Amateur contact sports ‘increase risk of degenerative disorder CTE’

A new US study has highlighted a link between playing contact sports at an amateur level and an elevated risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

The team examined the clinical records of 1,721 cases in the Mayo Clinic Brain Bank, identifying 66 males who had documented participation in contact sports during their youth and young adult years.

Of these, 32 percent had evidence of a brain pathology consistent with CTE, a degenerative disorder that can affect mood, behaviour and cognition as it grows more severe, when the researchers examined their brain tissue.

In comparison, none of the 198 brains of individuals without documentation of participation in contact sports, including 66 women, had CTE pathology. Researchers were also able to identify two genetic markers that seemed to possibly modify risk of developing CTE.

Study leader Kevin Bieniek, a predoctoral student in Mayo Graduate School's Neurobiology of Disease programme, said: "Through CTE awareness, greater emphasis will be placed on making contact sports safer, with better protective equipment and fewer head-to-head contacts."

However, he added that this should not discourage children and adults from participating in sports, due to the mental and physical health benefits these activities can offer.