There is now further evidence linking CTE and repeated head trauma: ICYMI

Brain damage can result in concussion or loss of consciousness. But what if injuries occur repeatedly over time?

According to a review article released on July 22 in Frontiers in Neurology, chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a neurodegenerative condition brought on by recurrent head trauma (CTE).

The loss of neurons in the cortex and the enlargement of the ventricles—the spaces in the centre of the brain where cerebrospinal fluid is made—are characteristics of CTE.

The goal of the study was to ascertain whether there was a causal relationship between recurrent head trauma and CTE.

In order to determine the cause of CTE in the published literature, the authors employed a nine-step thought process based on the Bradford Hill criterion.

The biological gradient (or dose-response curve), the plausibility of disease progression within existing biological or social models, the coherence of data with what is already known about the disease, existing experimental evidence, and analogous circumstances that illustrate similar causal associations were among them. They also included the strength of association, consistency of findings across multiple studies, specificity of disease occurrence, time from exposure to the outcome, and biological gradient.

There was no other common mechanism that could account for why CTE has proven more common in contact sport players, across a variety of sports, and in numerous nations, outside recurrent damage.

The greatest research included ice hockey and American football players, and they found that the risk of CTE increased by about 1.2 times for each extra year of play, which is comparable to studies on the number of years of smoking and lung cancer.

Major picture

Pathologist Harrison Martland first referred to CTE as the "punch drunk disease" in 1928 after seeing the adverse effects of boxers who had jarring blows to the brain during fights.

Since then, CTE has been found in the post-mortem brains of numerous other sportsmen who participate in contact sports.

The authors contend that the best course of action for avoiding CTE is to move to minimise and eradicate preventable RHI in light of the causal relationship revealed from this evaluation of the CTE literature.

References: https://www.brainfacts.org/neuroscience-in-society/neuroscience-in-the-news/2022/icymi-causal-links-strengthen-between-repeated-head-injuries-and-cte-082222