In the News
‘Recipe for CTE’: Contact sports on collision course with concussion crisis
Chris Nowinski is a neuroscientist specialising in concussion, and the world’s leading advocate on the dangers of repetitive hits to the head in sports. The 44-year-old has just returned to Florida from Sydney where he launched his Stop Hitting Kids in the Head campaign, which seeks to exclude children under 14 from playing contact sport.
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James Graham: Former Great Britain and England international on advocating for concussion awareness
James Graham suffered over 100 concussions during his 17-year playing career in Super League and the NRL; since retiring, the 37-year-old has become heavily involved in advocating for greater awareness around the dangers of head injuries and help for former players.
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International experts warn of coming CTE crisis: “It’s time to act Australia, we must prevent future cases and support families impacted.”
Leading international concussion and CTE researchers are warning Australians today of an impending chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) crisis and urging parents, coaches, and sports organizations to take the effects of repetitive head trauma seriously. Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) co-founder and CEO Dr. Chris Nowinski will announce the launch of the newest international chapter of the organization, CLF Australia, tonight in Melbourne alongside families of those impacted, and former professional athletes who are pushing for change.
Read the full press release here.
International experts call for global youth sports reform to eliminate repetitive head impacts to prevent CTE
International experts in brain trauma research are calling for all global sports to eliminate repetitive head impacts under the age of 14 to prevent the neurodegenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and protect children from the worst outcomes of concussions. Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) co-founder and CEO Dr. Chris Nowinski will announce the Stop Hitting Kids in the Head campaign tonight during the CLF Australia launch event in Sydney alongside families of those impacted, and former professional athletes who are pushing to make sports safer.
Read the full press release here.
‘He was just a baby’: CTE robbed footy player of his brain and then his life
“There was a significant burden of tau in his brain, which is strikingly abnormal,” says Michael Buckland, the executive director of the Australian Sports Brain Bank and the neuropathologist who examined Macpherson’s brain. “He had half a dozen CTE lesions in the blocks we looked at, but in pretty much every block we looked at from his frontal cortex there was a bit of tau. That isn’t a CTE lesion as it’s defined, but I would expect, if I studied the frontal cortex of a normal 33-year-old male, I would find nothing.”
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Concussion and CTE: sport guidelines “manifestly inadequate”
Current Australian concussion guidelines being used by professional and amateur sporting codes around the country are “manifestly inadequate” when it comes to the prevention of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), say experts.
Associate Professor Michael Buckland, a neuropathologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) and the University of Sydney, told InSight+ that he began looking for CTE cases in Australia after seeing literature from the US.
Read the full article here.
MJA Podcasts 2022 Episode 7: Concussion and CTE, with Associate Professor Michael Buckland
Vol 216, Issue 4: 28 February 2022. Associate Professor Michael Buckland is a neuropathologist at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, and one of the founders of the Australian Sports Brain Bank. He talks about findings from the first 3 years of the ASBB, to accompany his coauthored open access research letter, published in the MJA. With MJA news and online editor, Cate Swannell.
Listen to the full episode here.
Concussion in sport: conflicts of interest drive scandal
Although CTE was first described in boxers, where it was initially called “punch drunk” or “dementia pugilistica”, in the past 20 years CTE has been identified in a wide range of professional and non-professional contact sportspeople, including ex-players of American football, hockey, football (soccer), rugby union, rugby league, and Australian rules football. CTE has also been identified in some non-sportspeople, almost all of whom had a history of repetitive head injury for other reasons, such as poorly controlled epilepsy or military service.
Why has our understanding of this particular field of medicine seemingly gone backwards over time, while almost all other fields have made positive progress in understanding and treating disease?
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Australian sport needs a complete re-think when it comes to concussions and CTE, researchers warn
While most people associate the devastating brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) with bad concussions in heavy contact sports such as the rugby codes and Aussie Rules, researchers from the Australian Sports Brain Bank say the problem can be minor bumps compounded over time.
This article features CLF Australia Ambassador and former Aussie Rules player, Lydia Pingel, and CLF Australia Board Members, Dr. Alan Pearce, Dr. Michael Buckland, and James Graham, former NRL player.
Read the full article here.
Danny Frawley's widow Anita makes urgent plea to AFL boss Gillon McLachlan
The widow of St Kilda legend Danny Frawley has urged the AFL to "get it done" and encourage players to donate their brains to research into the effects of concussion. Frawley, who died in 2019, was found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a post-mortem.
Speaking to Nine's Today, Anita Frawley pleaded with the AFL to get a move on, "Get involved with the Australian Sports Brain Bank, they're the best in the business.” Frawley was concussed approximately 20 times during his 240 games for the Saints. He played from 1984-1995, an era when it was considered a badge of honour to play on after being hit.
Watch the full segment here.