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NFL: At least one in four dead players had brain disease, says study
BBC • • general
Key Points:
- A study of 878 former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 found that up to 97.7% of those who donated their brains may have had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma.
- Among the 235 players who donated their brains, 215 were diagnosed with CTE post-mortem, and dementia was also commonly observed.
- The research, published in the British Medical Journal, highlights that NFL players have about four times higher rates of death from neurodegenerative diseases compared to the general population.
- Researchers estimated a conservative minimum CTE prevalence of 24.5% among deceased players in the study period, emphasizing the potential scale of the issue.
- The study’s authors urged the NFL to implement preventive measures to reduce repetitive head impacts at all levels of the sport to protect players' brain health.
