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Concussion lawsuits against NFL shouldn't be for everyone
- Thread starter Wolf
- Start date
CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
UB study of ex-Bills, Sabres finds CTE 'much more rare than we thought'
By Sam Ogozalek | Published August 7, 2018 | Updated August 7, 2018
Lou Piccone remembers suffering concussions during his days with the Buffalo Bills.
So the 69-year-old retired wide receiver was surprised to learn that a team of University at Buffalo researchers found no signs of dementia-related, structural damage to his brain —despite his years playing professional football in 1970s.
So were the researchers.
After examining 21 retired Bills and Sabres players, including Piccone, the UB team has published a series of academic papers weighing in on CTE – a degenerative brain disease linked to sports such as football.
They say their evidence shows that, for some professional athletes, the risk of developing CTE is “not as great as once believed.”
The UB team does not dispute the existence of CTE.
But the researchers, based on finding no evidence of early onset dementia in 21 former Bills and Sabres players, said they do not believe CTE is as dangerous as previously thought.
Early onset dementia is generally a precursor to CTE, according to the papers.
Barry S. Willer, a UB professor of psychiatry who was lead investigator and co-author of the papers, said he started his work at UB expecting to find high rates of early onset dementia among the Bills and Sabres players.
His expectations didn’t pan out.
“We got caught up in the ‘CTE wave.’ It was, ‘Oh, God, this is serious,’ ” Willer said.
The UB team acknowledged that 21 players was a “relatively small sample.” But Willer said he was confident of the study’s accuracy.
“A lot of (the athletes) had other issues, multiple orthopedic injuries, as you’d image,” added John Leddy, a UB professor of orthopedics, at the news conference. “Some of them were in chronic pain, and taking pain medications. There was a lot of sleep disturbance.”
In recent years, research on the damaging effects of CTE — and its connection to concussions — has sparked debate and has begun to reshape some of America’s most popular sports.
Evidence of CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, has been found in the brains of dozens of dead athletes — including Tyler Hilinski, 21, a Washington State quarterback who committed suicide Jan. 16 after reportedly suffering several concussions.
The Bills and Sabres players who participated in UB’s study were not named in the papers. The average age of the group was 56, and Bills players in the study were active on the football team for an average of 4.4 years.
THE REST OF THE STORY
By Sam Ogozalek | Published August 7, 2018 | Updated August 7, 2018
Lou Piccone remembers suffering concussions during his days with the Buffalo Bills.
So the 69-year-old retired wide receiver was surprised to learn that a team of University at Buffalo researchers found no signs of dementia-related, structural damage to his brain —despite his years playing professional football in 1970s.
So were the researchers.
After examining 21 retired Bills and Sabres players, including Piccone, the UB team has published a series of academic papers weighing in on CTE – a degenerative brain disease linked to sports such as football.
They say their evidence shows that, for some professional athletes, the risk of developing CTE is “not as great as once believed.”
The UB team does not dispute the existence of CTE.
But the researchers, based on finding no evidence of early onset dementia in 21 former Bills and Sabres players, said they do not believe CTE is as dangerous as previously thought.
Early onset dementia is generally a precursor to CTE, according to the papers.
Barry S. Willer, a UB professor of psychiatry who was lead investigator and co-author of the papers, said he started his work at UB expecting to find high rates of early onset dementia among the Bills and Sabres players.
His expectations didn’t pan out.
“We got caught up in the ‘CTE wave.’ It was, ‘Oh, God, this is serious,’ ” Willer said.
The UB team acknowledged that 21 players was a “relatively small sample.” But Willer said he was confident of the study’s accuracy.
“A lot of (the athletes) had other issues, multiple orthopedic injuries, as you’d image,” added John Leddy, a UB professor of orthopedics, at the news conference. “Some of them were in chronic pain, and taking pain medications. There was a lot of sleep disturbance.”
In recent years, research on the damaging effects of CTE — and its connection to concussions — has sparked debate and has begun to reshape some of America’s most popular sports.
Evidence of CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, has been found in the brains of dozens of dead athletes — including Tyler Hilinski, 21, a Washington State quarterback who committed suicide Jan. 16 after reportedly suffering several concussions.
The Bills and Sabres players who participated in UB’s study were not named in the papers. The average age of the group was 56, and Bills players in the study were active on the football team for an average of 4.4 years.
THE REST OF THE STORY
OptimisticTexan
2024 / Rebuilding Block 4 After Playoffs / Texans
CnnnD, any chance the use or abuse of steroids or PED's could be playing a part some of the players brain diseases?
CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
Anabolic steroids most definitely have effects on the brain function with chronic use. Mood swings, aggression, mania, depression and neurotic and psychotic behavior can all be caused by imbalances caused to the brain chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine.........and, because of similarities, have in many instances been attributed to the presumptory development of CTE). However, it has never been shown to cause physical damage to the brain, such as CTE. In fact, despite all the publicity the was given to Lyle Alzado's death from brain cancer. He was plastered all over the news as an advocate for avoiding anabolic steroids, blaming his cancer on its use. We now know that there is still no established cause and effect.
What's an interesting example on the "experimental" side of the coin: Rats that were concussed in a controlled setting.........one group on anabolic steroids, the other group on no steroid.........showed no difference in the frequency of the development of CTE.
As a final note, be aware that long-term anabolic steroid use can continue to cause the chemical brain imbalances/dysfunction well after its discontinuation.........not uncommonly, permanently.