In what is believed to be the first Australian study to follow a cohort of former rugby league and union players while they’re alive,and then analyse their brains after death,researchers found signs of CTE in the brain tissue of four out of six players,all of whom would have met the current clinical criteria for “potential CTE” before their deaths.
Evidence of six other neurological conditions,including Alzheimer’s,Lewy body disease and sclerosis linked to epilepsy were also found in all six brains.
Dr Claire Shepherd,the study’s lead author and director of the Sydney Brain Bank at Neurosciences Research Australia,said there was limited scientific evidence to support some of the criteria for diagnosing CTE while a person was alive,and doctors should remain open to the possibility of other conditions being responsible for an ex-player’s symptoms.
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“We need to understand more about the association between repetitive head injury and all forms of neurodegeneration,not just CTE,” she said. “It’s absolutely imperative that we understand how these pathologies manifest in life … if we’re only relying on post-mortem tissue for diagnosis,it makes it difficult to help the patient.”
The players were all male,played either rugby league or rugby union professionally,and died between the ages of 60 and 90.
The total time they spent playing the game ranged from 22 to 33 years,and the duration of their careers at the elite level ranged from eight to 19 years.