CTE In Contact Sport Athletes

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From all the recent research and media coverage on CTE in contact sport athletes, it is evident that the disease is becoming quite prevalent in our society. While there are certainly many people that understand that those who participate in contact sports may get diagnosed with CTE later on in life, they may not understand how participation in contact sports can cause CTE. Furthermore, there are many people that also may not understand the variety of risks of CTE that one can assume when they participate in contact sports.
Causes of CTE in Contact Sport Athletes
CTE, unlike other many other diseases and disorders of the human body, has one cause in athletes who participate in contact sports; the sole cause of CTE is a history of repetitive
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The researchers investigated the age of onset of the initial symptoms, what these symptoms were, cognitive and behavioral changes, the number of concussions the players sustained during their career, and the family history of the players. From this data, the researchers were able to diagnose all six players after death. Essentially, they found that only three of the players could be diagnosed with CTE. These results confirm the fact that a history of traumatic hits to the head does not necessarily equate to a contact sport athlete being diagnosed with …show more content…
Banks and her associates (2014) aimed to determine if there was a relationship between multiple hits to the head received by boxers/MMA fighters and the behavioral symptom of impulsiveness, which is a common one displayed by athletes who have been diagnosed with CTE. The authors hypothesized that the more fights a boxer and MMA fighter are involved in, the more likely they are to get in the head repeatedly and therefore, are more likely to show an increased display of the clinical symptom of impulsiveness. From the self-report measures used, the researchers determined that MMA fighters claimed to be more impulsive than boxers. This study could provide insight on how different forms of fighting result in different severities of clinical symptoms of CTE displayed by