NEWS
New Wave Brain Drain : Preventing Brain Injuries in West Virginia ’ s Youth Athletes
To many , the name Chris Henry may not ring a bell . But to football fans — especially West Virginia University ( WVU ) football fans — Henry ’ s story is one of both triumph and tragedy . On December 17 , 2009 , Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry was tragically killed in an automobile accident . When researchers performed an autopsy on his brain , they discovered that Henry suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy ( CTE ), a disease associated with repeated head trauma . Researchers were shocked to find CTE in Henry ’ s brain because he had never reported a head injury or concussion during his four years of active play in the NFL or during his years at WVU 1 and because Henry was only 26 years old at the time of his death . Prior to Henry , CTE was found only in much older football players ’ brains .
CTE is believed to be caused by repeated head trauma and is strongly associated with later-life brain deterioration , especially dementia . A diagnosis of CTE can be made only by studying sections of the brain during an autopsy . 2 CTE is not a new disease , but in the past , it was typically associated with boxing . It wasn ’ t until 2002 , when Julian Bailes and Bennet Omalu , co-directors of the Brain Injury Research Institute at WVU , discovered CTE in the brain of former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster , that CTE was linked to football players . Unfortunately , CTE is not very well understood , but a causal link has been found between repeated blows to the head — common in sports such as football and boxing — and CTE . In 2017 , researchers at Boston University studied 202 brains of individuals who had played football . Their research revealed evidence of CTE in the brains of 99 % of former NFL players , but it also found CTE in the brains of 87 % of football players across all levels of play . 3
However , it doesn ’ t take a head-on collision with another player for brain trauma to occur . Limited contact and non-contact sports , such as gymnastics and bicycling , account for a high number of emergency department visits for traumatic brain injuries . 4 The brain floats freely in the skull , and if a person is moving very quickly and suddenly stops , the brain bounces . When this action is repeated over time , it causes significant problems . 5 The repeated brain trauma triggers progressive degeneration of the brain tissue and the build-up of tau , an abnormal protein . These changes in the brain can begin months , years , or even decades after the last brain trauma or end of active athletic involvement . This degeneration is associated with common symptoms of CTE : memory loss , confusion , impaired judgment , impulse control problems , aggression , depression , suicidality , Parkinsonism , and , eventually , progressive dementia . 6
Football is undoubtedly the most popular sport in the United States , but participation in youth football continues to drop significantly as more is learned about the risks associated with concussions and other brain trauma . Over the past decade , the number of high school boys playing tackle football has dropped 10 %, 7 and the number of boys under age 12 playing tackle football has dropped nearly 20 %. 8 Preventing brain injury in children under the age of 12 is especially important for their long-term functioning , as the window from ages 10 – 12 has been identified as a time when the brain is rapidly developing . A 2021 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) shows that tackle football athletes ages 6 – 14 are 15 times more likely to sustain a head impact and 23 times more likely to sustain a hard head impact than flag football athletes . These findings suggest that non-contact or flag
18 • www . wvsma . org