Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) found in over 90% of deceased NFL player brains: BU study

February 9, 2023 | by

A topic TTA extensively covered from 2012 up to end of 2017 was long term brain damage created by repeated concussive, and likely sub-concussive, head impacts, culminating in chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which can only be diagnosed after death. Your Editor was privileged to attend presentations by researchers from Boston University (BU) and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) in 2013 at NYC’s German Center for Research and Innovation and by BU’s Robert Stern, MD, at NYC’s MedTech in 2014 (indexed here).

In time for the Big Game known as the Super Bowl is the timely release by the Boston University CTE Center of their latest findings, and it will give anyone who plays contact sports caution. 

Out of 376 former National Football League (NFL) players studied, 345 were confirmed to have died with CTE–91.7%. The norm is around 0.6%, and the lone person with it was a former college football player (2018 study by BU of 164 brains of men and women donated to the Framingham Heart Study). CTE is characterized by misfolded tau protein that is unique and unlike changes observed from aging, Alzheimer’s disease, or any other brain disease.

Ironically, former players of teams in this Sunday’s Super Bowl LVII between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs were included in this study–former Eagles quarterback Rick Arrington, who played three seasons for the Eagles from 1970-73, and former Chiefs defensive tackle Ed Lothamer, who played for them in the very first Super Bowl and was a member of their winning team in Super Bowl IV.

The CTE Center cautions that the 91% quoted in the study should not be interpreted as a current/past player number, as the brain bank samples are subject to selection bias. The families donate the brains because their loved ones had the personality changes and debility in their final years, often in middle age and younger, that characterize CTE. 

In the past five years, CTE has been increasingly recognized as a risk in contact sports and in repeated concussion. According to the release, “In October 2022, the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), updated their position on what causes CTE: “CTE is a delayed neurodegenerative disorder that was initially identified in postmortem brains and, research-to-date suggests, is caused in part by repeated traumatic brain injuries.” Research is ongoing on whether sub-concussive head trauma, easy to overlook, may be a contributing or causative factor.

There are also five active CTE Center clinical studies designed to learn how to diagnose and treat CTE. Project S.A.V.E. (Study of Axonal and Vascular Effects) is actively recruiting 50+ adults who  played 5+ years of a contact sport, including American football, ice hockey, soccer, lacrosse, boxing, full contact martial arts, rugby and wrestling. BU CTE Center release.  The Daily Mail has a surprisingly  comprehensive article on the BU research, relatively young former players who killed themselves and others who turned out to have CTE, and (in this Editor’s opinion) the NFL’s limited efforts in providing for research funding, changing play/practice, and for league awareness. 

Artificial pancreas for Type 1 diabetics may be closer

April 3, 2016 | by

A victory in this perpetual Battle of Stalingrad? Three universities, plus Dublin-based Medtronic, are developing devices that may bring a commercial artificial pancreas for Type 1 diabetics to market within the next few years. Medtronic is estimating that their system could be in market by 2017. The University of Virginia‘s Center for Diabetes Technology has a final clinical trial this summer on the inControl system which is being commercialized by start-up company TypeZero Technologies. Other research programs are underway at Cambridge University and Boston University, on a product that will measure both insulin and glucagon. Type 1 diabetics produce no insulin, making their lives literally dependent on close glucose monitoring and correct insulin delivery. These are “closed-loop” systems, consisting of a pump worn outside the body, a continuous glucose monitor, which measures glucose from fluid under the skin, and a device that runs continuous algorithms to determine insulin delivery. Much of this research has been funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Perhaps there will be a better and safer way soon to fight this perpetual Battle of Stalingrad for those with Type 1 diabetes. CNBC

Another ‘bionic pancreas’ in test

February 27, 2014 | by

Another possible weapon against the Continuing Battle of Stalingrad faced by diabetics is in test in the Boston area. A system developed by associate professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University Dr. Edward Damiano (whose son has Type 1 diabetes), and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School Dr. Steven Russell has a sensor inserted under the skin that relays hormone level data to a monitoring device which sends data to an app on the user’s smartphone every five minutes. The app calculates required dosages of insulin or glucagon to maintain optimal blood sugar levels, and communicates the information to two corresponding hormone infusion pumps worn by the patient. Their target for FDA approval and rollout is 2017. Gizmag. Previously Editor Charles and this Editor have written about Diabetes Assistant and two other systems in clinical trials, which also are bringing this to a closer reality [TTA 20 Aug, 5 Aug]