Autopsy results from four former Canadian Football League (CFL) players showed the presence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in two of the mens' brains. CTE is a degenerative brain disease studied extensively by Boston area researchers at the Center for the Study of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopahy. Recent findings have raised questions about a link between repetitive head trauma, such as that suffered by athletes in contact sports, and the development of Lou Gehrig's disease, or ALS, as well as CTE.
Preliminary results on the CFL players were released today by the Canadian Sports Concussion Project.
The brains of Bobby Kuntz, Jay Roberts, Peter Ribbins and Tony Proudfoot were examined by Drs. Charles Tator and Richard Wennberg as well as others involved in the research.
CBC sports.ca reports:
"Patients who suffer from CTE can experience memory impairment, emotional instability, erratic behavior, depression and problems with impulse control. The condition can also advance into dementia.
'There are still so many unanswered questions surrounding concussion and the long-term consequences of repeated head injuries,' Tator said. 'We are trying to determine why some athletes in contact sports develop CTE and others don't, as well as how many concussions lead to the onset of this degenerative brain disease Also, we need to develop tests to detect this condition at an early stage and to discover treatments.'
Kuntz died in February 2011 at age 79 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease and diffuse Lewy body disease — a condition that overlaps with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. Roberts, 67, passed away in October 2010 after suffering from dementia and lung cancer.
The results from the autopsies done on Ribbins and Proudfoot did not show signs of CTE. Ribbins, a receiver and defensive back with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, died at age 63 of Parkinson's disease. Proudfoot, an all-star defensive back with the Montreal Alouettes, lost his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) this year at 61."
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Read more:
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/story/2011/07/26/sp-cfl-players-study.html?ref=rss#ixzz1TF6e6HTU
Dr. William Meehan, III Harvard University instructor; Director, Sports Concussion Clinic, Children's Hospital Boston, Mass.