Study: Repetitive sub concussive hits can lead to CTE
Scientists at BU say that repetitive hits that don’t meet the criteria of concussion can damage blood vessels, which can become leaky.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is the most troubling issue in combat sports. Precious little is understood about the causes. Can it be caused by a single massive knockout? By three? By ten? By 30? Or are a discrete number of knockouts not as relevant as a high number of sub-concussive blows?
Now Harvard trained physician Dr. Mallika Marshall reports for CBS Boston on a surprising new study out of Boston University about the cause of CTE.
Scientists studied mice models as well as the brains of four teenage athletes and found that repetitive hits to the head, even if they don’t cause symptoms of a concussion, can lead to significant brain damage over time.
Over recent years, the focus has been specifically on concussions, head injuries that lead to symptoms like headache, confusion dizziness, but scientists at BU say that repetitive hits that don’t meet the criteria of concussion can damage blood vessels.
Those blood vessels can become leaky which leads to the cascade of changes in the brain that cause CTE.
The changes in the brain can be seen even in the teenage years, so researchers say, as a society, we need to do what we can to limit head trauma, in general, especially to young people with brains that are still developing.