Brain disease in dead NFL players 'higher than previously shown'
A new study published in the British Medical Journal reveals that up to 97.7% of deceased NFL players examined showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Researchers emphasize that cumulative head impacts starting from youth and collegiate levels contribute significantly to this degenerative brain disease.
Why it matters
The findings highlight a severe public health crisis in contact sports, pressuring the NFL and other organizations to implement more rigorous safety protocols.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Brain scans of a former NFL player who was diagnosed with CTE
As many as 97.7% of NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 could have had brain disease related to repeated blows to the head, a new study says.
Researchers looked at 878 former players who died during that period, with 235 having donated their brains to research.
Of those, 215 were found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease which can only be diagnosed after death.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal , external , also found dementia was common among brain donors.
"We and others have shown that in NFL players, specifically, there is about a four times higher rate of death from neurodegenerative disease than the general population," said the report's lead author Daniel Daneshvar, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
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