Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) sounds like a mouthful of medicine but, it may just be the “devil” inside anyone having one head injury too many.  Junior Seau’s suicide now has every mother and father whose child plays football rethinking their choice of sports.

CTE has been linked to the deaths of too many football athletes in the past and (unfortunately) is back in the limelight it doesn’t deserve.  Perhaps it took a suicide and a final last plea from its latest victim to underscore the seriousness of this injury.  With Boston University winning the chance to examine Seau’s brain, society might finally be able to get a glimpse inside what had tormented this man for so long.  The debate over footballs association with brain injury seems to be one filled with serious problems.  On one hand football now has much safer than ever before equipment and rules that protect athletes from what was once a (seemingly) free for all mentality of “let the best man win” attitude.  Or do they?  What about those kids who play football, soccer, basketball, hockey, baseball, MMA and how can I forget “Boxing”?  I can think of many opportunities for someone to get hit in the head or thrown to the ground from a pitcher accidentally coming too close for comfort. 

Regardless of what anyone thinks of sports involving physical interaction between athletes, brain injuries like CTE affect more than just an athlete’s ability to have a career; it’s affects their ability to live a normal life.  According to Boston University’s Center for the study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (http://www.bu.edu/cste/about/what-is-cte/):

“Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes (and others) with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions as well as asymptomatic sub-concussive hits to the head. CTE has been known to affect boxers since the 1920s. However, recent reports have been published of neuropathologically confirmed CTE in retired professional football players and other athletes who
have a history of repetitive brain trauma. This trauma triggers progressive degeneration of the
 brain tissue, including the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau. These changes in the brain
can begin months, years, or even decades after the last brain trauma or end of active athletic
involvement. The brain degeneration is associated with memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment,
impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia.”

In both sets of photographs, above, the brain tissue has been immunostained for tau protein,
which appears as a dark brown color. Tau immunostained sections of medial temporal lobe
from 3 individuals

·         Top left: Whole brain section from a 65 year old control subject showing
no tau protein deposition

·         Bottom left: Microscopic section from 65 year old control subject also
shows no tau protein deposition

·         Top middle: Whole brain section from John Grimsley showing abundant
tau protein deposition in the amygdala and adjacent temporal cortex

·         Bottom middle: Microscopic section showing numerous tau positive
neurofibrillary tangles and neurites in the amygdala

·         Top right: Whole brain section from a 73 year old world champion boxer
with severe dementia showing very severe tau protein deposition in the amygdala
and thalamus

·         Bottom right: Microscopic section from a 73 year old world champion boxer
with severe dementia showing extremely dense tau positive neurofibrillary tangles 
and neurites in the amygdala

The silent torment its victims feel cannot be described well enough.   The struggle between
following your hearts desire to pursue your athletic aspirations and staying safe may seem
a distance apart from what the future realities of your choice may hold.  No parent or child would 
ever consider exchanging one for the other, but many athletic organizations do.  The push and
pull of whether or not to allow your child to participate in contact sports seems almost too much to
ask for those who envision a bright future for their budding athlete.  The debate could be equally
confusing, as well. 

Dementia is accused of being related to CTE, but for many that verdict is still “out”.  What we do know

is the result of a blow to the head injury does leave some form of protein deposits which overtime and

abuse can lead to the build-up of severe tau protein.  This build up in the brain examples shown above

seems too frequently related to dementia patients who were also once athletes receiving severe “blows”

to the head.  If we learn nothing else from Seau’s suicide, we should learn CTE is “very” likely related to

head injuries associated with certain sports. 

Quick Tips for Wellness:  Let’s not get caught up
in defending a sport over defending a life.

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