Professional sportspeople were today urged to play their role in making sport safer as a pioneering project was announced with the aim of preventing new cases of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) within five years and of finding a cure by 2040.
The internationally-renowned Concussion Legacy Foundation has now come to the UK, following 14 years of research and advocacy that has led to change in sport, and support of players, around the world. Its founder, Dr Chris Nowinski, was instrumental in forcing NFL to change its protocols around head injury through his 2006 book ‘Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis’.
And through the creation of the Concussion Legacy Project, a new brain bank in partnership with the Jeff Astle Foundation, it hopes to gather more vital research in this area to protect future generations of sportspeople.
England Rugby World Cup winner Steve Thompson MBE announced he had become the first donor to the Project.
And Dr Nowinski called on sportspeople to take the lead in making sport a safer place for themselves, their teammates and future generations, as he bids to eradicate CTE.
Research has shown CTE develops through repeated hits to the head over a period of time, which can begin in childhood in many instances.
“This is the time for professional sports men and women to step up and join the fight to change the game, reduce the risk of CTE, change your destiny,” he told a press conference.
“Make no mistake – some of you already have CTE and every header or tackle will be making it worse. You will have teammates who will have, or will develop, CTE.
“Step forward and make a positive difference. Take advantage of this opportunity before it’s too late. It is too late for heroes like Jeff Astle and Rod Taylor, but it’s not too late for our children.”
Dr Nowinski, who is an advocate of non-contact sport until at least the age of 14, reiterated his fears for children if action is not taken now.
“We should not be giving children a preventable brain disease before they are old enough to drive, vote, or take many decisions for themselves,” he said.
“We need to stop hitting children in the head, we are giving them a life-long brain disease. The only way we know to prevent CTE is to limit the exposure to head impact and we have to do that.”
Dr Adam White was announced as executive director of the newly-created Concussion Legacy Foundation UK.
“We’ve long known about the relationship between sport and CTE, but we urgently need to better understand how CTE affects athletes and veterans, as well as their families, at every stage of their life,” said Dr White.
“We have reason for hope. CTE usually begins in a person’s teens or twenties, which means we have a lifetime to treat patients, educate people and support their families.
“We want to stop all new cases of CTE in the next five years and have a cure by 2040.”
Appeals were also made for sportspeople to donate their brains to the Concussion Legacy Project, following the brave lead of Steve Thompson.
The project builds on the lead of the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank in Boston, which has created the world’s leading CTE research program. To date, more than 1,000 brains have been donated and 600 cases of CTE diagnosed, which comprises about 80 per cent of the world’s confirmed cases.
“I’m pledging my brain so the children of the people I love don’t have to go through what I have gone through,” said the former British Lion who was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 42.
“It’s up to my generation to pledge our brains so researchers can develop better treatments and ways to make the game safer.”
“Brain donation is the most valuable gift of all for future generations of footballers,” said Dawn Astle, daughter of Jeff Astle.
“It may be many years before this jigsaw is complete, but by adding each piece, one at a time, it is the only way we shall understand the true picture and so be able to make a better future for others.
“The Jeff Astle Foundation encourages families of athletes and veterans to donate the brain of their loved one to the Concussion Legacy Project.”
The Concussion Legacy Project will be led by Dr Gabriele DeLuca, associate professor in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, and director of clinical neurosciences undergraduate education at Oxford Medical School.
“Brain donation will allow us to better understand the complexities of CTE so that we can develop tailored interventions and treatments to prevent its devastating consequences,” said Dr DeLuca.
In the next phase of the collaboration, Dr. DeLuca will lead clinical research efforts aimed at learning how best to treat common CTE-related symptoms, including problems with thinking and memory, mood, and sleep.
Athletes and veterans can pledge to donate their brains to CTE research at PledgeMyBrain.org.
The Concussion Legacy Foundation UK has created a 24-hour brain donation hotline for families to call and coordinate brain donations. Family members of athletes and military service members who wish to donate their loved one’s brain can contact the Concussion Legacy Project at 07534 029 223 and UK@concussionfoundation.org.
