11-18-2017, 07:46 PM
Cutz, Gunnar and I discussed CTE some time back (starting at post #520).
Since then........
Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who committed suicide while incarcerated for murder, was post-mortem diagnosed with "the most severe case of the degenerative disease"; the medical report indicated that his brain was "significantly impacted" by the effects. And, Hernandez was very young.
Now, amid criticism from the Concussion Legacy Foundation and concerns from retired players and their families regarding payouts from a $1 billion concussion settlement, the NFL is faced with the reality that chronic traumatic ecephalopathy (CTE) can potentially be diagnosed in living patients.
Former Minnesota Vikings' linebacker Fred McNeill passed away due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. He played for the Vikings from 1974-1985, entering the NFL as a first-round draft pick out of UCLA.
Dr. Bennet Omalu, the first to publish studies on CTE in football players, had diagnosed McNeill as suffering from CTE while he was still alive. He died in 2015. On Thursday, it was confirmed that McNeill's post-mortem brain examination verified that the diagnosis was accurate.
McNeill's wife, Tia, and his two sons, Gavin and Fred Jr., told Dr. Sanjay Gupta in 2016 that they had witnessed Fred transform from a fun loving family man at the center of their lives into a man who was dealing with symptoms of memory loss, anger and depression that tore their family apart. He'd worked as a lawyer after retiring from the NFL.
Unfortunately, Dr. Omalu anticipates it will take as many as five years for any kind of commercial test involving living CTE victims to become available.
Ref: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/resea...-with-cte/
Since then........
Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who committed suicide while incarcerated for murder, was post-mortem diagnosed with "the most severe case of the degenerative disease"; the medical report indicated that his brain was "significantly impacted" by the effects. And, Hernandez was very young.
Now, amid criticism from the Concussion Legacy Foundation and concerns from retired players and their families regarding payouts from a $1 billion concussion settlement, the NFL is faced with the reality that chronic traumatic ecephalopathy (CTE) can potentially be diagnosed in living patients.
Former Minnesota Vikings' linebacker Fred McNeill passed away due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. He played for the Vikings from 1974-1985, entering the NFL as a first-round draft pick out of UCLA.
Dr. Bennet Omalu, the first to publish studies on CTE in football players, had diagnosed McNeill as suffering from CTE while he was still alive. He died in 2015. On Thursday, it was confirmed that McNeill's post-mortem brain examination verified that the diagnosis was accurate.
McNeill's wife, Tia, and his two sons, Gavin and Fred Jr., told Dr. Sanjay Gupta in 2016 that they had witnessed Fred transform from a fun loving family man at the center of their lives into a man who was dealing with symptoms of memory loss, anger and depression that tore their family apart. He'd worked as a lawyer after retiring from the NFL.
Unfortunately, Dr. Omalu anticipates it will take as many as five years for any kind of commercial test involving living CTE victims to become available.
Ref: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/resea...-with-cte/