2017年CRI Brain disease seen in most football players in large report

 

Research conducted on some 200 former American football players has found evidence of a brain disease linked to repeated head blows in nearly all of them, including professionals all the way down the ranks to high-school players.

It's one of the most popular sports in the United States, but the level of impact on the players who play American Football is starting to become more and more clear.

Research into the brains of former footballers shows many have evidence of chronic¹ traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

Many donors² to the brain bank in Boston, or their families, asked for the studies due to problems their repeated concussions³ created for them later in life.

A number of those who contributed to the study took their own lives.

Dr. Ann McKee, a Boston University neuroscientist, is the lead author of the new research paper.

"The only requirement for inclusion in this study was exposure to football. Now, a brain bank donation study is skewed, it has an ascertainment⁴ bias⁵, but even considering that the fact that we were able to accumulate 177 cases of CTE in a relatively⁶ short time frame speaks volumes," McKee said.

"It says that this disease is not rare, in fact, 80 some percent of the brains came in because of family members concerned about their loved ones, that says this disease is out there, this is a problem in football and this is something we need to address as soon as possible."

Many scientists believe that repeated blows to the head increase risks for developing CTE, leading to progressive loss of normal brain matter and an abnormal build-up of a protein called tau.

Combat veterans and athletes in rough contact sports are among those thought to be most at risk.

Of the 111 brains of former NFL players, 110 showed signs of the disease.

Doctor Ann McKee says brain bank research may lead to answers, as well as a better way to detect the problems while a person is alive, so that treatment options could be possible.

"Our whole goal is to increase the understanding of this disease, increase the awareness⁷, hopefully to figure out ways to prevent this disease entirely⁸, but importantly also to figure out ways to detect this disease during life and treat it," McKee added. 

"We know that there are football players out there that are concerned that they have CTE. There are very likely many that have CTE and we need to bring some hope and optimism to those players and it's not going to be by arguing about whether or not this disease exists. It's going to be about coming together as a collective society and really addressing this issue."

Former NFL running back and national sportscaster Mike Adamle recently announced that he is suffering from dementia, and says tests suggests he's likely suffering from the effects of CTE as well.

"I think a lot of players looked at themselves as rock stars, or performers is a better word. You gave, you put all your energy into yourself because those people paid money and they were there to watch you play. And I think we all thought that we owed them something," Adamle noted⁹.

In the report, McKee and colleagues found the most severe cases of CTE in former NFL and other professional players.

Milder forms of CTE were discovered in three former high school players diagnosed with the disease.

The average age of death among all players studied was 66.

Among the 177 diagnosed with CTE, 10 percent were suicides.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, first coined by a US coroner, is microfissures in the interior of the brain, thought to be caused by continual blows to the head.

Currently there are no precise ways to test for CTE, meaning studies right now have to focus on a person's brain after they die, limiting doctor's abilities to research ways to try to limit or fix the problem in living patients.

1 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

2 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网

4 ascertainment   

n.探查，发现，确认

参考例句：

• Part 1 introduces the ascertainment of key stuff in state-owned commercial banks. 第1部分介绍了国有商业银行核心员工的界定。 来自互联网
• IV The judicial ascertainment and criminal liability of involuntary dangerous crime. 过失危险犯的司法认定及刑事责任。 来自互联网

5 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。