Hynes Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers is hit by Courtland Finnegan of the Tennessee Titans
AP Photo/John Russell/Alamy
In November 2022, a young woman named Heather Anderson committed suicide at an army barracks in Perth, Australia. Anderson is a former Australian Rules footballer who had battled depression. Her family donated her brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank and she confirmed what everyone suspected. Ms. Anderson suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease associated with repeated blows to her head. She was the first female professional athlete to be diagnosed with the disease. She won't be the last.
Strange as it may seem, it took us almost a century to understand what a blow to the head actually means. Most people are familiar with concussions, but we now know that even mild head impacts can cause long-term problems. “It's misleading to think that less physical force on the head means less impact,” says Alison Reese of New York University.
These effects mainly affect professional athletes, some of whom are living under the shadow of CTE. We have recently seen many of them take legal action against governing bodies. But athletes aren't the only ones at risk. Even a single blow to the head can put you at risk for future cognitive problems.
Thankfully, next to it…
Source: www.newscientist.com
