A new study from researchers at Mass General Brigham, Boston University, and the Concussion & CTE Foundation found that at least one in four former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma.
The findings, published Tuesday in The British Medical Journal, examined former NFL players from the hard-shell helmet era and suggest the prevalence of CTE among professional football players is significantly higher than in the general population.
Researchers identified 878 former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021. Of those, 235 donated their brains for study, and 215 of the donated brains, or 91.4%, showed evidence of CTE.
Because CTE can only be diagnosed after death through brain tissue examination, researchers estimated a range for how widespread the disease may have been among all deceased former players. Their most conservative estimate found at least 24.5% of former NFL players who died during that period had CTE. The upper estimate reached 97.7%, though researchers said both extremes are unlikely and the true prevalence is likely somewhere in between.
"Community brain bank studies have shown that CTE affects less than 1% of the general population," said Dr. Daniel Daneshvar, lead author of the study and chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Mass General Brigham. "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."
#died
The findings, published Tuesday in The British Medical Journal, examined former NFL players from the hard-shell helmet era and suggest the prevalence of CTE among professional football players is significantly higher than in the general population.
Researchers identified 878 former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021. Of those, 235 donated their brains for study, and 215 of the donated brains, or 91.4%, showed evidence of CTE.
Because CTE can only be diagnosed after death through brain tissue examination, researchers estimated a range for how widespread the disease may have been among all deceased former players. Their most conservative estimate found at least 24.5% of former NFL players who died during that period had CTE. The upper estimate reached 97.7%, though researchers said both extremes are unlikely and the true prevalence is likely somewhere in between.
"Community brain bank studies have shown that CTE affects less than 1% of the general population," said Dr. Daniel Daneshvar, lead author of the study and chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Mass General Brigham. "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."
#died
2 months ago
