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Mahesh

05/08/25 10:59 AM IST

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

In News 
  • CTE is a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated brain trauma.
  • It can lead to debilitating symptoms such as depression, memory loss, aggression, impared judgment, erratic behaviour, suicidal tendencies, anxiety, and dizziness.
About CTE 
  • CTE is not caused by a single blow to the head — rather, it is the result of the accumulation of years of concussive and sub-concussive impacts that lead to noticeable and progressively debilitating symptoms over time. (Concussions cause the brain to move rapidly within the skull, potentially stretching and damaging brain cells.)
  • The “repeated blows to the head… injure the brain’s cells and blood vessels, [creating] areas of microscopic bleeding and abnormal protein deposits called tangles, which kill brain cells.
  • Researchers have estimated that around 17% of people with years of repetitive concussions or sub-concussive incidents will develop CTE, the article says.
  • The disease can only be definitively diagnosed after death, during autopsy.
Mitigation of CTE
  • Growing awareness of CTE has led to many reforms in sport. NFL rules have been modified to better protect players from head trauma, England’s Football Association (FA) has banned youth players from deliberately heading the ball, and cricket has introduced the concept of a “concussion substitute”.
  • Based on our current understanding, however, the risks of CTE can at best be mitigated, not eliminated.
  • Over the past couple of decades, researchers have experimented with all kinds of equipment from helmets to mouthguards to mitigate the risk of CTE among players. Research has looked at woodpeckers, birds that drill into trees without getting concussions.
  • There is currently no treatment or cure for CTE. Athletes in certain sports remain at high risk. In 2023, Boston University’s CTE Center studied 376 former NFL players, and diagnosed as many as 345 with CTE.
Source- Indian Express 

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