Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy ("CTE") is a brain disease caused by repeated head injuries or concussions. It was first found by Bennet Omalu, a pathologist. Cases have occurred in people with the history of repeated head trauma. An example is NFL players. Many NFL players were diagnosed with CTE. In football, players hit other players in the head. This causes CTE as the head gets hit a lot. When the repeated head trauma happens, the brain hits the skull and a protein called tau comes out. Tau kills brain cells slowly and symptoms appear years after the head trauma.
Since there is no cure for CTE, the only way to prevent it is to ban football and other sports that cause concussions in order to be safe from CTE and reduce the number of people with CTE. Majority of CTE cases are football players or other contact sport players and 99% of all NFL players had CTE. If football gets banned, there will be less people suffering from CTE.People should ban football for the health of the players.
An example of a football player diagnosed with CTE is Mike Webster, who played as center in Pittsburgh Steelers. He was the first one to be diagnosed with CTE, too. After retiring, he was found living in his car and train stations. Mike Webster had amnesia, dementia, depression, and acute bone and muscular pain which are some symptoms of CTE.
CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY
Slide 2:
The National Football League also known as the NFL is the number one sport in America. The NFL is a sport that requires strategy, accuracy, and finesse as they try to outsmart the opponents and get the ball to the end zone scoring a “touchdown”. The NFL season starts in the beginning of September and ends in late December. In 2019, 16.5 million people watched the NFL. Fans watch in anticipation as their favorite teams stand in the crowd filled stadium and use their plays to win the game. They are a non-profit organization that likes to give back to the community. Since 1973, the NFL donated more than $370 million to youth and high school football programs and concussion research. Even though they portray themselves as an organization that prospers by helping players and the community, there is a dark side to this murderous sport.
Slide 3:
The NFL is a violent and physical sport that requires players to collide with each other. In addition, it is a sport that causes a brain disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE is a brain disease caused by concussions and repeated head injuries. It was first found by Dr. Bennet Omalu in 2002 while working as a pathologist studying famous football player Mike Webster’s dead body. He found out that the cause of Mike Webster’s death was the repeated head injuries from his 18 years of professional football in the NFL. His research also found that most cases occur in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of repeated head trauma.
Slide 4:
The process of CTE starts with head trauma. A normal person would experience concussions at 60 Gs, but a football player colliding with another player on the field will suffer 100Gs. That is the force of hitting someone with a sledgehammer. When the head trauma happens, the brain moves and hits the skull as the human brain is completely disconnected from the skull and only surrounded by fluid. Due to the impact of the brain and the skull, it releases a protein called tau. Tau is a group of six highly soluble protein isoforms. Some diseases that are associated with tau protein are Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. The tau released from the brain forms clumps and slowly kills brain cells. It’s like pouring wet concrete down a kitchen pipe and it slowly hardens. After years to decades after the head trauma, symptoms appear.
Slide 5:
There are 3 different groups of symptoms in CTE. They are cognitive, psychiatric, and physical symptoms. Cognitive symptoms include memory loss, concentration and focus loss, decision making problems, and judgment. Even though a person knows what is right and wrong, they will do the wrong thing. Psychiatric symptoms are depression, explosive temper, aggressive and impulsive behavior, drug and alcohol addiction. They are a recipe for disaster and lead to suicidality. Lastly, physical symptoms are headaches and dizziness, slow and stiff movements and tremors which are similar to Parkinson’s disease, and muscle weakness and wasting, which are similar symptoms with Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Slide 6:
Here is a comparison of a normal brain and a CTE brain. Looking at the brain, there is brain atrophy. The CTE brain is smaller than a normal brain. There is a shrinkage in size. These are the ventricles. The ventricles are filled with spinal fluid. The CTE brain’s ventricles are larger. Due to the head trauma, there are tears in the ventricles. Over time, they get larger and fill up with more spinal fluid. The brain tissue of the normal brain is filled. Due to the shrinkage of the brain and the larger ventricles, the CTE brain has less space for the brain tissue and results in less brain tissue.
Slide 7:
There is a little boy who loves to play football. He always plays football after school with his friends. He wants to be a football player. As he grows up, he practices hard and even thinks of giving up many times. He forces himself to do better and finally, after 7 years of demanding training, the NFL knocks on his door. His hard work has paid off. His dreams have come true. Tears fall from his eyes, remembering all the hard work he has put in to get this far. With excitement, he signs the contract that the NFL gave him. He will soon be able to do his favorite thing and get paid. During games, people will cheer for him and he will enjoy his life so much. However, he will die. The contract he signed is his death contract. The NFL is Death, and they are ready to take his life in return for their greed of money. Football and NFL will give him CTE. His favorite sport, football will end his life. Today, there is no treatment for CTE. There are only 2 ways to prevent CTE. The first one is to ban football to avoid repeated head injuries. It is common sense to avoid head injuries so that there will be less people with CTE. No football equals no head trauma. CTE is found in 99% of former football players. According to a study conducted by Boston University, out of 111 former football players who died, 110 of them were diagnosed with CTE after studying their brains. The second way is to change the rules of football. The NFL can change football to a safer and less violent sport. An example is flag football. Players put a flag on their legs and the opponent grabs the flag without any violence or tackling. Then players will be able to play safely and stay healthy. Many players have died and will die from playing in the NFL. Innocent lives are being taken away. By banning this sport, we could save many people.
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