Hallelujah!
Finally, the NFL, yes THE NFL, has admitted that there is a link between football and chronic brain injuries specifically CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy).
Careful, you might be hit by a flying pig, or trampled by the horsemen of the apocalypse. I guess that Hell has indeed frozen over, and I can hold my breath again.
To make all the lawyers in the world happy, admitting that there is a link is not exactly admitting that there is a cause and effect relationship. However this is the first time the NFL has gone on record admitting even a link so it is a huge step in the right direction.
There is still a lot of research that needs to be completed. We are still trying to diagnose CTE in living patients, not just in deceased patient. We are working out the specifics of how and how much injury is the threshold, and how to prevent both short term and long term effects of sporting relating injuries.
This doesn’t really change anything in the medical world, This announcement, and other high profile announcements such as Brandi Chastain’s commitment to donate her brain to science help keep this all to common injury in the spotlight.
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