Researchers found that one in three former American football players believe they have CTE, significantly increasing their risk of suicidality and mental health challenges—highlighting the urgent need for targeted support and further study. Study: Perceived Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and Suicidality in Former Professional Football Players . Image Credit: Master1305 / Shutterstock In a cross-sectional study published in the journal JAMA Neurology , researchers in the United States of America investigated the proportion, clinical correlates, and suicidality of living former professional players of American-style football (ASF) with self-reported chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
They found that 34% of the players reported what they believed to be CTE, and this was significantly associated with various health problems, including a higher rate of suicidality compared to those without perceived CTE. Background CTE neuropathological change (CTE-NC), identified posthumously by phosphorylated tau aggregates in the brain, is commonly found in deceased former ASF players. However, in living individuals, only "perceived CTE" is reported, influenced by symptoms and external factors such as media coverage.
There is no diagnostic test for CTE-NC in living individuals, and its link to premortem neuropsychiatric issues remains unclear. CTE, with no specific treatment, affects around 30% of individuals with multiple head injuries, and was first studied in the 1920s as "punch dru.