Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Research Paper

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE is a progressive degenerative brain disease. It is a lot like alzheimer's and dementia in the sense that both Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and alzheimer's/dementia have similar symptoms. Some symptoms of CTE Include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, anxiety, suicidality, parkinsonism, and eventually, progressive dementia. As you can see in the thermal scan above the brain is progressively getting worse. According to Alzheimer's Association, these symptoms often begin years or even decades after the last brain trauma blow to the brain or the end of active athletic involvement. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy can be caused by not just
concussions but also multiple hits to the head or brain. CTE is very brutal and will have long term affects on your body and can even lead to suicide. Right now there is no known cure.
Researchers believe that there is only one way to diagnose a patient claiming of having Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. This brain disease can only be diagnosed post mortem. Meaning the the victim would have to be diseased or dead in order for them to inspect their brain. This is because in order for them to find the protein called tau, they have to slice different parts of different sections or lobes of the brain tissue into many individual slices so it can be carefully examined underneath the lens of a microscope. Stories like michael Webster's is one of many hundreds of cases of CTE. Webster’s case was just the first. A great defensive player named junior Seau. Junior was a linebacker in the NFL. He was known for his passionate playing style and ability to hit hard. He was a ten time All-Pro, a 12 time Pro Bowler, and named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade player. On May 2nd 2012 the Hall of Fame linebacker shot himself in the chest at age 43. He did this so that Scientist could look at his brain so that they could get a better understanding of CTE. After several examinations and studies Jr. Seau tested positive for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. The list of ex-NFL players keeps growing
and growing each year. Later a case came up of a man named Chris Henry. He was a wide receiver who played five seasons in the National Football League for the Cincinnati Bengals. Henry, on December 16th 2009 died at age 26 after falling or jumping from the back of a pickup truck during a domestic dispute. He was the first player to die with already having the CTE disease while still active in the NFL. Chris was the 22nd Case of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Today there have been 87 recorded cases of the victims of this brain disease test positive. The youngest victim to be tested positive for CTE died at the very young age of 17.