Sufferrepeated blows to the head during youthcan favor the appearance ofislong-term neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, according to the results of a study conducted by the Boston University School of Medicine (United States).
The research, published in the journalJournal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, was based on the autopsies of12 athleteswho experienced repeated head contusions during their career and who died from brain or neurological disease with the same pattern of damage to the nervous system.
Specifically, the brains ofAmerican football players, boxers and a hockey player. All had evidence of having suffered chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), also known as “pugilistic dementia”, caused by repeated contusions. In addition, three of them were diagnosed withamyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
In this sense, the American researchers found that the proteinTDP-43, with altered levels in the brain and spinal cord of the subjects analyzed, could be responsible for the development of ETC and ALS in athletes. Damage to one nerve can trigger the degeneration of others for reasons that scientists have not yet been able to explain, although this new study suggests that theTDP-43it could be related to this process.
“This is the first scientific evidence to show that sufferingrepeated head trauma from contact sportscould be associated with the development of aneuromotor damage“says study director Dr. Ann McKee. Likewise, these results highlight, in McKee’s view, the” urgent need “to monitor the development of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, many of whom suffer brain injuries from explosions, accidents and head injuries.
