Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (Cte) As A Brain Disease. Its Effect On People'S Health

Aaron Hernandez was a professional football player who played for the New England Patriots as a tight end. Only ten months after his contract with the Patriots was signed, Hernandez was convicted of murder. Shortly after, he was convicted of two other murders. After only a short period of time in prison, Hernandez hanged himself in his cell. Hernandez’s brain was then sent out to be tested. Scientists finally got the opportunity to study the brain of a young athlete that has played a contact sport his whole life. After studying the brain, the results came out showing that Hernandez had chronic traumatic encephalopathy or also known as C.T.E.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disease that causes the brain to deteriorate. If the brain is malfunctioning it can get in the way of neurons functioning. Hernandez’s case was supposedly the most severe case seen in someone so young. Hernandez was only 27 years old. Along with Hernandez, many professional football players’ brains had been shown to have had C.T.E. Many today come to accept that contact sports that often involve concussions lead to C.T.E. This is a very significant finding because C.T.E is a disease that many times involves issues with controlling temper and mood, dementia, and judgment problems.

With these findings, it is very likely that more restrictions will be put on contact sports. There is also the possibility of banning sports such as football or boxing that have extremely high levels of brain injury involved with them. Many parents may take their kids out of contact sports due to these findings and “America’s Pastime” may decline dramatically. The other possibility of this study is that scientists can do more research on C.T.E, and find ways to prevent or cure it or its effects. With all this information that scientists have now discovered, it is now important to create products and equipment to help prevent these brain injuries from occurring.

Now, here is where the marketing comes in. We live in a society today where new products are being created by the day. However, we can’t seem to figure out new designs for helmets and equipment to protect athletes. In addition, there is a time concern. Scientist can run all the tests on new helmets and say it does aid in preventing concussions. However, there will be no real-world data until that athlete is older. C.T.E is a very serious disease, and unfortunately, it effects the one place that we know very little about, and that’s the brain. How far does this disease effect what we do, what we think, and what we say?

There is still so much more about C.T.E that needs to be studied to help protect these athletes. Once we can learn more about the brain and C.T.E we will be able to determine ways to prevent this injury. In addition, some parents are not letting their kids play contact sports because of the risk of concussions. Not only does this limit the number of kids playing in the little league but it will influence the number of athletes entering professional sports. Furthermore, the lower the number of kids playing, will reduce the talent at the professional level. Therefore, the NFL and any other contact sport organization need to act now. These organizations need to provide athletes with new technology and padding in their helmets to reduce the impact and long-term effect of concussions.

Another way of reducing the chances of concussions is the way the opponent hit. According to the 2018 Rule Changes and Point of Emphasis, each year the National Football League reviews plays and consults medical professionals, the players, and referees to determine ways to make the game better and safer from unnecessary risk. Just this year, they put an emphasis on runners who give themselves up and to protect the quarterback immediately after the ball is thrown. A new rule on the use of the helmet was adapted, making it a foul to lower to your head to initiate and make contact with your helmet against an opponent. Leagues needs to act now. There must be change brought to contact sports to help reduce C.T.E and its effects. Without efforts to reduce these diseases, parents will not allow their child to play.

Work Cited:

Press, A. (2017, November 09). Researcher: Aaron Hernandez’s brain was severely impacted by CTE. Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21352644/researcher-says-aaron-hernandez-brain-was-severely-impacted