The announcement on Thursday by Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Neuropathology, home of the Australian Sports Brain Bank, that two deceased rugby league players have been confirmed to have suffered from the degenerative brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) – associated with repeated head impacts – is of enormous significance.
In America, the established presence of CTE among deceased NFL players on a mass scale – with 110 of 111 brains tested being confirmed cases – has seen changed protocols, reduced numbers of juniors playing the game and successful billion-dollar lawsuits.
So far the NFL has paid over $500 million, with that figure expected to double, to survivors demonstrating the same symptoms as CTE: depression, mood swings, short-term memory loss, dementia and so forth.
Researchers have uncovered the first evidence of Australian league players with a degenerative brain condition.Credit:MICHELE MOSSOP & NATALIE PFEIFFER
Here, the established presence of CTE in both of the first brains tested is a preliminary sign that Australia might be on the verge of going through the same process.
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As the one who organised the extraction and sending to the famed Boston Brain Bank of the brain of the only other confirmed case of CTE in Australian football – that of former rugby union player Barry “Tizza” Taylor, who died in 2013 – I have followed developments in this field with more than usual interest.
At the behest of the Australian Sports Brain Bank for whom I am an ambassador, I have occasionally delicately reached out to families of deceased league players to see if theyd like to have the deceaseds brain tested for CTE.
How exactly it will play out in Australia from here is as yet unsure. There are already a couple of ongoing legal actions brought against NRL clubs by former league players alleging they suffered brain damage because of insufficient care being shown to them for the concussions they suffered.
The NRL has already come a long way to make the game safer, with strict protocols now in place for players who are thought to have suffered concussions. This includes immediate removal from the field and the requirement that they undergo Head Injury Assessments by doctors before returning to play.
Just this year, the protocols have been beefed up, and there are now independent officials looking in the “brain bunker” for signs of concussion, with the ability to alert those at the ground to pull them off. Rugby union has similar protocols in place, as does the AFL, though in recent years I, for one, have sometimes been critical of the difference between having the protocols in place and having them strictly observed. The NRL, at least, has been better than ever this year in getting on tRead More – Source
The announcement on Thursday by Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Neuropathology, home of the Australian Sports Brain Bank, that two deceased rugby league players have been confirmed to have suffered from the degenerative brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) – associated with repeated head impacts – is of enormous significance.
In America, the established presence of CTE among deceased NFL players on a mass scale – with 110 of 111 brains tested being confirmed cases – has seen changed protocols, reduced numbers of juniors playing the game and successful billion-dollar lawsuits.
So far the NFL has paid over $500 million, with that figure expected to double, to survivors demonstrating the same symptoms as CTE: depression, mood swings, short-term memory loss, dementia and so forth.
Researchers have uncovered the first evidence of Australian league players with a degenerative brain condition.Credit:MICHELE MOSSOP & NATALIE PFEIFFER
Here, the established presence of CTE in both of the first brains tested is a preliminary sign that Australia might be on the verge of going through the same process.
Advertisement
As the one who organised the extraction and sending to the famed Boston Brain Bank of the brain of the only other confirmed case of CTE in Australian football – that of former rugby union player Barry “Tizza” Taylor, who died in 2013 – I have followed developments in this field with more than usual interest.
At the behest of the Australian Sports Brain Bank for whom I am an ambassador, I have occasionally delicately reached out to families of deceased league players to see if theyd like to have the deceaseds brain tested for CTE.
How exactly it will play out in Australia from here is as yet unsure. There are already a couple of ongoing legal actions brought against NRL clubs by former league players alleging they suffered brain damage because of insufficient care being shown to them for the concussions they suffered.
The NRL has already come a long way to make the game safer, with strict protocols now in place for players who are thought to have suffered concussions. This includes immediate removal from the field and the requirement that they undergo Head Injury Assessments by doctors before returning to play.
Just this year, the protocols have been beefed up, and there are now independent officials looking in the “brain bunker” for signs of concussion, with the ability to alert those at the ground to pull them off. Rugby union has similar protocols in place, as does the AFL, though in recent years I, for one, have sometimes been critical of the difference between having the protocols in place and having them strictly observed. The NRL, at least, has been better than ever this year in getting on tRead More – Source
