NFL Brain Disease Study Reveals Alarming Prevalence

A new study published in the British Medical Journal has found that as many as 97.7% of NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 could have had brain disease related to repeated blows to the head, with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) being a major concern.

Researchers examined the brains of 235 former NFL players who died during that period and found that 215 of them had CTE, a degenerative brain disease that can only be diagnosed after death.

• At least 24.5% of deceased NFL players had CTE, with a maximum estimated prevalence of 97.7%.
• CTE was found in 215 out of 235 brain donors, with dementia being a common condition among them.
• The study’s lead author, Daniel Daneshvar, emphasized that the findings indicate a higher prevalence of CTE among NFL players than previously shown.
• The NFL has been urged to take prevention measures to reduce repetitive head impacts across all levels of the sport.

Daniel Daneshvar’s Research Findings

Daneshvar, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, stated that “