“I Don’t Think His Hands Could Take the Abuse.”-Randall Cobb
Almost a century ago, a rare but serious form of dementia was linked to repetitive head injuries in boxing. The dementia was aptly named, “Boxer’s dementia.” Lately, this “punch drunk” dementia has been found to affect athletes in other sports, such as American football and soccer, where athletes’ heads take repeated blows, so a broader term for this condition was needed. Chronic traumatic en-
cephalopathy (CTE), is a related brain disorder that has been shown to affect other kinds of athletes, and more rarely, non-athletes who sustain head injuries. It has been in the news lately because of two high-profile cases.
Brain traumas, especially chronic injuries such as those sustained in sports can, over time, lead to irreversible brain damage. There is just so much jarring and shaking the brain can take. The difficulty is that the most serious, long-term symptoms often don’t show
up until later in life, but clearly CTE can develop almost any age. Here, we’ll discuss the symptoms, brain changes, and prevention of CTE in athletes and in all of us.
“Earnie “Earnie Shavers Shavers Could Could Punch Punch You You in in the the Neck Neck and and Break Break Your Your Ankle.”-Randall Ankle.”-Randall Cobb Cobb
BRAIN DAMAG
The severe form of CTB mentia pugilistica. The dependent upon docum neurological condition th clinical symptomatology brain trauma and unexpla pathophysiological proce shares many character disease (i.e., neurofibrilla loid plaques, acetylcholin immunoreactivity). Chron (CTBI) associated with b imately 20% of professio associated with CTBI incl (i.e., duration of career, number of bouts), poor p sparring, and apolipopro Clinically, boxers exhibitin varying degrees of moto havioral imp
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BI is referred to as dee diagnosis of CTBI is menting a progressive hat is consistent with the y of CTBI attributable to ainable by an alternative ess. Pathologically, CTBI ristics with Alzheimer’s ary triangles, diffuse amyne deficiency, and/or tau nic traumatic brain injury boxing occurs in approxonal boxers. Risk factors lude increased exposure age of retirement, total performance, increased otein (APOE) genotype. ng CTBI will present with or, cognitive, and/or bepairments.
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Chronic traumatic encephalopathy affects many areas of a person’s functioning, including mood, emotional regulation, cognitive capacity, memory, and personality. (3) It often doesn’t develop for years after the traumas occurred, and can present with a different constellation of symptoms in each person it affects.
ts prevalence in boxers continues. One recent review study of athletes who were diagnosed with CTE found that of the 51 confirmed cases of CTE, 46 were in athletes – and of these, 39 were boxers.(2) Five football players, a soccer player, and a wrestler made up the remainder of the athletes affected by chronic brain trauma.