Let's Talk About CTE..
Definition of CTE:
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
is a degenerative brain disease found in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma.
Encephalopathy
is a general term that means brain
disease, damage, or malfunction. The symptom of
encephalopathy
is an altered mental state. The causes of
encephalopathy
are numerous and varied; they can include infections, anoxia, metabolic problems, toxins, drugs, physiologic changes, trauma, and other causes.
Causes:
Evidence Suggests CTE is caused by repetitive brain trauma. This trauma includes both concussions and subconcussive hits to the head that cause no symptoms. At this time the number or type of hits to the head needed to trigger degenerative
changes of the brain is unknown.
Symptoms
:
Memory loss, confusion, mood swings, and dementia. Since the 1920s, doctors have seen these symptoms in athletes, specifically boxers, who have been subjected to repetitive head trauma.
How do you get tested for CTE?
There is currently no reliable way to diagnose CTE. A diagnosis requires evidence of degeneration of brain tissue and deposits of tau and other proteins in the brain that can be seen only upon inspection after death (autopsy).
Is there a cure for CTE?
CTE is a progressive, degenerative brain disease for which there is no definitive treatment. The current approach is to prevent head injury.
It is also important to familiarize yourself with conservative safe treatments, such as Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), Nutrition, and Chiropractic Neurology that may minimize the progression of CTE.
Length of exposure to head impacts:
Among those diagnosed with CTE, athletes with longer careers are more likely to have more severe pathology than those with shorter careers.
One
concussion
in the absence of other brain trauma has not been seen to cause CTE.
The best evidence available today suggests that CTE is not caused by any single injury, but rather it is caused by years of regular, repetitive brain trauma. There are also many individuals who suffer years of head impacts, but do not develop CTE. More research will help us understand these factors in the future.
Hope this helps to better understand the basics of CTE.
