| CTE is a complex disorder. It started off being linked to concussions, then linked to untold amounts "sub-concussive" blows over many years (even without a diagnosed concussion)[1], to to now being debated as to whether it's a real, distinct disease[2][3]. We're talking about a disease that is somewhat similar to many other diseases of the brain, that much like Alzheimers, cannot even be diagnosed in living people yet. Not playing sports doesn't guarantee one safety from whatever CTE is either [4]. I'm no medical professional, but this is a topic near and dear to me. I've done quite a bit of research and talked with medical professionals about it. It's really an "up in the air" kind of thing, in my opinion. I will say that the average person and the media seem to think it's a much bigger deal than the medical professionals I have spoken with (all of which do research in this area at one of the top 20 hospitals in the US (Vanderbilt)). Who is right? I fear only time will only tell. I do think more steps need to be taken to make sports safer. Whether or not CTE, concussions, head trauma, etc. is as bad the media claims is debatable, but I cannot see any of it being a "good" thing either. [1] https://www.bu.edu/cte/about/frequently-asked-questions/ [2] https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/Fulltext/2014/01000/Is_Ch... [3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30169776/ [4] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190620153548.h... |