R
PHYSICIANS OFFICE
NEWS BRIEFS
esearchers Find 96 Percent of
Deceased NFL Players Had CTE
The latest data from a brain
bank that focuses on traumatic
head injury show that 87 of 91
deceased former National Football League
(NFL) players tested positive for chronic
traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
CTE was identified in 96 percent of NFL
players and in 79 percent of all football
players studied, researchers from the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston
University told Frontline in an exclusive report
Friday. In total, brain tissue from 165 people
who played football in high school, college,
Selected by POR Editorial Board
resources. We continue to make significant
investments in independent research
through our gifts to Boston University, the
National Institutes of Health, and other
efforts to accelerate the science and
understanding of these issues."
C
PAP in OSA Linked to Beneficial
Activity in Brain Stem
Continuous positive airway
pressure (CPAP) treatment can
lead to brain stem activity changes
associated with restored sympathetic drive in
patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA),
according to a small study published in the
Aug. 1 issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology.
Linda C. Lundblad, Ph.D., of the School of
Medicine at the University of Western Sydney,
and colleagues gathered recordings of muscle
sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and blood
oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal
intensity of the brain stem via high-resolution
functional magnetic resonance imaging, in 15
controls and 13 subjects with OSA, before and
after six months of CPAP treatment.
The investigators found that six months
of CPAP treatment was associated with
significantly reduced MSNA in subjects with
OSA. MSNA-coupled changes in BOLD signal
intensity within the dorsolateral pons, medullary
raphe, and rostral ventrolateral medulla were
also found to return to control levels.
semi-pro leagues, or in the NFL was examined
after their deaths, according to Frontline.
Offensive and defensive linemen bore the
brunt of the disease, with 40 percent of
players in those positions suffering from CTE,
according to the brain bank. But since CTE can
only be diagnosed posthumously, many of
the players who had donated their brains for
testing suspected that they had the disease
while still alive, so researchers were working
with a skewed sample, Frontline reported.
The NFL said in a statement to Frontline:
"We are dedicated to making football safer
and continue to take steps to protect players,
including rule changes, advanced sideline
technology, and expanded medical
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