Study on Football Brain Trauma

Baseball is known as America's pastime. However, there is another game that has out shined baseball. This game is football. Every year, Americans look forward to the Superbowl where opposing league teams battle on the field for the Lombardi trophy.

The game is extremely popular with kids and even on college campuses.  However, a danger lurks in the game which has been ignored for decades. This danger involves the unseen injuries players receive due to the blunt force physical contact that is part of the game. The constant collisions have led to many players experiencing concussions. However, the damage is far worse.

A study done on over 200 brains from dead football players with 111 originating from professional NFL players has demonstrated extreme cerebral damage.  Close to 90% of the brains showed chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE.  This condition is caused by the constant bombardment the heads on the field. CTE causes cognitive problems such as, problems with memory and learning as well as emotional illness. The study was conducted by Boston University's CTE Center.

While the study is not perfect - researchers claim limitations - it can be helpful in the advancement of better ways to protect players of the game.  Images of brains from players with CTE show significant decrease in brain matter. This would explain the symptoms experienced by the players when they were alive.




Source:

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2645104

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