Scientists May Soon be Able to Detect CTE in Living Athletes

by
September 26, 2014

CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a fairly hot topic within the NFL lately. The disease is known to cause depression, memory loss and dementia among suffers. CTE is brought on by repeated head trauma, like that which can be found in contact sports like football and hockey. Recently, lawsuits have been filed on behalf of former NFL players against the league, and CTE made the news when it was linked to the suicide of former player Junior Seau. One of the many unfortunate details about CTE is that, currently, it is only detectable post-mortem. However, a recent collaboration between Boston University and Exosome Sciences may help create a test that can detect the disease among living patients.

Earlier this year, Exosome Sciences, Inc. (ESI) announced that they had detected markers that carried tau proteins across the blood-brain barrier and into the bloodstream. One of telltale signs of CTE is an elevated amount of tau proteins in the brain. Now, in partnership with the BU CTE Center, they are looking to develop a reliable test for CTE in living individuals.

The study, called Diagnosing and Evaluating Traumatic Encephalopathy Using Clinical Tests (DETECT), is funded by the National Institute of Health, the National Institute of Neurologic Diseases and Stroke, the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

With the recent findings by ESI and the prestige of the BU CTE Center as a leading researcher of the disease, this partnership brings hope to current sufferers of CTE. Once the disease is detectable in living subjects, drugs and therapies can be developed to help mitigate the effects on sufferers. Once sufferers can be identified, further study can be done into finding the types and severities of head trauma that are most likely to lead to CTE. This collaboration is a big first step in treating, if not eventually curing, this terrible disease.

(Header image via thirteenofclubs)





 

David G. Temple is the Managing Editor of TechGraphs and a contributor to FanGraphs, NotGraphs and The Hardball Times. He hosts the award-eligible podcast Stealing Home. Dayn Perry once called him a "Bible Made of Lasers." Follow him on Twitter @davidgtemple.

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Nate
9 years ago

As an Engineer, my first thought was “Wow. Scientists can detect the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion in living athletes??” Alas, wrong CTE. Interesting article anyway.

Also, please change the format of the entire site. Fonts, background and bright yellow-orange everywhere are terrible. Otherwise, ‘as you were’.

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Deelron
9 years ago

They’re going to find an awful lot of athletes with CTE (particularly in the NFL) if this comes to fruition, which leads to the next question: then what? The simplest question is : will they allowed to continue to play, and what are the consequences legally (and morally for the layperson) of allowing them to do so? It’s a giant bag of worms.

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T-Bone
9 years ago
Reply to  Deelron

Will they be “allowed” to play? The answer is yes… it’s a free country.

It’s not any secret that taking blows to the head over a number of years isn’t good for the brain, and that there’s a high likelihood it will lead to CTE. Even without testing living patients, we know there are a lot of football players out there who have/will have CTE. Last time I checked, they aren’t talking about banning football yet… far from it in fact. The key is diagnosing and getting people treatment so they can live normal lives and not want to hurt themselves or others.

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Deelron
9 years ago
Reply to  T-Bone

I think given the legal issues its already caused and the frequency that people who sign a waiver for a dangerous activity (not to mention ones who cause the situation in the first place) are still able to sue for financial compensation (verdict or settlement), I suspect that being diagnosed with CTE and being an active player would result in that player no longer having that job at the employers earilest convience, with the same phony excuses players have lost their jobs in the past for speaking out on a variety of topics, free county or not.

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Slacker George
9 years ago

For now, TAU levels in the blood stream is a proxy for measuring TAU levels in the brain. In order to correlate the proxy levels to the brain levels, don’t they need to have TAU blood levels in living subjects who subsequently die so that they can measure TAU brain levels? Or can they use the blood drawn from deceased subjects?

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Theresa
9 years ago

It is not just athletes, I am a teacher that due unlucky actions I have had 12 concussions. I am very interested in this test. I am very fearful that I am in the early stages of CTE. Hopefully once they find a test then they can find a cure.

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Betty
9 years ago

This would also be very good for troops that have head injuries and been shell shocked. Which with the past wars for troops coming home. Having troubles with depression, and on the average of 22 troops a day are taking their life’s. This would help many others not just sports. I like to see a bigger picture on treatment. I had my own TBI and have been listed still 5 years later with post concussion syndrome.

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