New CTE Study Shows Playing Football Younger Can Cause Earlier Emotional, Cognitive Issues

A new study on degenerative brain disease CTE has revealed that men with the condition who began playing football at younger ages were more likely to develop cognitive and emotional issues than their counterparts who started playing the sport at older ages.

New CTE Study On Consequences Of Tackle Football

The study, reported by CNN on Monday, was conducted by researchers from Boston University’s School of Medicine and VA Boston Healthcare System. The experts analyzed almost 250 football players, 211 of whom were found to have CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) after they died. Several studies have shown that repeated blows to the head from tackling causes CTE and other forms of brain trauma. Late New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez was revealed after his death in April 2017 to have had a severe form of CTE.

Along with scientists, several former NFL players have warned of the dangers associated with CTE. Some former football stars — and athletes from other contact sports like boxing where head injuries and concussions are also frequent — have even donated their brains for research on the disease, which has been compared to Alzheimer’s due to the effects it has on memory and other cognitive skills. The only way to currently determine whether or not someone had CTE is during an autopsy.

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Among the most shocking of the latest study’s findings is that among former players who had CTE, for each year younger a given person began playing tackle football, that particular person began developing mood and behavioral issues two and half years earlier and cognitive issues 2.4 years earlier. This implies these types of players who started participating in the sport younger suffered problems with memory and organizational abilities a younger ages, on top of experiencing emotional issues like depression. The study also shows that children who start playing tackle football before the age of 12 are not much more greatly hurt by CTE, although the recovery rate from the disease is slower at that age.

“What this study found was that playing tackle football lowers your resilience by about 13 years, and that is pretty profound, because that is a big difference,” said Dr. Ann McKee, head of neuropathology at Boston VA Healthcare System and director of Boston University’s CTE Center. McKee co-wrote the study.

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According to recent polls, an increasing percentage of Americans think it is unsafe for children to play tackle football before high school. Some former NFL stars have said that kids under the age of 13 should not be allowed to play tackle football.

However, researchers have not determined or agreed on what the most appropriate age is for a child to begin playing tackle football.