Download CTE - Sports Medicine 2: 5(A)

Chronic Traumatic
Encephalopathy
Build up of Tau
Proteins in the
brain; caused by
repeated brain
injury. 17 year
old Nathan Stiles
is the youngest
diagnosed case
of CTE. He died
in 2010 from
Second Impact
Syndrome. His
brain was
donated to be
studied after his
death.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
 Can cause Alzheimer type symptoms
 Has recently been linked to ALS – Lou
Gehrig’s Disease (Steve Gleason & Pat Grange)
 Can lead to changes in personality
 Can lead to changes in cognitive
behavior
 Athletes May Develop these Symptoms:
 Depression
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
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
Dementia
Anxiety
Mania, Erratic Behavior
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Substance Abuse Issues
It is Not Just Football
How is CTE diagnosed?
University of California Los Angeles
 A test developed by researchers at UCLA could use
a routine PET scan to check players for evidence of
chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative
neurological disease that has been linked to
repeated head trauma. Previously, CTE could be
diagnosed only posthumously by staining crosssections of brain tissue with an amino acid called
AT8. Under microscopic evaluation, the stains
reveal the distinct neurofibrillary tangles of tau. In
this new study, by the Semel Institute for
Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, five
former NFL players were injected with a radioactive
compound called FDDNP. The compound acts as a
tracer by binding to the tau proteins associated
with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The tracer
appears in varying densities — from blue (low) to
red (high) — in a routine positron emission
tomography scan

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2013/01/pet-scan-cte-test/
How is CTE Diagnosed?
Arizona State University:
 Riddell, the athletic equipment
company, supplied the team with
helmets that measure all head impacts
during practices and games. Then, after
every game, the players gave samples of
their blood, saliva and urine. These are
now being analyzed at the Translational
Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix
to see whether evidence of head trauma
shows up in body fluids as a so-called
biomarker. Brain cells contain generic
material call microRNA. Normally, tiny
spheres containing that material break
off and make their way into the spinal
fluid, then the bloodstream. During a
concussion, the brain actually bounces
against the skull, and researchers believe
the impact can cause changes in the
microRNA, changes they hope can be
detected in blood tests. TGen scientists
are comparing the RNA in each player's
body fluids with the impact data from
his helmet to see if they match up.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blood-testcould-help-diagnose-concussions/
The Research
 Sports Legacy Institute at Center for
the Study of Traumatic
Encephalopathy, Boston University
School of Medicine
 Brain Injury Research Institute
at West Virginia University
 Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention - Atlanta, Georgia