The NFL, concussions, and the importance of Dave Duerson's suicide last Thursday

[RoryN]

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said as he arrived for labor negotiations Sunday that he didn't know details about Duerson's case.

He will soon.

Around 150 former athletes, including 40 retired NFL players, are already donating their brains to the study of long-term effects by concussions. (Source: AP) Some active players, like Matt Birk & Lofa Tatupu, are also part of this list. (It should be noted that some NHL players are, too.)

The list of retired NFL players and other athletes who are showing symptoms is, well, large to say the least. I didn't have time to comprise a list, but players like Ted Johnson, Wayne Chrebet, and Al Toon are good examples. Others who have recently started talking about their own concussions & long-term effects include Steve Young, Troy Aikman, and Jim McMahon.

A short list of deceased NFL players who apparently suffered "chronic traumatic encephalopathy":

Tom McHale (drug OD)
Mike Webster
Justin Strzelczyk (fleeing from police, crashed. No drugs / alcohol. But his brain = toast.)
Terry Long (suicide)
Andre Waters (suicide)
John Grimsley (self-inflicted gunshot wound to chest, but not called a suicide)

On Thursday, Dave Duerson, an important part of the `85 Bears championship team, committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest. Right beforehand, he sent multiple text messages indicating that he wanted his brain donated for concussion research, specifically for the same chronic traumatic encephalopathy study.

I can understand the school of thought being "occupational hazard", especially given the money they make. But there's been pie-in-the-sky talk of eliminating things like the 3 and 4-point stance on the line, which would change the game significantly forever. And, if Duerson is shown to have the exact same brain damage that these other players are showing, his death - and specifically the manner in which he took his life, and his request to be studied - is gonna be bigtime fuel to the fire...

What say you?

 

[stephen55]

Football helmets were not introduced to prevent concussions. The first ones, made of hardened leather were worn to protect the ears from bruises and laceration. Then came plastic and now, various wonder materials.

The face mask bar was introduced to help prevent facial injuries.

The modern football helmet, and hockey helmet (with a cage) does a good job of preventing those injuries but concussions are an injury beyond a helmet's ability to prevent. Lessen, certainly, but not prevent.

As long as the players head is subjected to violent hits, causing a very high rate of acceleration, laterally or angularly, the human brain will bounce around inside the skull and be injured. Violent hits to be body can also cause the head to be subjected to acceleration. Seeing as how pro football and hockey are all about violent hits, (not to mention boxing and the other martial sports), concussions are not going to go away.

Good old wikipedia has a decent article on concussions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concussion


Something that has only been recently considered by sports organizations is the effect of a second concussion on a brain that is still recovering from an initial concussion. Second Impact Syndrome (SIS) is a devastating injury. Although it was first described in 1973, keeping players benched after a concussion for enough time to allow the first brain injury to settle, has only recently become standard practice.

In SIS, the brain swells quickly and extensively, with a resulting mortality rate that approaches 50%. In survivors, long term effects (morbidity) are 100%.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-impact_syndrome

The long term effects of cumulative concussions are not well understood. There is definitely an increased rate of various neurological and psychiatric disorders, but as yet, there has not been enough long term research done to pin down just exactly what the risks are and to tease out the effects of repeated brain trauma from other conditions such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. That said, I doubt that there is a neurologist or neurosurgeon in the world who doesn't know intuitively that concussions are bad and that repeated concussions are worse. I'm also sure that as more studies are done, the picture is only going to get worse.

 

[RoryN]

Seeing as how pro football and hockey are all about violent hits, (not to mention boxing and the other martial sports), concussions are not going to go away.

True. And don't forget pro wrestling.

Chris Benoit, who killed his family and then himself, was found not to have any drugs in his system which would've contributed to his mental state at the time. Instead, his brain showed damage more or less identical to the brains of those former NFL players who also died. While alive, Benoit talked of his numerous concussions.

 

[HAL_9000]

Kind of a representation of life...banging one's head against a brick wall until brains are mush.

 

[RoryN]

Kind of a representation of life...banging one's head against a brick wall until brains are mush.

Well, some people's lives maybe...

 

[Cade Is Here]

Well, some people's lives maybe...

The drugs made your brain mush now didn't it?

 

[trysail]

http://www.coltsheritage.com/images/logo-colts.gif​

John Mackey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mackey_(American_football)

 

[RoryN]

http://www.coltsheritage.com/images/logo-colts.gif​

John Mackey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mackey_(American_football)

Thought I heard something about him previously, but thanks for the link. That's sad.

 

[Douchemoron]

True. And don't forget pro wrestling.

Chris Benoit, who killed his family and then himself, was found not to have any drugs in his system which would've contributed to his mental state at the time. Instead, his brain showed damage more or less identical to the brains of those former NFL players who also died. While alive, Benoit talked of his numerous concussions.

Chris Benoit had plenty of drugs in his system. Xanax, hydrocodone, and an elevated level of testosterone, caused by a synthetic form of the hormone.

I heard Dave Duerson died recently, but I didn't realize it was suicide. These concussions are really out of control, it's only time before Troy Aikman kills Joe Buck and himself in the booth. They should go back to leather helmets, this way players can't lead with their heads. Those current helmets are now a deadly weapon.

 

[RoryN]

Chris Benoit had plenty of drugs in his system. Xanax, hydrocodone, and an elevated level of testosterone, caused by a synthetic form of the hormone.

Yes. But they found that none of these "would have contributed to his mental state at the time".

I heard Dave Duerson died recently, but I didn't realize it was suicide. These concussions are really out of control, it's only time before Troy Aikman kills Joe Buck and himself in the booth. They should go back to leather helmets, this way players can't lead with their heads. Those current helmets are now a deadly weapon.

My dad always felt the same way. Even if they didn't lessen concussions, it was a hell of a lot better not to play football with your head inside a giant bell.

 

[Douchemoron]

I'm just not sure what the NFL can realistically do about it. The game is so violent, and that's what the people love. It's not like they're going to start playing touch-football.

Roger Goodell has quite the quandary on his hands.

I'm guessing he'll do nothing. And I can't really blame him.

 

[KRCummings]

You stop playing, change the way the game is played or live with it. Those are the only options. They won't stop playing and it's unlikely they'll change how it's played so there ya go.

 

[Joeybagadonuts]

They have to enforce the rule prohibiting helmet to helmet hits.

The odd thing about the controversy is that active safeties seem to be the most vocal about hard hits are a big part of their game and don’t want to be flagged for helmet to helmet hits.

Duerson is at least the second safety to commit suicide in recent years.

 

[SgtSpiderMan]

I'm just not sure what the NFL can realistically do about it. The game is so violent, and that's what the people love. It's not like they're going to start playing touch-football.

Roger Goodell has quite the quandary on his hands.

I'm guessing he'll do nothing. And I can't really blame him.

The contract talks might take care of this concussion problem if they don't get something signed soon.

 

[zipman]

They have to enforce the rule prohibiting helmet to helmet hits.

The odd thing about the controversy is that active safeties seem to be the most vocal about hard hits are a big part of their game and don’t want to be flagged for helmet to helmet hits.

Duerson is at least the second safety to commit suicide in recent years.

That wouldn't stop linemen from sustaining the same injuries. Personally, I think the game has to change.

 

[Ham Murabi]

I think the NFL took the right steps last season on tackling and leading with the helmet. I found myself cringing a couple of times, expecting a serious injury, only to be pleasantly surprised by a hard, clean tackle.
But I don't know what the NFL can do about what happens between the tackles.

 

[Morcheeba]

What say me, Rory?

All it does is reinforce the strict code that my dear Grandfather once laid down for his sons and my cousins and nephews... no football. They were allowed to play it (tag) for fun on certain Sundays but not allowed to play it on teams. Basketball, baseball and tennis but no football. He was a master at coaching basketball and baseball so barbaric football turned him off. Or maybe that was my Grandma is his head, ha!

However, I bet someone like Adam Vinatieri (sp) with like 4 or 5 SB rings woulda turned him on to letting his own become NFL KICKERS or even punters.

See, now that's the trick there. Raise your son to be good enough to punt or kick so that he can travel around the world and not deal with head injuries and STILL make the coin and the babes. And the Super Bowl rings, aha.

 

[Morcheeba]

I think the NFL took the right steps last season on tackling and leading with the helmet. I found myself cringing a couple of times, expecting a serious injury, only to be pleasantly surprised by a hard, clean tackle.
But I don't know what the NFL can do about what happens between the tackles.

Do you recall when a hot white guy named Ed McAffrey (sp) had his leg broken (snapped like a twig) on LIVE TV? I certainly do. That was my first real NFL experience as to how nasty it all is. Plus Peyton Manning getting his jaw broken and then still soldiering through it all... c'mon, my Grandfather was right.

They're great for fantasy shit otherwise learn 'em how to kick and punt!

 

[RoryN]

The news is covering this one extensively. Some extra tidbits from other stories:

Former linebacker Fred McNeill, 58, virtually lost his memory after his glory days ended in the mid-'80s. Former San Francisco 49ers lineman George Visger has to scrawl the minutiae of his daily life in yellow notebooks or else he forgets what he did minutes ago. His is another case of ex-NFL athletes struggling with memory loss, depression and sudden, frightening bouts of rage.

Source: CNN

Also, Chris Henry, who died in 2009 after running after his fiancee and jumping into the back of a truck (and falling out of it), was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy during the autopsy.

 

[Bert Notorius]

They have to enforce the rule prohibiting helmet to helmet hits.

The odd thing about the controversy is that active safeties seem to be the most vocal about hard hits are a big part of their game and don’t want to be flagged for helmet to helmet hits.

Duerson is at least the second safety to commit suicide in recent years.

Rogers' concussion against the Bears was helmet to ground contact.

 

[RoryN]

Story which broke today...

Tough guys concerned about news of Probert's brain disease

By Kevin Allen and Erik Brady
USA TODAY
Updated 36m ago

Stu Grimson estimates he fought Bob Probert 14 or 15 times during their NHL careers and Probert has now staggered him in death more than he did in any of their bouts.

Probert died at 45 last summer from a heart condition, but researchers at Boston University announced Thursday that a study of Probert's brain tissue revealed he had the degenerative brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

"To know Bob Probert was in this situation (concerns me) because there is no greater parallel for me than Bob," said Grimson, now an attorney in Nashville. "He is a strong comparable in terms of the trauma he suffered. And the important distinction between Bob and I is that I left the game with post-concussion syndrome and he didn't."

A little more than a year ago, not knowing he was close to death, Probert watched a 60 Minutes report on the study of athletes' brains for concussion research and told his wife to donate his brain. His wife, Dani, asked that the study be made public with the idea that it might help other players.

STUDY: Probert had brain disease

"I've always had suspicions about what damage I've done to that area of my body," Grimson said. "Reading about Bob poses two questions: Should I be tested for anything like this? And maybe what comes before that is: Assuming I had CTE, or something like that, is there a remedy?"

Probert and Grimson each had more than 200 fights during his NHL career. Grimson said he already started to reach out to his local medical community to get more information.

"Today's announcement regarding the CTE diagnosis of former NHLPA member Bob Probert is an important piece of research that players, along with everyone else interested in the safety and well-being of hockey players, should consider seriously," said Don Fehr, the NHL Players Association's executive director. "We look forward to reviewing the full results of the study."

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said, through a league email, that the results add to the league's broader knowledge of injuries.

"But we're not going to react or make changes based on findings related to one player," Daly said, "especially when it's impossible to identify, or isolate, one of many variables that may have factored into the conclusions reached, and when there is no real 'control group' to compare his results to."

Dr. Robert Stern, co-director of Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University's School of Medicine, said that while Probert did have CTE, "it was not as advanced as many of the pro football players' brains we have studied."

What is CTE?

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes (and others) with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions as well as asymptomatic subconcussive hits to the head.

CTE has been known to affect boxers since the 1920s. However, recent reports have been published of neuropathologically confirmed CTE in retired professional football players and other athletes who have a history of repetitive brain trauma.

This trauma triggers progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, including the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau. These changes in the brain can begin months, years, or even decades after the last brain trauma or end of active athletic involvement.

The brain degeneration is associated with memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia.

- From the website of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy

The report offers no conclusion about whether the CTE could be caused by Probert's propensity for fighting, or other factors.

"It definitely can't be ruled out," Stern said. "But when it comes to hockey, we really don't yet know whether it's the game itself, and the hits players take by playing the sport, and/or the hits to the head from fighting," Stern said.

The research center, which has pledges from 350 living athletes to donate their brains, is a leading authority in the national conversation about concussions. Last month, the family of former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson donated his brain to the center after he committed suicide at 50.

Reggie Fleming, an NHL tough guy in the 1960s, also had CTE, the center determined. Stern said Fleming's CTE was more severe than Probert's, but he was 73 when he died in 2009.

"What we believe is that repetitive brain trauma is necessary for CTE to develop but it is not sufficient," Stern said, "Some people with repetitive brain trauma get the disease and some people don't. So there must be other factors that put people at greater risk."

CTE has been a known issue for football players.

"But it hits closer to home when you see that Probert had developed it," said Anaheim Ducks tough guy George Parros, who leads the NHL with 23 fighting majors. "This is something we want to pay attention to. We need to find out the cause because we don't know yet."

Keith Primeau, forced to retire from the NHL because of post-concussion syndrome, has willed his brain to science. He still has symptoms and hasn't been able to exercise in nearly five years.

"I wasn't surprised by the results (of the Probert) study," he said. "This was just a reaffirmation of the severity of this issue."

Primeau, a 6-4 center who had four documented concussions, played a physical game and he said it never occurred to him that he might be damaging his brain.

"Not in the least," he said. "What is alarming to me is that we now have case studies and hockey players aren't taking notice yet."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2011-03-03-bob-probert-brain-disease_N.htm

 

[shoulderblade]

Further from the NHL the continued mystery around the concussion suffered by premier player Sydney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=nc-crosbyconcussion030211

Even a brief read through this article will give you an idea just how undecided this situation is.

 

[mdb913]

Yeah, you start talking about concussions and head injuries and you kinda start feeling bad as a sports fan; when you cheer for a certain team, you want them to kill their opponents, but you don't want them to kill their opponents.

Being a wrestling fan, having gone through the Chris Benoit ordeal when it happened, you realize now that it was an amalgamation of happenings, but the most prevalent was the constant head trauma. Benoit--who, by the way, was just about everyone's favorite professional wrestler the day before his wife died--used the flying headbutt and German suplex almost to excess. The flying headbutt is self-explanatory--you get on the top rope and missile-dive, head forward, into a guy's shoulder/neck area. A German suplex, for those who don't follow this pseudo-sport, is when you grab a man's waist from behind and basically arch back, forcing that person's head, neck and upper back to slam into the mat. The drawback to this is that, usually, that means the back of your head is hitting the mat, and Whatever-God-You-Believe-In help you if your opponent's full body weight lands on your head. As a big fan of Benoit's, not only do I feel saddened watching a German suplex getting delivered these days, I feel guilty; the German suplex was one of Benoit's more popular moves. Benoit made famous the practice of consecutive Germans, wherein you would perform the suplex, but you simply would roll to your side and work your way to your feet without letting go of the opponent. In one famous match with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, he performed a chain of TEN.

As safe as one tries to make it for both oneself and his opponent, it's obvious from watching that Benoit did it to the point that safety kind of took a backseat to habit. Usually, you can make your dance partner safe, but for yourself when you're a wrestler, you've got adrenaline and megawatts of energy flowing through you to the point that you feel as though you can ignore pain; you forget that just because you can't feel a change in your body doesn't mean it's not happening.

 

[RoryN]

New story: another one...

Ex-Falcons lineman had brain disease linked to concussions

By Stephanie Smith, CNN Medical Producer
April 1, 2011 11:48 a.m. EDT

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/HEALTH/04/01/brain.concussion.dronett/t1larg.dronett.family.photo.jpg
Chris and Shane Dronett, and their two children, Hayley and Berkley, in 2002.

(CNN) -- Former NFL lineman Shane Dronett's transformation from an affable prankster, quick to flash a wry smile, to a person who was often frightened -- and frightening -- was subtle at first.

It began in 2006, with a bad dream.

"He woke up in the middle of the night and started screaming and told everyone to run out of the house," said Chris Dronett, Shane Dronett's wife. "He thought that someone was blowing up our house. It was very frightening."

Chris tried to dismiss the incident as isolated, except that two weeks later, there was another outburst, then another, until they were an almost-nightly occurrence. And as Shane's fear and paranoia began overwhelming him, so did episodes of confusion and rage that sometimes turned violent.

Only three years after retiring from the NFL in 2006, Shane was suffering. The tragic culmination of his pain came when he committed suicide in 2009 at 38.

Scientists at the Boston University School of Medicine's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy tested Shane's brain tissue and confirmed that before he died he was suffering with a brain disease -- chronic traumatic encephalopathy -- that seems to afflict football players.

"There is evidence of CTE in his brain making him yet another former NFL player who had definite CTE," said Chris Nowinski, co-director of the traumatic encephalopathy center. Nowinski said the center has found evidence of CTE in the brains of 13 of 14 former NFL players, including Dronett.

Usually found in much older dementia patients, CTE is an accumulation of an abnormal protein in the brain called tau, which is associated with repeated head traumas -- concussions or subconcussive hits -- that are not allowed to heal. CTE can also diminish brain tissue and is associated with memory loss, depression, impulsive behavior and rage.

Outrage comes out of nowhere

The Dronetts' daughter recalled an incident at a local burger joint: "He was ordering, and he got mad at (an employee) and just punched him in the face," said 16-year-old Hayley Dronett.

"He thought the guy was shaking the ice weird or something, and he took him down in the restaurant," added Chris.

It was all uncharacteristic for a man whom Chris described as "someone who would light up the room," outgoing, affable, funny. It was incongruous behavior for a father who had been involved and close with his two daughters -- taking them four-wheeling, volunteering at school, even painting their fingernails.

"He was just the best dad in the world," said Hayley.

Researchers believe that the battering Shane Dronett took as an NFL lineman -- and the hits he accumulated over two decades of playing -- might explain his brain's deterioration.

"What we know is that by definition, a lineman will have their head hit almost every play of every game and every practice," said Dr. Robert Stern, co-director of the BU CSTE. "The estimates are around 1,000 or more hits for a lineman every season."

It might have been the accumulation of tens of thousands of subconcussive hits -- which might not result in overt concussion symptoms such as dizziness, short-term memory loss and confusion but could still cause brain damage -- that finally took a toll on Shane.

"I think the issue is that the brain was not meant to be hit even subconcussively 1,000 times a year," said Stern.

The NFL would not comment about Shane's case specifically, but it emphasized that the league supports the BU center's work and that it continues to take steps limit contact to the head and to ensure that concussions, when they occur, are properly treated.

10 hard seasons of hard hits

Shane played for 10 seasons, first with the Denver Broncos and then the Atlanta Falcons. He played defense on the 1998 Falcons team that had a storybook Super Bowl run.

Chris said her husband never let a concussion deter him.

"Shane didn't come out of games because he always said NFL players are so expendable," said Chris. "And if you're not out there, the next guy will be."

Kurt Warner: Playing with concussion "part of the game"

Shane played through dizzying hits.

"There were times when he'd be slow getting up and kind of try to shake it off and get back in there," said Chris. "He would have headaches and he would say 'I wish someone would split my head open with an ax and relieve the pressure,' but it wasn't even an option to come out (of the game)."

Could a tumor explain his behavior?

When Shane was found to have a brain tumor in 2007, at the height of his unorthodox behavior, it was actually a glimmer of hope for his wife.

"I was almost relieved because I was thinking, 'OK, here is the answer to why he's acting like this, because he had a tumor,' " said Chris. "And then after he recovered from the tumor being removed, he was back to the same symptoms of paranoia."

Shane's neurosurgeon said that he most likely had the tumor all his life and that the benign growth could not explain his behavior, Chris said.

Researchers at BU CSTE call the brain tumor potentially confounding, but most likely not a factor in Shane's behavior.

"There's no way we would ever know what was specifically caused by the tumor or the surgery for the tumor or CTE," said Stern. "But more than likely at least some of his behavior and symptoms were associated with the worsening of the CTE."

The reasons for Shane's behavioral changes soon became secondary to a bubbling fear for his wife and daughters. It came to a head during a ski trip that Chris took with her daughter Hayley in January of 2009.

"He called us 100 times a day, wondering where we were and we'd tell him we're in Utah ... and he just didn't believe it," said Chris. "He thought people were driving around the house and he was wondering who had been following him that day. It was just very scary."

Shane was supposed to pick up his family at the airport but never showed up. The next morning, Chris encountered her husband in the hallway of their home, brandishing a gun.

"I saw the gun, and I ran out the front door," said Chris. "He had gone into the kitchen, and as soon as I put my hand on the front door, I heard it."

What Chris had heard was the firing of the gun that killed Shane when he turned the gun on himself.

In a moment, months of consternation and abject fear ended, giving way to profound sadness for a family that, even as they waded through the mire of Shane's condition, could not have foreseen this end.

"He was always so full of life," said Chris. "Even his darkest moments, I just still never imagined that he would do that."

Two years removed from the terrible events of that January morning, Chris finds some solace knowing that a brain disease that could explain why she and her daughters lost Shane.

"I had nowhere to turn. I didn't know anything about (CTE). I didn't know other players were going through this type of stuff," said Chris. "I think if Shane knew at the time how serious (playing through concussion) could be down the road, he would have backed off."

Chris is heartened by rules changes and progress at the NFL level, but chafes when she hears about players who oppose those changes.

"I know a lot of the players are against that, but they're young and they haven't seen what I've seen," said Chris.

Chris says that if she could speak directly to players, "I would tell them what I went through, what Shane went through and what other people I know have gone through and then let them make that decision. Because I feel like they're making their statements without being educated."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/04/01/brain.concussion.dronett/

 

[RoryN]

On Thursday, Dave Duerson, an important part of the `85 Bears championship team, committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest. Right beforehand, he sent multiple text messages indicating that he wanted his brain donated for concussion research, specifically for the same chronic traumatic encephalopathy study.

UPDATE:

Duerson brain tissue analyzed: Suicide linked to brain disease

By Stephanie Smith, CNN Medical News Producer
May 2, 2011 4:37 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- His was a suicide with a macabre twist. In February, former Chicago Bears safety David Duerson shot himself in the chest, but not before leaving behind a note requesting his brain be studied for evidence of a disease striking football players.

The plaintive note read, "Please, see that my brain is given to the NFL's brain bank."

Today, scientists announced that Duerson's brain tissue showed "moderately advanced" evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a dementia-like brain disease afflicting athletes exposed to repeated brain trauma.

"Dave Duerson had classic pathology of CTE and no evidence of any other disease," said Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist with the Bedford VA Medical Center, and co-director of the Boston University School of Medicine Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. "He had severe involvement of areas that control judgment, inhibition, impulse control, mood and memory."

CTE has been found in the brains of 14 of 15 former NFL players thus far studied at the center. Their cases share a common thread -- repeated concussions, sub-concussive blows to the head, or both. The picture beginning to emerge from these cases is that trauma could be causing brain damage.

A brain with CTE is riddled with dense clumps of a protein called tau. Under a microscope, tau appears as brown tangles that look similar to dementia. Except the cases of CTE have shown this progressive, dementia-like array in players well in advance of a typical dementia diagnosis, which typically occurs in the 70s or 80s.

Mike Webster, an offensive lineman with the Pittsburgh Steelers whose CTE was also diagnosed posthumously, was 50 when he died. John Grimsley, a nine-year NFL veteran who played most of his career with the Houston Oilers, was 45, and Duerson was 50. Scientists at Boston University have found evidence of CTE in the brain of an athlete as young as 18.

"To see the kind of changes we're seeing in 45-year-olds is basically unheard of," said McKee in an earlier interview with CNN.

Duerson suffered a minimum of 10 known concussions during the course of his career, some of them involving loss of consciousness, said Dr. Robert Stern, co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. Symptoms that nagged Duerson after he retired from the NFL in 1993 were typical of cases such as Webster and Grimsley, including problems with impulse control, an increasingly short fuse and headaches.

Duerson's ex-wife said that while playing professionally, the head trauma he bore on the field would become plain after games ended.

"Sometimes he would come home with extreme headaches," said Alicia Duerson during an interview with CNN in February. "We would meet after the game and he would want me to drive because he felt dizziness or he just didn't feel stable."

Alicia Duerson said that several years before he died, her husband had been extremely bright, articulate and gifted. But as time wore on, he began to lose those faculties. Duerson began to have trouble forming coherent sentences and spelling. Alongside cognitive and emotional problems, a business that he established after his NFL career was failing.

The tragic culmination of his problems was his suicide February 17 of this year.

"We do seem to be seeing an increased rate in athletes who have early and moderate stage CTE," said McKee, adding the caveat that the Boston University sample is autopsy-based and therefore inherently biased.

Duerson's death, and specifically the decision to shoot himself in the chest, apparently to avoid damaging his brain tissue, shocked members of his family and the football community. Duerson's is the first case in the CTE narrative in which a player ostensibly took his own life to have his brain studied.

"It's important for people to understand that it does not help our research or our mission of the CSTE to take their own lives because they fear they have this disease," said Stern. "The future will lead to successful treatment of this disease."

Duerson's son Tregg said the analysis of his father's brain -- the answers to questions about his death -- has given the family a measure of closure.

"It is my greatest hope that his death will not be in vain and that through this research his legacy will live on and others won't have to suffer in this manner," said Tregg Duerson.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/05/02/duerson.brain.exam.results/index.html?hpt=T2