What is CTE?

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a neurodegenerative disorder that occurs in the brain. It is associated with recurring blows to the head and repeated episodes of concussions. CTE is most commonly seen in contact sport athletes such as boxers, football players, soccer players and additionally a shocking amount of CTE cases have been found in military veterans.

History of CTE

CTE became a hot-button topic in the early 2000s after Dr. Bennet Omalu a neuropathologist which is a doctor that specializes in studying diseases of the brain and the nervous system) found the first confirmed case of CTE in NFL Pittsburgh Steelers legend Mike Webster. However bare in mind CTE is not an NFL disease, it was originally thought of as a Boxer's problem.

The name Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy was first used in 1949 by Dr. Macdonald Critchley.

https://www.headstrongconcussion.com/history-of-ct

Stages of CTE

There are four stages of CTE, ranging from mild to extreme and there is no specific timeline to experience each of these it depends on the individual as everyone is different.

Stage 1 usually includes little to no symptoms which are headaches and loss of concentration.
Stage 2 entails feelings of rage, mood swings and signs of depression along with Stage 1 symptoms.
Stage 3 involves executive dysfunction, memory loss and confusion.
Stage 4 is the most severe case of CTE, severe memory loss with dementia is developed.

Some people don't experience the first symptoms until several years after a major concussion or the latter.

In the above picture, we see pictures of the brain and how it is slowly affected by CTE.

Stage 1 shows us that isolated spots of protein tau* build up around the frontal lobe

Stage 2 shows us that as symptoms appear defective protein tau affects more nerve cells in the frontal top lobes
Stage 3 shows us that protein tau begins to expand from the frontal lobe to the temporal lobe
Stage 4 shows us that the protein tau have killed several nerve cells causing it to shrink by half it's size
- - - By this stage cognitive function is severly limited.

Symptoms of CTE

Based on the knowledge that researchers have right now on CTE, the symptoms include;

Memory Loss
Confusion
Personality Changes (which include depression, anxiety)
Erratic Behavior (which includes aggression)
Difficulty paying attention and organizing thoughts
Difficulty with balance and motor skills
Progressive Dementia

A lot of those symptoms listed above are similar and align with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). There are similarities between the two such as;
- CTE and AD are both defined by containing tangles of the Protein Tau* in the brain.

However, there is still ongoing research looking into the severity and aspects of this disorder.

*Protein Tau is a substance that builds up in the brain causing it to damage brain cells that are essential for learning and memory.

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