At least one in four former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to a new study in The BMJ.
Researchers analyzed 1,712 former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2021 and found that 338 brains were donated for examination. Among those donors, 315 (93.2%) had evidence of CTE. Based on those findings, the authors estimated that the minimum prevalence of CTE among all former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 was 24.5%.
The study also examined whether more severe disease was linked to cognitive decline. Among brain donors, nearly 60% had dementia and 90.4% of those with the most severe form of CTE (stage IV) had dementia. After accounting for differences between donors and non-donors, stage IV CTE was associated with a 44% higher risk of dementia.
Researchers noted that many cases of dementia were not captured on death certificates, suggesting the burden of neurodegenerative disease among former players may be underestimated.
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