Alarmingly high number of former NFL stars develop CTE, according to massive new study

At least one in four NFL players who died in a five-year span had CTE, a new study found — but researchers say the number could actually be much higher.The condition results in cognitive decline including dementia, and disturbing personality shifts including aggression, confusion depression, impulse control and impaired judgement.CTE can only be confirmed after death by examining brain tissue, and not every NFL player who died donates their brain to be examined.So based on the evidence they had, researchers in a study from Mass General Brigham, Boston University (BU) and the Concussion & CTE Foundation published a range of what the actual CTE prevalence among deceased NFL players could be — and the estimates are startling.From 2016 to 2021, a five-year period when researchers received the most brain donations from deceased former NFL players, they found at least one in four (24.5%) had CTE.This would be the most conservative estimate, they said — it could be up to 97.7%, though that extreme is also unlikely.Only 1% of people are affected by this condition in the general population.“We were unfortunately both surprised but saddened to see that the minimum rate was so alarmingly high,” lead author Dr.

Daniel Daneshvar told CBC.“We know what’s causing it,” Daneshvar told the New York Times.“We … have complete control over the risk.

And understanding the extent of that risk is one of the steps into making sure that we can mitigate and decrease that risk.”CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is caused by repeated blows to the head and is seen in athletes from a number of sports, from ice hockey to boxing, as well as those who have served in the military — though perhaps nowhere has CTE drawn more attention than in the NFL.Of the 878 former NFL players who died during the five-year span, researchers looked at the brains of 235.They found CTE in over 90% of the donated brains — and 30% of them had stage 4 CTE, the most severe form.In th...