At least a quarter of ex-NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — a much higher rate than is seen in the general population, a study released Tuesday showed
CTE is a brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head
The researchers also found that 61.3% of former NFL players who donated their brains and had CTE met the clinical criteria for dementia, and that severe CTE was associated with dementia more frequently
The study was done by Mass General Brigham, Boston University and the Concussion & CTE Foundation, and was published in The British Medical Journal
CTE can only be definitively diagnosed after someone dies by examining their brain tissue
An NFL spokesperson told CBS News the league “continuously strives to make the game of football safer, including by implementing strategies to reduce concussions and head impacts.”
“The NFL remains committed to ensuring that the NFL community has access to a robust — and expanding — set of rege former players to utilize these reut their health,” the spokesperson continued
Researchers’ method
Researchers began by identifying all former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2021
Eight hundred-seventy-eight died between 2016 and 2021, the highest donation period, and 235 donated their brains, the researchers said. Two hundred-fifteen (91.4%) of the donated brains had CTE
To take players who didn’t donate their brains into account, researchers estimated a range for possible CTE prevalence between 24.5% and 97.7%
“The true prevalence likely lies somewhere in the middle,” they said, which would mean the actual percentage could be much higher than 24.5%
A call for more research
“Community brain bank studies have shown that CTE affects less than 1% of the general population. To find that somewhere between 24.5% and 97.7% of NFL players from that time period had this progressive brain disease is a wake-up call for the NFL and scientific communities,” said Daniel Daneshvar, the study’s lead author, the chair of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Mass General Brigham and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School
“These data, alongside my experience treating NFL players with dementia … indicate that we need to dedicate re
The researchers said future studies should look at athletes who played more recently, and that prevention efforts should “focus on reducing repetitive head impacts that drive CTE risk, not just concussions.”
