Labowz 1

Abraham Labowz

Mrs. Petresky

English, 1

1 November 2023

CTE disease

Did you know that 91.7% of the brains donated to Boston University of former NFL

players have CTE? CTE is a really harmful disease if not treated correctly, and can have long

term effects. CTE disease affects professional athletes by having horrible effects on athletes and

doctors are helping fix this issue by making sports more safe.

First, CTE affects professional athletes by causing them to have negative effects in their

career. “Cognitive symptoms tend to appear later in life, often in a patient’s 40s or 50s. Patients

may exhibit one or both symptom clusters. In some cases, symptoms worsen with time”

(Concussion Foundation). This is showing it may seem fine at first but later on in life the

symptoms may get worse, so you should see a doctor to treat it just in case it might get worse

when you get older. Another way it affects athletes is they get CTE over long periods of time.

“The best available evidence tells us that CTE is caused by repetitive hits to the head sustained

over a period of years. This doesn’t mean a handful of concussions; most people diagnosed with

CTE suffered hundreds or thousands of head impacts over the course of many years playing

contact sports or serving in the military.” (Concussion Foundation). This claim suggests that

athletes do not just acquire chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from a few severe hits;

rather, the condition's effects manifest over time as a result of their sustained involvement in

contact sports. The sneaky aspect of CTE develops over long periods of time, gradually affecting

sportsmen who put themselves through the strain of physical contact in their preferred sports.
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Second, researchers are helping by making sports more secure. “The fundamental

problem is that regardless of how much impact force is mitigated by protective equipment, we

cannot stabilize the brain inside the skull following an impact – likely making a

concussion-proof helmet an impossible engineering challenge.” (Scientific American). This

shows how deeply committed and dedicated medical professionals are to fighting and treating

this terrible disease. They have created ground-breaking protective gear to reduce the prevalence

of CTE in athletes as a result of their search for solutions. It is difficult to prevent this illness

because athletes can still sustain brain injuries even with these safeguards in place. Nevertheless,

medical professionals never give up on reducing the danger and lessening the negative effects of

such traumatic occurrences on people's health. Another way researchers are helping is they are

doing lots of research to help CTE. “Research on CTE has advanced considerably over the past

five years, and the BU CTE Center soon will publish its 182nd study on CTE.” (Boston

University). This claim suggests that athletes do not just get chronic traumatic encephalopathy

(CTE) from a few severe hits; rather, the condition's effects manifest over time as a result of their

sustained involvement in contact sports. The sneaky aspect of CTE develops over long periods of

time, affecting sportsmen who put themselves through the strain of physical contact in their

preferred sports.

In conclusion, we should care about CTE because it is an awful disease that people who

are trying to help fix it can lose families over time because of memory loss. Mark 1:35 says

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a

solitary place, where he prayed.” This shows sometimes we just need to get away from the world

and just pray for ourselves and let God do his plan to take care of us. If we do nothing about CTE

we are going to let people suffer from this horrible thing but instead we should try to find
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solutions to CTE. Professional athletes are severely impacted by CTE disease, and medical

professionals are working to address this problem by enhancing safety in sports.

Annotated Bibliography

1. Broglio, Steven. “We Can Make Football Safer” Scientific American. 9 February 2023,

https://www.scientificamerican.com

This article discusses the ways we can help CTE disease. It is important we help find ways to

treat this by having more safety equipment so we can help people live better lives.
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1. “While roughly 1700 athletes play professional football each year, over three million

children and adolescents in the United States play the same game. This squarely places

concussions as a significant public health concern in homes coast to coast.”(Scientific

American)

2. “In the early 1900s football was played without helmets, but severe injuries, like skull

fractures, lead to sporadic use of leather helmets in the 1920s. The plastic shell helmet

was invented in 1939 and became mandatory a few years later. ” (Scientific American)

3. “The fundamental problem is that regardless of how much impact force is mitigated by

protective equipment, we cannot stabilize the brain inside the skull following an impact –

likely making a concussion-proof helmet an impossible engineering challenge.”

(Scientific American)

2. “Researchers Find CTE in 345 of 376 Former NFL Players Studied” Boston University. 6

February 2023, https://www.bumc.bu.edu

Lots of hits to the head can cause CTE disease. It is a very bad disease that can cause many

negative long term effects.

4. “The Boston University CTE Center announced today that they have now diagnosed 345

former NFL players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) out of 376 former players

studied (91.7 percent). ” (Boston University)

5. “While the most tragic outcomes in individuals with CTE grab headlines, we want to

remind people at risk for CTE that those experiences are in the minority.” (Boston University)

6. “Research on CTE has advanced considerably over the past five years, and the BU CTE

Center soon will publish its 182nd study on CTE.” (Boston University)
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3. “What is CTE?” Concussion Legacy Foundation. 7 April 2022. concussionfoundation.org

This article goes on and explains CTE disease. It also discusses all the negative effects on it.

7. “According to the Boston University CTE Center, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

(CTE) is a degenerative brain disease found in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of

repetitive brain trauma.” (Concussion Foundation)

8. “Cognitive symptoms tend to appear later in life, often in a patient’s 40s or 50s. Patients

may exhibit one or both symptom clusters. In some cases, symptoms worsen with time”

(Concussion Foundation)

9. “The best available evidence tells us that CTE is caused by repetitive hits to the head

sustained over a period of years. This doesn’t mean a handful of concussions; most people

diagnosed with CTE suffered hundreds or thousands of head impacts over the course of many

years playing contact sports or serving in the military.” (Concussion Foundation)