On the eve of the Superbowl I must comment on the study reported at a press conference in Tampa Bay about repeated head injuries leading to severe and long-term brain disease for football players and other athletes.
Any rational person after they looked at thousands of brain scans would know that activities such as football, boxing and rugby are “stupid brain sports.” Your brain is soft and your skull is hard. Your brain is the organ of your personality, your character and even your soul. Anything that hurts your brain hurts your life. Maybe forever. Be smart. Protect your head.
My work is featured in a new movie that premeired this week at the Santa Barbara Film Festival called After The Last Round, about what happens to boxers after they retire. It is devastating and should cause all of us to take notice. Here is the study.
Repeated concussions lead to severe brain disease, research shows
Researchers examining brains of six deceased former NFL players find similar degeneration. All suffered emotional problems after their playing days, often culminating in drug abuse or suicide.
By Thomas H. Maugh II
January 29, 2009
The headbanging collisions that thrill sports fans have lifelong effects on the athletes, with impairments in movement and thinking skills showing up 30 years or more after the concussions, researchers reported Tuesday.
The slight deficits resulting from one or two concussions were similar to problems found in patients with the early stages of dementia, although they did not interfere with the daily life of the otherwise healthy men, researchers reported in the journal Brain.
“They were all very functional, working, still playing sports, and really in good health,” said senior author Dr. Maryse Lassonde of the University of Montreal. “It is only when we compare them to people who did not have concussions that the problems come up.”
For those who have more concussions, however, the results are far more severe, according to a separate study released Tuesday at a news conference in Tampa, timed to coincide with Sunday’s Super Bowl in that city.
Researchers said a biopsy of the brain of nine-year NFL veteran Tom McHale, who died last May of a drug overdose at age 45, showed that he suffered from a severe degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. It was caused by repeated concussions.
The biopsy was the sixth out of six performed on deceased NFL players between the ages of 25 and 50 that showed evidence of such severe damage. All six men suffered emotional and behavioral problems after their playing days were over, often culminating in erratic behavior, drug abuse and suicide or overdose.
Dr. Ann C. McKee of Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, who performed the biopsy on McHale, said she had found similar damage in the brain of a recently deceased 18-year-old who had suffered multiple concussions playing high school football — the youngest age at which it had ever been observed.
The damages in both cases were similar to those observed in boxers who have taken severe beatings to the head, McKee said. Although they are also similar to the changes seen in Alzheimer’s disease, she added, “they represent a distinct disease with a distinct cause, namely repetitive head trauma.”
The results from the two studies indicate that increasingly severe restrictions aimed at limiting concussions in professional athletes “need to be implemented at lower levels” of athletics, Lassonde said.
The problem is also of concern outside the sports community because of the rising incidence of concussions and traumatic brain injury suffered by soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To outside observers, the Lassonde study was more surprising because researchers were already familiar with the problems in some NFL players.
There still is disagreement within the NFL about how to react to concussions. One of the starting quarterbacks in Sunday’s game, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, suffered a concussion in the final regular-season game. There was some concern he might not be able to play two weeks later in the Steelers’ first playoff game, but he started and showed no visible effects from the injury.
“The evidence in the literature has been building that repeated mild [brain] injuries in children and adults has the potential for long-term, cumulative effect,” said Dr. Christopher C. Giza, a neurosurgeon and pediatric neurologist at UCLA’s Brain Injury Research Center. Lassonde’s results “open the door” to the possibility that “it may not require that many events to lead to a long-term problem.”
Lassonde, who is the neuropsychologist for the National Hockey League’s Montreal Canadiens, has been studying concussions for nearly a dozen years. Her group has published a variety of studies documenting the problem and showing continued deficits three years after the injury.
In the current study, Lassonde and her co-workers examined 19 former university hockey and football players with a mean age of 60 who had suffered between one and five concussions in college and compared them to 21 carefully matched former athletes who had not suffered concussions. All 19 showed minor impairments in thinking and motor skills compared with the non-concussion group.
The deficits were similar to those observed previously in concussion victims three years after their injury.
The changes were relatively small, but they appeared on a variety of different tests, “and that adds strength to their conclusions,” Giza said. “It’s a pattern of things that actually makes some sense.”
Lassonde said she plans to continue studying the 19 men to determine whether the damage she observed is associated with an earlier-than-normal onset of more severe mental problems.
McKee’s findings have not been published yet, but she said she thinks they will appear in a journal by May.
McHale, who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was a Cornell graduate, a former restaurateur, husband and the father of three boys. His widow Lisa said at the news conference that he began using powerful drugs, such as OxyContin, to control chronic pain in his shoulders and other joints.
She said the medication exacerbated his lethargy and depression, so he occasionally took cocaine to offset the effects. He went through drug rehab three times, but died of an accidental overdose of the two drugs last year.
McKee said independent experts agreed the drugs could not have caused the brain damage she observed. That damage, and the injuries to the 18-year-old, were confirmed in an independent autopsy by Dr. E. Tessa Hedley-White of Massachusetts General Hospital.
Other NFL players who exhibited similar brain injuries after their premature deaths included Pittsburgh Steelers Mike Webster, Terry Long and Justin Strzelczyk; 12-year NFL veteran Andre Waters, known as one of the game’s hardest hitters; and John Grimsley, an eight-year veteran and Pro Bowl player.
The Tampa news conference was co-sponsored by the Sports Legacy Institute, founded by former Harvard football player and World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler Chris Nowinski, which is also a sponsor of the Boston University traumatic encephalopathy center.
Nowinski said Tuesday that several former NFL players have recently agreed to donate their brains to the center upon their deaths for further study. Most are members of the NFL’s 88 Plan, named after the jersey number of former Baltimore Colts tight end John Mackey, who suffers from severe dementia. The 88 Plan is designed to provide financial assistance to families of former players who are suffering from dementia.
Dr. John P. DiFiori, who is chief of the division of sports medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and a physician for Bruins teams, said he hoped the reports would increase “recognition that concussions are a serious injury and that symptoms should not be ignored.”
Young athletes often do not recognize the symptoms — which include headache, dizziness, nausea and changes in emotional status — or ignore them “because they want to stay in the game,” he said. The studies show the importance of getting treatment to prevent further damage, he concluded.
Share this Article
Found this article useful or interesting? Share it with others!
Soccer is another sport that potentially causes brain trauma. I have suffered innumerable head traumas, and I have found that Quantum Biofeedback (Brain Wave Therapy), Cranial Sacral Osteopathy, and Homeopathy have viable treatment protocols that can reverse the tissue damage without any medications both personally and professionally.
Dorothy Ann Cole, MEd, CBS, QBFT, SHC, HTC
i am a 43 year old suffering from the numerous concussions and blows to the head from high school and college football. i am currently writing a book of my experiences with depression, memory loss, and cognitive disabilities. i want to help the non-pro sufferer realize how his current problems were caused and that he’s not losing his mind.
My son is an avid snowboarder who, even though he does wear a helmut, has fallen and hit his head many times. Lately this usually happy go lucky young man has been suffering severe depression. Now I know that the head traumas may be the reason. THANK YOU for this informative and relevant article. I will consult with his physicians. You may have saved my son’s life.
I suffered a great fall 4=5 years ago. I was alone and don’t know if I passed out or not. I hit the side/back of my head on a backwards fall. I also displaced fatty tissue in my thigh and the indentation still shows…. Doctors were completely bored with my tale. Now, several years have passed and I suffer from depression, fatigue and terrible short and long term memory.
What day is it today? 20 times over.
I only wonder will this progress or stop and I can lead a reasonable life or do I have
to contend with a slow progression of memory loss? If you care, please respond or give me some direction. Thank you so much!
Three years ago I over dosed on pills and alcohol. I was not breathing when my Aunt came to see me. The lack of oxygen and many head traumas from abuse have dimished my brain power and memory. I have had some success with peer counseling and medication. I now realize how lucky I am and since the suicide success, I have not wanted to die. I guess I had to die to know how much I want to live.
I am a Special Education teacher. One of my students is TBI(trumatic brain injury) Do you have any strategies that might help this child. She seems to have good auditory memory. She remembers everyones name. We have her working on a touch screen computer but she makes little progress. Do you have suggestions that might help?
I have had 3 concussions, I have OD on Robotussin DM, Bellandona ada Hell’s Bell’s, I was wondering if I could get a brain scan…
I suffered a strong blow to the head as a child and a severe concussion afterwards. (I still have a dent in my skull from it.) I started having mild neurological symptoms in my teens and eventually became very ill and disabled in my early 30’s, and most of my symptoms were neurological. Many doctors didn’t belittled me when I tried to get help and even my family scorned me for being ill. Doctors who believed me tried many drugs, including anti-depressants, and most meds didn’t help, many harming me further. After twelve years of being largely housebound, a psychiatrist who specialized in brain injuries put me on a high dose of Neurontin and I immediately started becoming more functional. After 11 years, I have been able to continue to go uphill while decreasing my dose slowly over time. I still am unable to work full-time due to several symptoms, but my quality of life is ever so much better! I have learned: 1) all brain trauma should be taken seriously and 2) don’t give up, help may be just around the corner!
I think not only sports concussions will cause you the mentioned problems. I had a car accident in 1987 and another in 1988. In the first, a car turned in front of us and I hit my nose. I came out of the car almost falling, I thought “so, this is how boxers feel”. The next, I was driving on my right, extra carefully due to a premonition, when a forklift on my right had the fork off, and there go both my right side tires, and I right in a brick wall of a restaurant that thank God was closed due to being the end of the year. Since then, I couldn’t remember my name for days, have chronic back pain, double vision vertically and horizontally. I notice the difficulty in thinking and reacting. It has affected my life and work, definitely, not to mention my bladder, and the pain can be excruciating at the joints and upper, middle, and lower back.
Thank you Dr. Amen for bringing attention to this concussion problem. I am the widow of John Grimsley and saw first hand the toll these effects took on my husband’s life. It ultimately caused his untimely death. Any person participating in a contact sport should be made aware of the DANGERS of returning to play too soon. Better yet, should not be allowed to return too soon. Awareness and knowledge are key. The N.F.L. needs to stop fighting these findings and start working together with the Sports Legacy Institute & Boston U.to fix things. Long ago we weren’t wearing seatbelts. Now we do. We didn’t think we needed water during workouts either. Now that we know better we should do better.
I am now, nearly seven years past a minor traffic accident which caused a MTBI. I have not worked since then, due to cognitive deficits and lack of energy but, none-the-less have made great improvements. I thank my former MD for suggesting neurotransmitter support in the form of neutraceuticals for keeping me from falling into the black abyss. Within 15 minutes of my first dose the lights came on in my head, my energy improved, my cognitive awareness improved and my mood elevated. I took them for 4 years, stopping because it was no longer financially feasible. I continue to take fish oils and other nutrients to support brain function, eat mostly organic foods and see that I always have enough protein. My strength and energy have greatly improved, my cognitive deficits are not noticeable to most people but I am certainly aware of them. I believe diet, including everything you put in your mouth (known neurotoxins…alcohol, drugs, caffeine, artificial food ingredients etc.) neutraceuticals, sleep and moderate exercise are absolutely essential for a positive outcome due to head injury. It has been an interesting path for me and frustrating as I observe that many people take concussions much too lightly.
I fell off a high wall when I was three and bleed like crazy on the back of my head and also fell off a horse, durning the time I was growing up I was beaten badly by my stepmom with tools to my head, I had an abusive relationship and my ex husband beat me really bad with a wrench on the back of my head also. Through the years I notice I was getting more an more emotional and very depress, I tried so many antidperessent, but it wasn’t helping. After reading this article I finally realize what is going on. I am saving up money to go get a scan from you. Thank you so much for sharing!
concussions aren’t all from sports–1968 head injury from motorcycle accident caused body injury, aphasia (couldn’t talk) and epilepsy. after speech therapy and on anticonvulsants, with limited symptoms, earned more degrees and worked. 1988 had grand mal when changing meds. 2/2008 car accident–car flipped over and landed on its wheels causing a concussion. 2008 changing meds caused another grand mal seizure. 11/2008 concussion swimming at y. 3/23/09 terrible headache, transient aphasia, dizziness, confused thinking (tia or worse seizure)? want my brain to be as healthy as possible.
I am 62 yr.old retired female teacher.First concussion in 1990 (before helmets were used in casual ice-skating) recall walking like a sailor on a ship deck on the rolling sea. Next concussion 2007 when I fell from my bike sideways with helmet on. My head hit and bounced. I recall thinking scientifically, ” how interesting to feel concussed even with a helmet.” I am now VERY cautious to avoid any possibility of head injury happening again, I do Aquafit, a lot of walking in my town, gentle gym classes, moderate hikes, dancing without bouncing much, smooth terrain for my bike, avoiding rough roads while driving. I understand it’s like 3 strikes and you’re out re: cumulative effects.I suspect it makes the emotional effects of recurring traumatic events worse to cope with, to recover from. Thanks to Dr.’s Amen and Mercola for regular newsletters.
iam now 39 and i ve had 3 concussions of different levels.First one was when i was 15 ,i had a severe concussion, i was out for like 5 – 10 mins,i didnt know anything ,i couldnt stay awke when i did i was trhowing up .the second was when i was 16,suffered it while playing high school football,i couldnt remember anything that had happened for almost an hour and a half prior to realizing something was wrong ,dialated pupils,lose of memery ,sleepy, and my thierd was when i was palying baseball ,had a head on collission with another player, lose of some memory,confussionand was cracked under my eye.After all these i have had really bad headaches,confussion and various other results….but i can tell as i get older im gettn worse and when i do it seems to be for longer periods of time and the drug use didnt or hasnt seemed to help .