Essay On Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

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Exploring brain diseases in contact sports” Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a syndrome of emotional lability, Parkinsonism, ataxia, and cognitive impairment suffered by athletes who undergo repetitive concussive and subconcussive blows to the head (Cantu 2007). Owing to its initial discovery in boxers, CTE has been various known as "punch drunk," "dementia pugilistica," and "psychopathic deterioration of pugilist." This paper will take a step into the science behind this disease. Starting with the first descriptions in the medical literature and covering the progress made in understanding the clinical presentation, epidemiology, neuropathology, and genetics of the disease. That being said this is the most prominent disorder within athletes, the disease has no symptoms which is why is becoming such a prominent disease among athletes such as NFL players. Recent research has suggested several mechanisms for brain injury in the setting of repeated trauma. Neurofibrillary tangles in CTE have a characteristic perivascular distribution, grouped around small intracortical vessels (Mckee 1999). This finding suggests that trauma may damage the blood-brain barrier, releasing neurotoxins that promote the formation of neurofibrillary tangles around blood vessels. In a …show more content…

“Concussion Expert: Over 90% of NFL players have Brain Disease.” Time.com, 22 Dec. 2015, time.com/4158140/concussion-film-bennet-omalu-cte-nfl/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017. McKee, Ann C., and Robert C. Cantu. “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Athletes: Progressive Tauopathy following Repetitive Head Injury.” Journal of neuropathology and experimental neurology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, July 2009, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2945234/ Mez, Jesse. “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: Where Are We and Where Are We Going?” Current neurology and neuroscience reports, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2013,

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