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Scientists are concerned that each time the head takes a pounding, it shakes the brain inside the skull. This can lead to a buildup of an abnormal protein called tau, which can take over parts of the brain.
Although football players get the most attention when it comes to CTE, the disease has been diagnosed in soccer players, baseball players, and even military veterans.
Some people believe that harder helmets are the solution, but helmets can’t do anything to protect your brain from subconcussive hits.
The first mention of CTE was a disease in boxers, called "dementia pugilistica" or "punch-drunk" syndrome, in a 1928 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers in the US don't know how many people there have CTE. Most studies focus on former athletes who played contact sports, as well as military service members.
Through this process, doctors confirm whether the person had CTE or another disease, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
There's no certainty as to who'll get CTE. Scientists believe there might be genetic and environmental components at play. Researchers at Boston University have found 96% of ex-NFL players suffer from the disease. But that doesn't mean all football players are at risk of developing CTE.
Boston University and the Krembil Neuroscience Centre in Toronto are two big institutions who are doing CTE research. They are both accepting brain donations from deceased athletes to advance research.
Sources: (CNN) (The New York Times) (BrainLine)
See also: The history of mental health treatments
It's important to note that the disease has been studied in brains that have been donated by family members who suspected their loved ones have CTE. So it's not completely rando: it’s selective bias.
Currently, CTE can only be confirmed in a postmortem examination of the brain. To diagnose CTE, doctors check the brain for changes that happened.
As there's no way to diagnose CTE in a living person, it's difficult for researchers to rely on a diseased brain to develop a cure.
However, researchers hope that if they can identify CTE in living people, this will put them a step closer to understanding how the disease progresses, which will lead to a possible cure.
Traumatic brain injuries, including concussions and repeated hits to the head, called subconcussive head impacts, may lead to CTE.
CTE has been diagnosed in people who had a history of repeated subconcussive head impacts, without any known history of concussion. Researchers believe that the more a person has subconcussive head impacts, the higher the chance of getting CTE.
Other people with CTE may experience memory and thinking problems first. Over time, they may have mood or personality changes. In general, mental health problems can increase for those with CTE.
Subconcussive head impacts are bumps, hits, or jolts to the head. Unlike concussions, which cause symptoms, subconcussive head impacts don't. One way a person can get a subconcussive head impact is by suffering a collision while playing sports.
As previously mentioned, CTE symptoms can affect the way a person thinks, feels, acts, and moves. But they won't show up the same for everyone. Some might first have problems with depression, and later develop memory and other thinking problems.
The clumps of tau strangle brain cells, and diminish their ability to function before killing them. CTE tends to affect the dorsolateral frontal cortex, an area critical for cognition and executive function. This impacts memory, planning, and abstract reasoning.
It's important to note that symptoms of CTE are similar to those of other health problems. Having CTE symptoms doesn't mean a person has it. It's important to always talk to your doctor about any concerns.
CTE is a disease that results from changes in the brain. These changes can affect a person in many ways, such as how they think, feel, act, and move.
Although there are some similarities between CTE and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), significant differences exist. CTE symptoms generally present earlier, in one's forties, while AD tends to show up in one's sixties.
However, it wasn’t until the late '60s that the term CTE became the accepted name for the disease.
After a lawsuit by a former player, which ended with a US$1 billion dollar settlement, the NFL has acknowledged the connection between the disease and football. The increased awareness has even prompted some players to willingly remove themselves from games.
More than 320 former players, including Ken Stabler (pictured) and Frank Gifford, have been posthumously diagnosed with CTE. Researchers at Boston University discovered that tackle football players doubled their risk of developing the worst forms of CTE for each 5.3 years they played.
For many years, the NFL denied any connection between long-term brain damage and hits to the head until confronted with scientific evidence.
NFL legend Mike Webster was the first player found to have had CTE. The diagnosis was published in a scientific journal three years after his death in 2002.
Not everyone who has been dealt repeated blows to the head or brain injuries will develop CTE. Occasional hits to the head, such as the bumps, won't cause CTE.
Imagine your brain like an egg yolk, and the shell is the helmet. Having a thicker shell won't protect the yolk from moving back and forth when the egg is shaken or moved around.
The initial and most characteristic symptoms in AD involve memory problems, while the first symptoms of CTE generally involve problems with judgment, reasoning, impulse control, and aggression.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive and fatal brain disease associated with repeated traumatic brain injuries, including concussions and repeated hits to the head. Studies have also shown that CTE is associated with the development of dementia, appearing at a much higher number with people who've experienced several cases of head injuries.
But what exactly is CTE, and which sports present the greatest threat of developing it? Read through the following gallery to discover what you need to know about CTE.
What is CTE and which sports are the riskiest?
All about chronic traumatic encephalopathy
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Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive and fatal brain disease associated with repeated traumatic brain injuries, including concussions and repeated hits to the head. Studies have also shown that CTE is associated with the development of dementia, appearing at a much higher number with people who've experienced several cases of head injuries.
But what exactly is CTE, and which sports present the greatest threat of developing it? Read through the following gallery to discover what you need to know about CTE.