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Very depressing news about football. A study looking at those who played football long-term (as a career in adulthood) found that for every year of playing tackle football (lots of pounding and repeated head collisions), a person's risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) increases by 30%. The researchers from the Boston Univ. School of Medicine arrived at this conclusion after looking at 266 deceased former amateur and professional football players.

What was different about this study was that they compared football players who did not develop CTE with those who did - so the researchers thought it was representative of career football players.

The study results make total sense, but are horrifying because of all the children in the US growing up and playing tackle football from a young age. Other studies find brain changes from just playing some semesters in high school or college or before the age of 12.

From Futurity: CTE RISK GOES UP 30% FOR EACH YEAR OF PLAYING FOOTBALL  ...continue reading "Football May Not Be A Good Career Choice"

Should tackle football continue to be played in its current form? A study with horrifying results that was published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association raises that question once again.

The study examined 202 brains of people who had formerly played football for varying lengths of time and at varying levels (some who only played pre-high school, some at high school, college level, semi-professional, or Canadian football league). They found the highest percentage of  the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) among former NFL players (110 out of 111 brains). However, the overall incidence of CTE was 87% when looking at all 202 brains.

They also found that the 3 out of 14 former high school players had mild CTE, but the majority of former college, semiprofessional, and professional players had severe CTE.

The one thing to keep in mind is that the study only examined donated brains of former football players  - which means that the family members were concerned about CTE in the former player (perhaps there were symptoms suggestive of CTE). So we don't know the actual percentage of CTE in currently playing and former football players. But studies (here. here, and here) do show damage from hits received during football games and practice at even the grammar and high school level - and the damage can be from subconcussive hits.

But note that concussions and subconcussive hits (head trauma) also occur in other sports, such as soccer. Everyone agrees we need more studies, and we also need to rethink how some games are played in childhood to protect developing brains.

From NPR: Study: CTE Found In Nearly All Donated NFL Player Brains

As the country starts to get back into its most popular professional team sport, there is a reminder of how dangerous football can be. An updated study published Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association on football players and the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy reveals a striking result among NFL players. ...continue reading "CTE Found In Majority Of Former Football Player Donated Brains"