Many scientists have long theorized that people who experience multiple concussions over time may be at risk for permanent brain injuries and nerve-degenerative diseases such as ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease. A recent study published in the Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology lends some support to those theories and suggests some possible reasons.
The study involved autopsies of the brains and spinal cords of 12 professional athletes, who had donated their bodies to science for this purpose. They included professional football players, boxers and a hockey player.
All of the men were known to have suffered repeated concussions during their sports careers. All of them had been diagnosed before their deaths with a neurological disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, a form of dementia that appears years after the victim sustains the brain injury that causes it.
Three of the athletes had also been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is a member of a group of diseases called “motor neuron diseases,” which cause progressive paralysis. ALS is debilitating and ultimately fatal.
The pathologists performing the autopsies found evidence that, even though none of the men had suffered a single, major brain injury, the milder head trauma they repeatedly experienced during their sports careers may have played a role in causing their CTE or ALS.
“This is the first pathological evidence that repetitive head trauma experienced in collision sports might be associated with the development of a motor neuron disease,” says the report, which was published by scientists at Boston University School of Medicine and the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Bedford, Massachusetts, VA hospital.
Brain Injury Experts Say the Study Could Lead to New Prevention and Treatment
The study of these athletes was by necessity quite small, and ALS is quite a rare disease, so more research will need to be done. However, experts in brain injury have said that the study succeeds in pointing out promising areas of research.
The report also acts as a clarion call for greater observation and treatment of those who experience repeated concussions, which includes those serving in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many Iraq and Afghanistan vets have experienced repeated brain traumafrom exploding IEDs and other blows to the head during combat. Some studies have shown that Iraq war vets have a greater-than-average rate of ALS.
Among civilians, sports injuries are the most common cause of repeated head trauma and concussions, and both professional and intramural sports organizations are already focusing more attention on preventing repeated blows to the head.
The study’s specific findings were that a protein called TDP-43 was present in the brains and spinal cords of all the professional athletes autopsied. Scientists already knew that damaging one nerve sometimes sets off a cascade of other nerves dying, but they don’t know why. However, some have hypothesized that TDP-43 may be involved, which is why its presence was significant.
“If you could somehow give a person a drug, you could potentially prevent an illness like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,” said Dr. Jeffrey Bazarian of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York in an interview with Reuters.
Several drugs are already being studied to see if they can prevent progressive nerve destruction after brain injuries and strokes. This study may suggest more avenues for research, including drugs that may affect the levels of the TDP-43 protein in affected patients.
Related Resource:
“Bad bumps to head could kill years later: U.S. study” (Reuters, August 17, 2010)