Hit Parade: The Future of the Sports Concussion Crisis

While concussions have long been linked to brain and central nervous system issues, a new study suggests that repeated hits to the head—mild or otherwise—can lead to memory loss, depression, and dementia. This postmortem brain study, conducted at the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, provides new and troubling evidence about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a long-term degenerative and incurable brain disease. Although military personnel and others are vulnerable to the disease, the highest risk is among athletes involved in contact sports in which hits to the head are considered “part of the game.”