Dementia was common among the former NFL players, who also were diagnosed with CTE, after donating their brains for research. File Photo by Mark Black/UPI
Dementia was common among the former NFL players, who also were diagnosed with CTE, after donating their brains for research. File Photo by Mark Black/UPI |
Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Nearly 25% of all ex-NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, according to a study published Tuesday.
The study was published in the British Medical Journal by researchers from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston University and other institutions.
Researchers worked to determine the range of possible prevalence of the degenerative brain disease at death among former NFL players and examine the link between CTE severity and risk of dementia.
More than 90% of the samples with stage IV CTE, the most advanced form of the disease, also were diagnosed with dementia.
"The NFL continuously strives to make the game of football safer, including by implementing strategies to reduce concussions and head impacts," the league said in a statement.
"The NFL remains committed to ensuring that the NFL community has access to a robust -- and expanding -- set of resources to enhance their physical and mental wellbeing. We encourage former players to utilize these resources to identify and seek treatment when they are concerned about their health."
The study noted that 338 of the 1,712 former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2021 donated their brains for neuropathological evaluation, and of those, 215 were diagnosed with CTE. But 643 brains that were not examined.
Based on that data, researchers determined the possible prevalence of CTE at death for the total 1,712 brains was between 18.5% and 98.7%.
Those rates climbed from between 24.5% and 96.7% from 2016 to 2021, when brain donation was most frequent.
Researchers found that 104 brain donors had stage IV CTE, while 202 had clinically diagnosed dementia. A total of 63 had neurodegenerative disease listed as their primary cause of death.