- Playing contact sports has been linked to the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disorder often caused by repetitive head injuries.
- A new study finds that athletes who develop CTE in contact sports are at higher risk of developing parkinsonism, a movement disorder similar to Parkinson’s disease.
- Some people with Parkinson’s syndrome develop Parkinson’s disease later in life.
A large new study finds a strong link between playing contact sports and developing a movement disorder called Parkinson’s disease.
The link is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated blows to the head and concussions.
Parkinsonism is the term for a movement disorder that resembles Parkinson’s disease. Symptoms include problems with balance, stiffness in the arms and legs, and slow movements.
Researchers have observed that the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease tend to have more Lewy bodies.
The findings suggest that for every eight years of participation in contact sports, there is a 50% increased risk of further damage to areas of the brain that control movement.
The researchers examined the brains of 481 donors after death, 119 of whom had Parkinson’s disease. Those with severe CTE were most likely to develop Parkinson’s disease. In the study, 24.7% of people with CTE also had Parkinson’s disease.
This study
Parkinson’s disease is considered a type of parkinsonism, but it is not the only type.
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and corticobasal degeneration (CBD) are all types of Parkinson’s disease.
“Parkinson’s disease typically progresses over many years and often, but not always, progresses to full-blown Parkinson’s disease,” said corresponding study author Thor D. Stein, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the departments of Pathology and Medicine at Boston University’s Chobanian Avedisian School of Medicine. Today’s Medical News.
Daniel Truon, MD, a neurologist and medical director of the Truon Neuroscience Institute at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California, who was not involved in the study, further explained the pathology of Parkinson’s disease.
“The rate of progression can vary greatly from person to person,” Truong said. MNT“Symptoms usually start off subtle and gradually become more severe.”
Early signs include mild tremors, stiffness and slowness of movement that become more noticeable over the years and can eventually cause significant problems with movement and coordination.
“Progression of symptoms can take more than 10 years and is often accompanied by severe motor disabilities and cognitive decline in advanced stages,” Truong said.
Stein explained how CTE develops: “After an impact to the head, as the brain moves within the skull, nerve fibers in the brain stem are stretched and likely damaged,” he said.
“With repeated impacts to the head, this damage can accumulate and lead to CTE lesions within the brain stem,” Stein added.
Truong said injuries that lead to CTE “commonly occur in sports such as American football, boxing, soccer, ice hockey and rugby, where players frequently suffer concussive or subconcussive blows to the head.”
Diagnosing CTE can be difficult as there is no single test for the condition.
“This is a very interesting study,” said study co-author Dr. Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation. MNT The only way to diagnose CTE is to examine the brain after death.
“At this time, we cannot calculate the absolute risk for any athlete due to the limitations of CTE being a postmortem diagnosis,” Nowinski said, but he noted that “at Boston University, there are more CTE diagnoses in football players than in all other sports combined.”
“After football, CTE is most frequently diagnosed among boxers, ice hockey, soccer and rugby players,” Nowinski said.
People who suffer a concussion while serving in the military can also develop CTE.
“It’s not an isolated accident, but the cumulative effects of repeated impacts to the head that greatly increase the risk of developing CTE,” Truong said.
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Some research The findings suggest that the largest head acceleration events pose a much higher CTE risk than smaller repeated impacts. [gravity units] Five impacts could produce an impact force well in excess of 100G.study Research and laboratory modeling by our team suggests that rotational acceleration contributes more to CTE risk than linear acceleration, and that cumulative loading correlates with CTE outcome.”— Chris Nowinski, PhD, study co-author
Truong explained that CTE is often characterized by cognitive decline and neurobehavioral dysregulation. Here are some warning signs of CTE to look out for:
- Cognitive impairment — Symptoms may include memory loss, impaired executive function, and reduced concentration and attention.
- Mood and behavior changes This means increased aggression, depression, anxiety, and impulsivity.
- Early symptoms of motor dysfunction — Subtle changes in gait, balance and fine motor skill control.
- Sleep problems —
Possibly rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (pRBD) There may be.
“we, [CTE] Symptoms should be evaluated by a specialist,” Nowinski said.
