MONDAY, Sept. 23, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- One in three former NFL players believe they have football-related brain damage that’s doing untold harm to their lives, a new study finds. Unfortunately, their fears might be harming their mental health on top of whatever risks they face from head injuries sustained during their careers, researchers report.
About one-third of nearly 2,000 retired NFL players believe they have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain condition linked to repeated head trauma, researchers reported Sept. 23 in the journal JAMA Neurology . Players who suspect they have CTE reported significantly more problems with brain function, low testosterone, depression and chronic pain than those who don’t think they have the condition, researchers found.
In addition, about 25% of players who believe they have CTE also reported suicidal thoughts or behaviors, compared with about 5% of those who don’t think they have CTE, results showed. NFL retirees who believe they have CTE are twice as likely to report frequent thoughts of suicide, even after accounting for symptoms of depression, researchers said. These symptoms are potentially related to the dread faced by NFL retirees who are certain they have CTE and expect a long and excruciating decline in their mental function, researchers said.
Incurable brain diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease also have been associated with elevated suicide rates. “As complex.
