What to know about CTE and youth sports

BRAIN, PLEASE. I’M SORRY. JOINING US NOW IS DOCTOR SCOTT HADLAND, CHIEF OF ADOLESCENT MEDICINE AT MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM FOR CHILDREN. DOCTOR, THANKS FOR COMING IN. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. ALWAYS GOOD TO SEE YOU, DOCTOR HADLAND. SO WE TYPICALLY ASSOCIATE CTE WITH MAYBE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS, PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYERS. THIS MAN ONLY PLAYED IN HIGH SCHOOL. SO DOES THIS SURPRISE YOU? YEAH, IT SURPRISES ME AND CONCERNS ME. RIGHT? I THINK WE DON’T KNOW HOW COMMON CTE IS. SO CTE STANDS FOR CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY. THE IDEA BEING THAT OVER TIME WHEN SOMEBODY PLAYS CONTACT SPORTS, USUALLY FOOTBALL OR BOXING OR HOCKEY, BUT CAN ALSO HAPPEN WITH SOCCER IF YOU’RE HITTING THE BALL WITH YOUR HEAD THAT OVER TIME, THIS SORT OF REPEATED DAMAGE TO THE BRAIN BUILDS UP AND CAN CAUSE SOME BEHAVIOR CHANGES. AND WHAT’S REALLY CONCERNING IS WE DON’T KNOW HOW COMMON THIS IS BECAUSE UNFORTUNATELY, THIS IS A RELATIVELY NEW UNDERSTANDING AND MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS FOR US. AND CURRENTLY THE ONLY WAY TO DIAGNOSE CTE IS AFTER SOMEBODY HAS HAS DIED TO HAVE THEIR BRAIN EXAMINED. SO I THINK KIND OF THE RED FLAG FOR A LOT OF PARENTS IN CONNECTION WITH CTE WAS CONCUSSIONS. DOES THIS MAYBE INDICATE THAT IT’S DRIVEN BY EVEN LESS THAN THAT? IT DOESN’T NECESSARILY TAKE A CONCUSSION? WELL, I THINK THAT’S EXACTLY IT. SO WE TEND TO THINK OF CONCUSSIONS AS THE BIG BAD THING THAT YOU REALLY WANT TO AVOID. BUT CTE SEEMS TO HAPPEN EVEN IN PEOPLE WHO DON’T HAVE A CONCUSSION. SO IT DOESN’T TAKE A REALLY BIG BLOW TO THE HEAD WITH A LOT OF AFTER EFFECTS TO POTENTIALLY BUILD UP THIS DAMAGE OVER TIME. OKAY, SO WE’RE TALKING TO YOU ON FRIDAY NIGHT, RIGHT? OF COURSE. LOTS OF GAMES REALLY ACROSS THE COUNTRY. DO YOU WORRY THE GAME MAY BE TOO DANGEROUS THE WAY IT IS NOW FOR YOUNG PEOPLE? WELL, HERE’S THE THING. YOU KNOW, THESE SPORTS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME. WE KNOW THAT THEY BRING KIDS AND TEENS AND FAMILIES A LOT OF JOY THAT THEY’RE REALLY CRITICAL AND INTEGRAL PART OF PEOPLE GROWING UP. AND SO I CERTAINLY WOULDN’T RECOMMEND AGAINST PLAYING SPORTS, WHICH WE KNOW IS JUST SO IMPORTANT. AND YET, ON THE OTHER HAND, WE’RE COMING TO UNDERSTAND OVER TIME THAT PEOPLE WHO PLAY THESE SPORTS CAN HAVE THIS DAMAGE. AND I THINK THIS CASE IS PARTICULARLY ALARMING BECAUSE IT HAPPENED IN SOMEBODY WHO ONLY PLAYED HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS. SO I THINK WHAT I WOULD SAY TO PARENTS IS THIS THERE ARE SOME RISK FACTORS FOR CTE. AND THERE THE FOLLOWING. WHEN YOUR CHILD STARTS PLAYING CONTACT SPORTS AT A YOUNG AGE, IF THEY PLAY FOR MANY YEARS AND IF THEY HAVE A LOT OF HARD HITS, ESPECIALLY IF THEY’RE HAVING LOTS OF CONCUSSIONS, THOSE ARE ALL GOING TO BE RISK FACTORS FOR THEM POTENTIALLY DEVELOPING CTE OVER TIME. AND SO AS A FAMILY, YOU MIGHT TAKE A STEP BACK AND SAY, LOOK, YOU KNOW, I DON’T THINK MY CHILD IS DESTINED FOR THE NFL. THEY’VE BEEN PLAYING FOR MANY YEARS AND THEY’VE HAD SOME BAD HITS. MAYBE THIS IS THE YEAR IN WHICH, YOU KNOW, WE KIND OF DECIDE TO CALL IT QUITS AND SWITCH TO A DIFFERENT SPORT. BUT AS ALWAYS, TALK TO YOUR PEDIATRICIAN. WE KNOW MAKING THAT DECISION CAN BE CHALL