Source: theadvocate.com | Repost Duerson Fund 3/22/2023 –
What is CTE?
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a progressive, degenerative disease that afflicts the brain in people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
CTE has been in the forefront lately with widespread media attention as many well-known football players are coming forward in declaration of their personal journey with the condition, and it was recently disclosed that the late Frank Gifford, the former running back of the New York Giants, also suffered from the condition.
People who play a wide variety of sports that involve repeated blows to the head and military personnel who have had blast injuries are at risk for developing CTE.
Thought to be a condition primarily affecting boxers, and often referred to as dementia puglistica, CTE results from traumatic impacts to the cranium. In CTE, certain areas of the brain are particularly predisposed to atrophy, though other areas are susceptible to becoming enlarged.
Over time, the brain gradually deteriorates and loses mass, as well as accumulating tau protein, a substance that serves to stabilize cellular structure in the neurons. These proteins eventually, through the progression of CTE, become defective and cause major interference with the function of the neurons.