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34 WNY Family July 2019
S
oon, young athletes every-
where will don helmets and
pads for fall sports practices,
but parents might feel conflicted about
cheering them on. The family of Tyler
Hilinski, the 21-year-old Washington
State University quarterback who died
by suicide in January of 2018, has re-
vealed that Tyler’s athletic career may
have contributed to a decline in his emo-
tional and mental health.
Autopsy results showed that Tyler
had CTE, chronic traumatic encepha-
lopathy, a degenerative brain disease
thought to result from repetitive brain
injuries. Over time, the disease kills
brain cells and is linked to cognitive and
behavioral changes, including aggres-
sion, depression, and problems with im-
pulse control.
Though Tyler’s death is not linked
conclusively to CTE, the tragedy raises
questions about how to keep sports-
minded kids — and their developing
brains — safe. Here’s what to know be-
fore your kid laces up.
What is CTE and should
I be worried about it?
“The last several years have seen
many sports come under the microscope
as we try to fully understand the risks
associated with sports participation, es-
pecially contact sports,” says Samuel R.
Browd, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UW
Medicine Sports Health and Safety In-
stitute and the Seattle Children’s Sports
Concussion Program. First discovered
90 years ago, CTE was rarely diagnosed
until 2005, when evidence of CTE was
found in the brain of former Pittsburgh
Steeler Mike Webster.
Over the past decade, scientific
understanding of brain trauma has ad-
vanced the study of CTE, which has
been found in the brains of 99 percent of
NFL players and 91 percent of college
football players, according to a report
published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association.
Per the Concussion Legacy Founda-
tion, CTE is caused by repeated (think
hundreds or thousands) of brain traumas,
generally sustained over years of partici-
pation in contact sports. Over time, a pro-
tein called Tau forms clumps that spread
through the brain, killing vital brain cells
and contributing to permanent, progres-
sive cognitive decline. Symptoms of
CTE, which can sometimes resemble
those of dementia, include aggression,
impaired memory, emotional instability,
and slowed thinking
The vast majority of CTE cases re-