What The Sports Industry Doesn’t Want To Know (but you probably already know)

We’ve talked a lot about concussions, a type of brain injury, here. Thankfully, some changes are being made in the world of sports to help athletes avoid concussions and their effects.

But a recent study in the journal Brain is telling us something we probably already know – but it’s still worth repeating.

CTE. It stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a measurable disease of the brain (measurable by an autopsy, but symptoms are visible).

Symptoms include trouble thinking, impulsive behaviour, depression, memory problems, and possibly progressive dementia.

CTE is controversial, partly because it’s hard to measure the disease against the symptoms (since you can’t do an autopsy on a living patient). There’s even controversy about how common it is – from extremely rare to almost certain if you’re an athlete.

Back to the study. The study focuses first on an autopsy of four teenagers, in which CTE was detected. Then researchers tested a hypothesis that a hit to the head could cause CTE. (Dr. Lee Goldstein, who took part of the study, does an impressive job explaining in the video below – please take the time to watch it.)

The current concern is not so much that concussions can lead to CTE – of course concussions are a major concern. But the current concern is that hits – simply repeated hits to the head, even if there is no concussion – can lead to CTE.

We all know that getting hit in the head repeatedly can’t be good. And although most of us don’t want to put kids or teens (or adults!) in a bubble their whole lives, we also have to be aware of what certain sports may be doing to them over the long term.

See also: Brain is damaged by repeated head trauma, even without a concussion