefield or wherever — those people are going to get attention," Goldstein says, "because it's obvious they've had some sort of injury. We're really worried about the many more people who are getting hit and getting hurt — their brain is getting hurt — but are not getting help because we can't see the evidence on the outside that their brain is actually hurt. It's a silent injury."

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 The spectrum of disease in chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a progressive tauopathy that occurs as a consequence of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury. We analysed post-mortem brains obtained from a cohort of 85 subjects with histories of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury and found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in 68 subjects: all males, ranging in age from 17 to 98 years (mean 59.5 years), including 64 athletes, 21 military veterans (86% of whom were also athletes) and one individual who engaged in self-injurious head banging behaviour.

Articles of Interest

Current Understanding of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease thought to be associated with a history of repetitive head impacts, such as those sustained through contact sports or military combat. CTE, a distinct neurodegeneration, was first introduced in the literature as “punch drunk” or dementia pugilistica in the early 1900s because of its association with boxing

Derek Boogaard: A Brain ‘Going Bad’

“We don’t know why one person gets it more severely than another person, why one person has a course that is more quick than another person,” said Dr. Robert A. Stern, a neuropsychologist and a co-director for the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. “But what we are pretty sure of is, once the disease starts, it continues to progress.”

Everyday people fear they have CTE. A dubious market has sprung up to treat them

But Brush is part of a quiet population of everyday men and women who never played professional sports yet fear they have the disease. Frantic for a cure, they often turn to dubious treatments, controversial doctors or health care providers with financial stakes in the products they recommend — and the loosely regulated brain health industry is profiting.

What is CTE? Understanding chronic traumatic encephalopathy

CTE is a rare form of brain damage that can result from repeated head injuries, even if they are not severe enough to cause concussion. The repeated head injuries are a type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, but CTE is a progressive brain disorder that affects how the brain works, leading to dementia.

Resources

Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center

In collaboration with other NIH-funded ADC’s and the non-profit Sports Legacy Institute, CTE Center conducts high-impact, innovative research on Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and other long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma in athletes and military personnel. The mission of the CTE Center is to conduct state-of-the-art research on CTE, including its neuropathology and pathogenesis, clinical presentation, genetics and other risk factors, biomarkers, methods of detection during life, and methods of prevention and treatment.

Concussion & CTE Foundation

The Concussion & CTE Foundation's mission is to support athletes, veterans & all affected by brain trauma.

Concussion Legacy Foundation Canada

CLF Canada’s mission is to advance the study, treatment, and prevention of the effects of brain trauma and associated mental health implications in Canadian athletes, military personnel, youth, and other at-risk groups.

Brain Foundation

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a type of dementia associated with repeated head injuries or concussions. It is often discussed in relation to contact sports, but it can occur in anyone who suffers from repeated head traumas.

MayoClinic

Originally called punch drunk syndrome (dementia pugilistica), CTE was first demonstrated in boxers. Doctors now know that other individuals who play a wide variety of sports that involve repeated blows to the head, such as football players, can develop CTE. Military personnel who have had blast injuries also are at risk. Researchers do not yet fully understand CTE's prevalence and causes. There is no cure for CTE.

SportsMD.com

Although only recently termed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (first documented in the medical literature in 1996), CTE is now the preferred medical term for this disease.

StatPearls

Sports-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) has become increasingly popular in the scientific literature over the past few decades. However, the first mention of such a subject in the literature occurred in the 1920s with reference to the “punch drunk” syndrome of boxers.