A study published in the British Journal of Medicine this summer suggested that we know far less than we think about CTE. Also, a new strain of the brain disease often associated with concussions needs to be investigated.
In what might be the most thorough study on chronic traumatic encephalopathy and sports to date, Andrew Gardner, Grant Iverson and Paul McCrory presented these findings:
- Of the 158 autopsy cases in the literature, only 20 percent had what we now know as CTE.
- At present, a diagnosis of CTE can only be made postmortem.
- The physical traits of CTE are still unclear.
- The actual prevalence of CTE is unknown despite studies about it.
- And many studies about CTE and its causes are dealing with unknown.
-- Bill Bradley, contributing editor
