Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

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Imagine a hot, sunny day at a small town high school. Most likely, there is a football practice underway. Underneath the helmet, pads, and other protective equipment, there is a teenage boy who is waiting for his body to become damaged. Even though a bone being broken is the first injury to come to mind, the most dangerous injury sustained from football is actually a head injury. The brain is one of the most delicate parts of the human body, simply because it is the control center for all activities. Even though there have been advancements in helmet technology and new rules and regulations throughout the sport of football, head injuries are still too common for comfort. The outcomes of head injuries on young children are so severe and the …show more content…
Formally known as dementia pugilistica and believed to only exist among boxers, CTE is “a progressive degenerative disease which afflicts the brain of people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries, such as athletes who take part in contact sports” (“What is CTE?”). Individuals who suffer from this disease have a brain that deteriorates over time and eventually loses mass. It is characterized by an accumulation of a tau protein, which is a substance that “serves to stabilize cellular structure in the neurons but which may become defective and subsequently may cause major interference with the function of the neurons” (“What is CTE?”). Symptoms of CTE seem like innocent symptoms of old age, such as memory loss, difficulty with balance, and a gradual onset of dementia. This often causes a misdiagnosis of the condition. This condition was forced into the spotlight when many ex-NFL players were diagnosed with it, shortly after their suicides. In the past, CTE has only been able to be diagnosed through an autopsy, clearly making it too late to help the suffering individual. However, the University of California, Los Angeles has “opened the door to being able to diagnose CTE in living test subjects by identifying concentrations of tau protein. With diagnostic tests which can identify the signs of early onset CTE, it would be possible to . . . safeguard their future health and happiness” (“What is
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