• Age of first exposure to tackle football

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Mon Mar 6 21:30:30 2023
    Age of first exposure to tackle football and years played associated
    with less white matter in brain
    New finding suggests that future therapies should target white matter
    loss in former contact sport athletes

    Date:
    March 6, 2023
    Source:
    Boston University School of Medicine
    Summary:
    CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disease frequently found
    in contact sports athletes. However, many former contact sports
    athletes suffer from thinking problems and impulsive behavior in
    the absence of CTE, or with very mild CTE. This new study suggests
    that a separate type of brain damage, which can appear earlier
    than CTE, may underlie some of these symptoms.


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    FULL STORY ========================================================================== Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is not the only problem football
    players should be aware of. Long careers in American football are
    linked to less white matter in the brain and associated with problems
    with impulsive behavior and thinking according to a new study from the
    Boston University CTE Center. This finding is independent of whether
    football players had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).


    ==========================================================================
    CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disease frequently found in contact sports athletes. However, many former contact sports athletes suffer
    from thinking problems and impulsive behavior in the absence of CTE,
    or with very mild CTE. This new study suggests that a separate type of
    brain damage, which can appear earlier than CTE, may underlie some of
    these symptoms.

    "Damage to the white matter may help explain why football players appear
    more likely to develop cognitive and behavioral problems later in life,
    even in the absence of CTE," said corresponding author Thor Stein, MD,
    PhD, a neuropathologist at VA Boston Healthcare System and assistant
    professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Boston University
    Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.

    The researchers studied the brains of 205 deceased American football
    players donated to the Veterans Affairs-Boston University-Concussion
    Legacy Foundation (VA-BU-CLF) Brain Bank and measured levels of
    myelin, a component of white matter that covers, protects and speeds
    up the connections in the brain. They then interviewed family members
    on measures of cognition and impulsivity and then compared how career
    length and age of beginning tackle football related to levels of myelin,
    and how myelin levels related to cognition and impulsivity.

    In addition to more years of football played, the researchers found that starting tackle football at a younger age was also related to more white
    matter loss, independent of career length.

    "These results suggest that existing tests that measure white matter
    injury during life, including imaging and blood tests, may help to clarify potential causes of changes in behavior and cognition in former contact
    sport athletes.

    We can also use these tests to better understand how repeated hits to
    the head from football and other sports lead to long term injury to the
    white matter," said co-author Michael L. Alosco, PhD, associate professor
    of neurology.

    The researchers hope these findings help reinforce the idea that more
    needs to be done to protect the brains of athletes, especially children,
    from repeated hits to the head.

    These finding appear online in the journal Brain Communications.

    This work was supported by grant funding from: NIA (AG057902, AG06234, RF1AG054156), NINDS (U54NS115266, K23NS102399, RF1NS122854), National
    Institute of Aging Boston University AD Center (P30AG072978); the United
    States Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration,
    BLRD Merit Award (I01BX005161); the Nick and Lynn Buoniconti Foundation,
    and BU-CTSI Grant Number 1UL1TR001430. The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this article are those of the authors and should not be
    construed as an official Veterans Affairs or Department of Defense
    position, policy or decision, unless so designated by other official documentation. Funders did not have a role in the design and conduct of
    the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the
    data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or decision
    to submit the manuscript for publication.

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    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
    Boston_University_School_of_Medicine. Note: Content may be edited for
    style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Michael L Alosco, Monica Ly, Sydney Mosaheb, Nicole Saltiel,
    Madeline
    Uretsky, Yorghos Tripodis, Brett Martin, Joseph Palmisano, Lisa
    Delano- Wood, Mark W Bondi, Gaoyuan Meng, Weiming Xia, Sarah Daley,
    Lee E Goldstein, Douglas I Katz, Brigid Dwyer, Daniel H Daneshvar,
    Christopher Nowinski, Robert C Cantu, Neil W Kowall, Robert A Stern,
    Victor E Alvarez, Jesse Mez, Bertrand Russell Huber, Ann C McKee,
    Thor D Stein.

    Decreased myelin proteins in brain donors exposed to
    football-related repetitive head impacts. Brain Communications,
    2023 DOI: 10.1093/ braincomms/fcad019 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230306143450.htm

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