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Study estimates 75% of NFL players who died over 15-year span had CTE

43 points gmays 1 hour ago 20 comments

1970-01-01 34 minutes ago | parent

Holy buried lede, Batman:

>The bulk of the head impacts that these former NFL players experienced didn’t occur at the NFL level. They occurred at the collegiate level ... and at the high school level and in many cases the youth level. And all of those cumulative hits to the head added up to result in an increased risk,” said Daneshvar.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/nfl-cte-players-s...

rancar2 14 minutes ago | parent

As a youth football from 5 years old in the 90s to high school in 00s in the Midwest, this is not surprising at all. Things are competitive from a young age. We more recently know much better, but this knowledge. The taught knowledge was protecting one’s neck from injury with “proper” form. From my lived experience at those times, there was 0 mention of head injuries, and blacking out and dizziness after hits were ignored by all if you were able to stand or walk within a short period of time.

dopamean 11 minutes ago | parent

Great news for the NFL.

cmiles8 27 minutes ago | parent

I would never let my child play contact football. The data is beyond clear that this sport causes irreparable life altering damage to the brain.

A lot of football players also suffer from mental health issues which, not to state the obvious, is likely not helped by banging your head all the time.

thrwaway73637 17 minutes ago | parent

playing at nfl level and kid level is something very different

alistairSH 13 minutes ago | parent

Yes, and?

It's well established that the effects of repeated head trauma are cumulative, with progressively longer healing periods, worse symptoms, etc. And that sub-concussive impacts also accumulate along with the concussive impacts.

From the article: The bulk of the head impacts that these former NFL players experienced didn’t occur at the NFL level. They occurred at the collegiate level ... and at the high school level and in many cases the youth level. And all of those cumulative hits to the head added up to result in an increased risk,” said Daneshvar.

estearum 12 minutes ago | parent

As someone who has had multiple concussions in other sports, the impacts in youth football are absolutely sufficient to cause concussions and more minor (but still cumulatively damaging) trauma. The fact that they're a repeated part of the game and not occasional incidents is very, very bad.

Requiring a child to play football should be actual child abuse, and even allowing it should be frowned upon the way that letting a child play with a blowtorch is.

thrwaway73637 7 minutes ago | parent

there you said it: you got concusions from other sports. so why single out football as the worst thing ever?

lkjdsklf 3 minutes ago | parent

CTE isn’t caused by concussions. Hence the rest of their comment.

kyawzazaw 9 minutes ago | parent

did you even read? the bulk happened at collegiate level

also there are studies on this

McKee et al. (2023) – Neuropathologic and Clinical Findings in Young Contact Sport Athletes Exposed to Repetitive Head Impacts (JAMA Neurology) [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/2...]

Alosco et al. (2017) – Age of First Exposure to Tackle Football and Later-Life Cognitive Impairment and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms (Translational Psychiatry) [https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2017.197]

even intl football headers have concerns

thrwaway73637 5 minutes ago | parent

i couldnt find the paper just the news article

sanex 9 minutes ago | parent

Sure but the quality of gear you get in the NFL is much higher than what your typical kid gets. I regret the two years of football I played in high school.

thrwaway73637 6 minutes ago | parent

did you enjoy it at the time?

moate 8 minutes ago | parent

From an injury perspective: What are they? Let's assume we're talking MS/HS football where the mass of the players is enough to really do some damage.

Provide your data Mr. Thrwaway, if that even is your real name.

thrwaway73637 4 minutes ago | parent

oh the citation/data trick and personal attack. lovely

chrisBob 5 minutes ago | parent

Yes! A child with a developing brain, and no medical staff on the sidelines is potentially in a worse situation.

chrisBob 2 minutes ago | parent

I am surprised by the otherwise intelligent and caring parents I have met who had their elementary schoolers playing tackle football. I don't understand that decision at all.

ericol 11 minutes ago | parent

75% is an estimate. Of the 396 brains actually examined, 93% had CTE, though donors skew heavily toward players with symptoms.

ElijahLynn 2 minutes ago | parent

Glad this is being talked about.