I just watched an interview with a CTE expert who has been collecting brains from NFL players and more recently Soccer, Rugby, AFL and League and the early results are quite frankly pretty bloody scary.

With Billy Guyton being the first Rugby case where he had stage 2 of 4 CTE at age 33 when he died. Unfortunately, at the moment they can only diagnose CTE post mortem meaning we have no real idea just how many rugby players are impacted. But if NFL is any guide of the 376 brains they examined 345 had CTE or 91.7% These numbers are truly frightening. (The actual percentage will be lower as those brains collected are from players whose death maybe contributed to CTE so they are self-selecting in a way)

One interesting thing he mentioned was when he played football, he only thought you had to be knocked out to be truly concussed. He did not realise simply seeing stars, are taking a big hit could be deemed a concussion. And over years you can accumulate many concussions which ultimately lead to CTE.

He suggests that each governing body of sports should be keeping a register of concussions on every single player from school level to professional so you can track how many individual concussions each player has had so you can better determine the risks of CTE.

Chat GPT tells us the Symptoms being

Behavioral Symptoms:
Aggression: CTE can lead to increased irritability, impulsivity, and aggressive outbursts.
Impulse control problems: Difficulty managing anger, frustration, and urges.
Social withdrawal: Individuals may isolate themselves from friends and family, or become less socially appropriate.
Depression and anxiety: Mood swings, feelings of sadness, and heightened anxiety can be common.

Psychiatric Symptoms:
Suicidality: Increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Paranoia: Suspiciousness and mistrust of others.
Motor problems: Changes in gait, balance, and coordination.

Other potential symptoms:
Headaches: May experience persistent or recurrent headaches.
Slurred speech: Difficulty speaking clearly.
Unsteadiness when walking: Difficulty maintaining balance and coordination.

He also mentions soccer and that heading the ball can lead to CTE and he does not understand why young kids are heading the ball at all.

I realise Rugby is not tiddlywinks but I am curious what people's thoughts are on this. Should we be more concerned about CTE or do you think players know the risks? Will Jordan, Hayman, Conrad Smith all come to mind of players with concussion issues.

Link to podcast:

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy - Wikipedia

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy - Wikipedia

The Silver Fern

chimoaus