Everyone knows playing the NFL is tough and dangerous, but now we know a little bit more about how dangerous it really is as a sport. Boston Healthcare System teamed up with the Boston University School of Medicine to research if chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was prevalent in 202 donated brains. What they found was staggering. Of the 111 brains that were from former NFL players, 110 of them showed the signs of CTE.
Looking at the entire study, 87% of the 202 brains showed those same signs, something still crazy and scary to see. With such a small sample size we shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but it’s such a staggering number that it’s worth looking even deeper at. One thing to note was that it’s possible the number was skewed because of the donation process. Ann McKee, a researcher involved with the study, brought up the fact that these families that donated the brains for research may have known there were already potential issues.
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