'This is probably the safest time to be playing the sport of football': Concussion expert explains why viral CTE study may not be as scary as it sounds
A new study suggests that at least 1 in 4 former NFL players who died in recent years had CTE. Concussion expert Thayne Munce puts the finding into context.
A new study published in The BMJ suggests that at least 25% of former National Football League (NFL) players who died between 2008 and 2021 had brain changes related to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Researchers analyzed donated brain tissue from 338 players, finding that over 93% showed physical signs of CTE. However, only about 60% of these individuals were diagnosed with dementia.
The study provides a range of potential CTE rates, estimated between 18.5% and 98.7% for the period with the most brain donations (2016-2021), but cautions that these findings should not be extrapolated to current players or other levels of play. Experts warn that the high rate of CTE in this study may be due to the unique characteristics of the donor sample, rather than accurately representing the prevalence among all players.
They also emphasize that CTE risk in current players may differ from that of players who participated in the sport during different eras, as improvements in protective equipment and rules, as well as advancements in sports medicine, are likely to have impacted the risk.
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