What CTE Does To The Brain

We know what CTE is how it is caused and its affects on a player's everyday life. But what damage does it cause to the brain that causes these symptoms to happen anyways. According to Neuropathologist Dr. Ann McKee, there are four stages of the CTE disease and how it affects the brain. During the first stage, a brown colored protein is formed called tau. It forms around the blood vessels in the brain and affects how the brain functions while damaging nerve cells. Tau is usually spotted near the frontal lube or the "crown" of the head. In stage two, as the tau continues to damage the nerve cells, symptoms of CTE will begin to appear. These symptoms included rage, impulsivity, and depression as mentioned before. In stage three, the tau begins to expand from the top of the brain to the sides of the brain and will affect the amygdala and hippocampus, which impairs emotion and memory. Once we have hit stage four, the tau has overwhelmed the brain by killing many additional brain cells and shrinking it to almost half its original size. The brain is now deformed and a lot of its original functions have now been impaired by the damage of the disease. What makes the situation with CTE even more unfortunate for these players is that there is currently no formal clinical guidelines for diagnosing and managing CTE while the player is still living. A definitive diagnosis can only be made after death. However, scientists are continuing to find ways on how to diagnose this disease during life. There is currently no cure or specific treatment for the disease either. Those with potential signs of CTE may benefit from some of the same types of care provided for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. Researchers strongly suspect that CTE is most likely to occur following a large number of traumatic brain injuries, even without loss of consciousness, a small number of more severe traumatic brain injuries, or some other pattern of head trauma. People may not experience potential signs of CTE until years or decades after brain injuries occur. CTE is an issue that many scientists and researchers have been trying to find new ways on how to diagnose the illness while the victim is still alive while the NFL and the sport of football continues to try and undermine the issue.

http://www.alz.org/dementia/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy-cte-symptoms.asp

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-four-stages-of-cte/