Chicago Tribune June 21, 2013 wrote:
Experts debate existence of condition linked to troubled ex-NFL players
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disease that has been found in dozens of former pro football players, and with every new study, some observers say America's most popular sport is approaching its doom.
But the scientific evidence is a good bit more complicated than the headlines might suggest, and some researchers disagree vehemently about what's going on.
Those arguments were on vibrant display in a Chicago hotel ballroom Thursday when two experts brought together by the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology debated the causes, effects and very existence of CTE, a condition whose symptoms are thought to be similar to those of dementia.
On one side was Robert Stern, co-founder of Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, which has done most of the research on ex-NFL players. He said the hallmark biological evidence of CTE — a protein called tau concentrated in certain parts of the brain — has been found in many people with a history of repetitive brain trauma, and in no one without that history.
He said recurring blows to the head, even if they're not strong enough to cause a concussion, thus appear to be linked to the condition. That should concern parents who allow their children to play contact sports, he said.
"I used to be a baseball coach, and I would count the number of pitches each pitcher was allowed to (throw) … with a limit because kids might get a little tendinitis that would result in their inability to be a major league baseball player," he said. "We then drop off our kids at (youth league) football, and they're allowed to hit their heads and hurt their brains as many times as they would like."
But Stern's debate opponent, Christopher Randolph, a neurology professor at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, said the evidence for CTE is so flawed that he doesn't believe the condition even exists.
He said tau has been found in the brains of many people who had no apparent cognitive or behavioral problems. And many of the supposed symptoms associated with CTE, such as depression, irritability and confusion, are so widespread as to be meaningless, he said.
What's more, he said, the average retired NFL player is healthier and less prone to suicide than other men the same age. It should be relatively easy to establish the prevalence of the condition in ex-football players, but that hasn't been done, he said.
"I would generously describe (current research) as nonrigorous science," he said.
That kicked off a spirited back-and-forth in which almost every point brought a riposte and every critique a counterattack: NFL veterans might live longer, but they're also more likely than others to develop degenerative brain conditions (maybe that's because those conditions are more common in older people). CTE research is so speculative that the condition might not even be real (tell that to the leading medical journals, research funders and panels of experts who say it is).
There were some areas of agreement. Both men said more research is needed, and both said the media have frequently misrepresented the studies that have been done, leading to confusion and even panic.
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