Throughout generations, many people died of unexpected deaths with no explanation as to what caused their deaths. Over the years, researchers have studied that there are various diseases that might have explained how these people died. The question is what are these diseases? What do they do to one’s body? ALS and CTE’s are two of the most well known diseases that somehow caused these unexpected deaths. ALS and CTE’s are horrific diseases that causes the whole body to shut down except for the brain. For example, if a person has either one of these diseases, they are unable to pick up a spoon, tie a shoe, chew gum, or even lift a finger. However, their minds remain intact, meaning they still know what is going on in their surroundings. ALS and …show more content…
CTE stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Along with ALS, CTE is formed when the motor neurons are no longer able to communicate with each other which is caused by an individual receiving a blow to the head or head trauma. However, there are some differences between ALS and CTE that distinguishes them as two different diseases. CTE is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain with a history of repetitive head trauma along with concussions. When someone develops CTE, there will be a few symptoms causing the person to change their behavior. These symptoms include: memory loss, confusion, aggression, erratic behavior, impaired judgement, and possibly progressive dementia. CTE is sometimes mistaken with Alzheimer's, however CTE is more common for athletes. Like ALS, CTE is developed when someone receives a head trauma. However, CTE also forms from receiving a repetitive amount of concussions and blows on the body. Since most athletes are involved in sports that involves physical impact, they are more vulnerable and their chances of getting this disease is higher than most average …show more content…
ALS and CTE are both caused when an individual receives a concussion or head trauma and will eventually develop one of the two. Although both diseases share similar symptoms, they affect men and women in different manners. For example, women are known to be physically weaker than men which makes them more fragile if they ever faced one of the diseases. When women receive whichever disease, the symptoms will be more evident and aggressive in various ways. Women have hormones they grow into during the process of puberty and as a result, their bodies will be overwhelmed with the disease along with their hormones and their monthly issues. However, women are usually less likely going to develop the diseases than men. Men are physically stronger than women and have a higher chance of developing the diseases considering that most men play in sports such as football or soccer. Both of these sports will have an athlete receiving a concussion or more and will cause head trauma leading to the development of ALS or CTE. Studies have shown that ALS is 20% more common in men than women and the same goes for CTE. Although there aren't tests that will be able to support this fact, records of diagnosis in the brain or body between men and women receiving either ALS/CTE shows that men has a higher chance of developing these
A big part of the NFL’s hold on players is their contracts and money. Thousands of young men aspire to be on a professional team, just for the fame, money and title. They are not made aware of the lasting conditions that come with playing football and their everlasting effects. If anything, the NFL has gone out of their way to discredit the newer research that links playing football with CTE. CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is a disease that has the same effects as dementia and Alzheimer’s, except that CTE leaves tau protein deposition in distinctive areas of the brain, which is what separates CTE from dementia and Alzheimer’s....
CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE is a progressive neuro- degenerative disease which had not been found in football players until recently. It was stated in the episode, “Repetitive brain trauma starts this cascade of events in the brain that changes the way tau [protein] looks and behaves. It goes awry, it starts destroying the integrity of the brain cells.” Doctor Omalu’s discovery was the first hard evidence which proved playing football could cause permanent damage. This finding was not well received by the NFL and Omalu was met with attacks by the MTBI committee and the NFL as a whole.
Tay-Sachs disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that is known to be genetically inherited. Both children and adults may suffer from this neurological disease, but it is most common in children (Percy, 1999). This disease causes abnormal brain development in individuals who are affected by this disease. This disease is known to get progressively worse, and unfortunately leads to death. Due to the rapid progression of this disease, the life expectancy is no more than five-six years of age due to complications related to the disorder (Percy, 1999).
Gladwell provides research conducted by Anne McKee a neuropathologist who is involved in the detection of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E) on football players which was caused by head trauma. Using the research of McKee who is deeply involved with C.T.E allows the reader to better understand C.T.E. First we are presented on how by autopsying a brain of a person who had received a diagnosis of dementia. McKee discovered that this patient was a boxer in his early days and due to many hits in the head he developed C.T.E. Unfortunately, this person was diagnosed with dementia but ultimately he had C.T. E “which is a progressive neurological disorder found in people who have suffered some kind of brain trauma”. (Offensive Play). We are also presented with a research done by Kevin Guskiewicz director of the University of North Carolina’s Sports Concussion Research Program. Guskiewicz carefully monitors North Carolina’s football team with sensors on the player’s football helmets. These sensors allow Guskiewicz to measure the force of the impacts the players receive while playing football. Guskiewicz compared the hits to the head a payer receives to a car accident: “if you drove your car into a wall at twenty-five miles per hour and you weren’t wearing your seat belt, the force of your head hitting the
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a degenerative disease of the brain linked to symptoms of dementia and depression. Some other symptoms of CTE include: amnesia, aggression...
ALS is a degeneration of motor neurons that move from the brain and down the
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease attributed to single, sporadic, or repetitive brain trauma, including concussions and subconcussive hits (Baugh et al., 2012; Wortzel et al., 2013). This disease was originally referred to as dementia pugilistica, and nicknamed “punch drunk,” because individuals suffering from this disorder would present symptoms that were similar to someone’s mannerisms while being intoxicated (Wortzel et al., 2013). This “drunken” behavior is thought to be attributed to the cognitive, mood, and behavioral alterations as a result of the repetitive hits to the brain over an extended period of time. Because individuals suffering from this disease are often exposed to conditions that allow them to sustain blows to the head multiple times, the populations most often examined in these studies are athletes (football, boxing, rugby) and/or individuals in the military (McKee et al., 2009). Individuals can be symptom free for several years (Baugh et al., 2012). The onset of symptoms are sometimes seen about eight to ten years after an individual retires from their sport, which roughly equates to someone aged thirty to fifty yeas old (Baugh et al., 2012; Wortzel et al., 2013; Karantzoulis and Randolph, 2013). As with all diseases, symptoms can range from mild to severe. Researchers have found a positive correlation between the number of brain injuries sustained during a length of time playing a sport and the severity of symptoms (McKee et al., 2009).
As CTE progresses, it can cause memory loss, impulsive and erratic behavior, difficulty with balance, impaired judgment, and behavioral disturbances including aggression, depression, and increased suicidality. Ultimately, CTE progresses to the onset of dementia. A similar accumulation of tau protein is also seen in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. CTE symptoms can manifest months or years after brain trauma, and a definitive diagnosis of CTE can only be made after death by analyzing brain tissue at autopsy. The CDC estimates that up to 3.8 million concussions occur each year, with up to ten percent of high school athletes suffering from post-concussion syndrome.
That being said this is the most prominent disorder within athletes, the disease has no symptoms which is why is becoming such a prominent disease among athletes such as NFL players. Recent research has suggested several mechanisms for brain injury in the setting of repeated trauma. Neurofibrillary tangles in CTE have a characteristic perivascular distribution, grouped around small intracortical vessels (Mckee 1999). This finding suggests that trauma may damage the blood-brain barrier, releasing neurotoxins that promote the formation of neurofibrillary tangles around blood vessels. In a
Medical history has been filled with an array of diseases and illnesses, ranging from the common cold to deadly killers. Some are easily treatable and others can be terminal, but some of the worst are those that still remain without a cure; one such disease is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Imagine if you loss control of your body but your mind stayed unaffected. You would be a prisoner in your own body, all leading up to your death sentence. That is the sad fate for the people diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). “Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder was first described by Ran in 1850. This description was then expanded in 1873 by Charcot, who emphasized the involvement of the corticospinal tracts. In the United States, ALS is often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, after the famous ball player who was stricken by the disease in the midst of his career. (Yale School of Medicine, 2014)” In this paper will go through the definition, the process, the signs, the risk factors, etiology, and discus the known people that have suffered with this terminal disease.
Football is a dangerous sport, in fact, retired NFL players are 19 time more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease of any other similar memory loss diseases, found by a recent study by the university of Michigan. CTE a disease that Acura as a result of constant head injuries and contact, and has been growing rapidly in the NFL. The NFL has been denied giving the many claims that CTE has a direct connection with professional football, until recently. The NFL has been taken to court multiple times over the topic of CTE. Although the National Football League is preparing to settle a class-action lawsuit with players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the League should do more for players because not only has it profited from
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ASL), Lou Gehrig’s disease, a brutal, unforgiving illness of the neurological system with no known cure.
What’s the difference between the deaf and the hearing? There is only one thing that separates the two, the ability to hear. In the Movie see what I’m saying four talented deaf individuals try everything they can to increase the fame and deaf awareness.
CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disease of the brain most commonly noticed in athletes with repetitive head trauma. This trauma triggers progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, also the build up of a protein called Tau. Tau buildup causes an overuse in enzymes and damages the part of the brain that controls memory and learning. Athletes in sports such as soccer, may not realize the damage repeated impacts to the head can actually have because it seems so innocent. Therefore, the causatum of these impacts will be much more drastic. There are 4 different types of CTE that are associated with this type of brain trauma; Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Dementia, and Huntington's Disease. Alzheimer's and Dementia have more similar symptoms like, erratic behavior, cognitive decline, also mood and behavior changes. Although they are similar, Alzheimer’s is generally fatal and has a more drastic effect on the patient’s memory and mental decline whereas Dementia is not always incurable. Parkinson’s and Huntington's diseases also have similar symptoms such as; tremors and spasms as well as speech impairments muscle weakness and changes in behavior. In the past, CTE was only diagnosable through diseased patients, but research shows some cases being diagnosed in living subjects by using brain scans to search for the tau