What Is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy – and What Should Athletes Know?

My question is a bit different. I'm 6'6" tall and yes I played foot ball. 2 years at the big 8 level. However I also have daily impacts because of my height. I crash into the slides on my RV, every cupboard door, light fixtures, door ways, car door jams, you name it I hit it.

I went on to become a successful engineer. However by my early 50's the symptoms your are showing mark both myself and my middle brother, also 6'6" tall and did not play formal football. I retired because of diminishing capability. As kids we played everyday in the yard, no pads or helmets, but we didn't bruise each other like in organized sports

Do you think CTE occurs in very tall people. For a quick test check the top of the head of a tall bald person. While those of us with hair cover our scars they cannot. You can see the severe number of blows, and does the energy distribution of a foot ball helmet increase of decrease the events that lead to CTE?

What do you think. I cannot concentrate, even technical journals are not very hard to read and understand.

How do I tell the difference between CTE and general deterioration of my mental capabilities due to age.

I am 59 years of age, retired in my mid 50's, not by choice. I an very glad to have something that explains my distinct change not only in mental capability but the sudden rage that just comes over us. For a bit, no reason and then gone,

Sorry for so many questions but I think I may have some answers,

Thank you all, and god bless your lives. I am so sorry to hear that this is happening to anyone. I recently have been doing a large research project on the subject and am so sorry to find that it truly is this severe. Also this site has good information on the subject

I was involved in all types of sports from an early age and incurred many injuries as a result.  Among them were a couple of skull fractures and numerous concussions.  I recently turned 60 and have noticed changes that might signal CTE - mainly short-term memory loss, inability to sleep through the night and mood swings/depression.  I'm almost afraid to be examined for this as I'm not sure that I want to know the truth.  Has anyone else experienced what I've described and is there any effective treatment available?

I have been ready to fire an employee for about two weeks now, for some outrageous behavior in the office and in the field. I found myself thinking, "how did she get so far in life, if she's always been this disorganized, angry, rude and flustered? How could any one make it to 60 years old and be so obnoxious?" As a retired nurse, I knew something wasn't quite right. My employee, who has some very valuable skills, neglected to tell me about a serious head injury some years back. Now, on Monday, I'm going to talk with her, and see if this situation can't be salvaged. Thanks for a great site and message board. And thanks for reminding me of how difficult it is for some with CTE. Another sad scenario averted!

I'm a 27 year old male who recently had to drop out of a flight school due to a concussion in which I lost consciousness.  Less than 6 months before that I was elbowed directly in the temple playing basketball.  Before these recent occurrences I played basketball aggressively for years and also suffered shots to the head from older siblings in early life quite frequently.  I am having a hard time remembering things with my new studies.  I also have a hard time with my energy levels probably from depression.  I just watched the documentary   on CTE on PBS and now I am quite scared.  Since there is no way of truly knowing if someone has this until postmortem, how can I get help with this?

I was a victim of domestic abuse and my ex husband was a golden gloves boxer when he was younger, it didn\'t take him long to figure out that if he hit me in the head no one could see the damage. This went on for years even after I divorced him until the stalking laws were passed here in Iowa. I always had migraines but they are becoming more often and intense and I am noticing short term and long term memory loss where I used to be very good like, spelling, putting things places, telling people things, and I am also dealing with anger issues with others which I thought I had come to terms with along time ago. All of this is very scary to me and very different from who I used to be. Could this be CTE? I am going to see my primary doctor on Friday and am going to ask her about it. Right now she knows nothing of this part of my past. I tried to keep it a secret from everyone but now I need to let it out to help myself.

I\'ve had multiple concussions from early in life. In my late teens I started getting the head aches then later the mood swings. In my thirties I started getting horrible nightmares. The type that start right back up the moment you fall back asleep.If you can call it sleep. I found that if I smoked or ate cannabis the nightmares wouldn\'t occur. I also don\'t get migraines nearly as much anymore. The cannabis won\'t get rid of your migraine if you already have one, almost makes it worse. Since I already have serious short term memory loss, why not

I had 5 head injuries before my 17th birth day. 2 where I was hit by a car, 2 were bmx/freestyle accidents (no helmet) 1 was slip and fall on the kitchen floor. All resulted in loss of consciousness except the kitchen. The 2 BMX accidents resulted in me waking up in the ambulance with no recollection of what just happened. I fear these early injuries may have caused damage that has progressed to my forty\'s now. Some people think Im bipolar because I go from happy to emotional in the snap of the fingers. I also drink alot. Any thoughts? Should I contact a University who does these studies? Who?

I have had 2 major head injuries and a near drowning from 2 horrific auto crashes. The 1st I was a sleeping passenger and the driver fell asleep at the wheel and went through a commercial wharf. I was knock unconscious from hitting the dash board, ( no seat Belts in those days), I went from sleeping to unconscious and work up briefly and had to kick the back glass to escape from under water. The second happened 7 years later my father and I were run over by a drunk drive while jump starting my dads truck ..My father was killed instantly and I was in ICU for 4 days in a coma with another major head injury. The Trauma doctor who was an X MASH Army doctor from the Korean War..told me after the second head injury that he had a theory..he said I should tax my brain as much as possible to create new connections to stave off dementia and alzheimer's in my later years.. His Hypothesis proved to be correct...I began teaching myself how to play different musical instruments and I taught my self how to compose write and arrange music..how to record multiple tracks edit and mix in a digital format..very complicated when you are playing all of the tracks..I recorded some 30 songs 17 are ready for mastering. My next endeavor will be to write a novel..Taxing ones brain has worked for me.. I was loosing ground a few years after the accident but as the years went by and I used the Doctor's Hypothesis I began to see my mental abilities return..It doesn't work however for social interaction..just processing logic..which now I am very good at.

I am getting concerned. I have had 83 fights as a boxer and now 10+ years later...migrains, anger, depression, thoughts to hurt others when they cross me, got into heavy gambling and drinking, short term memory lacking... I am in communication for case studies at Boston College

I'm a 34 year old female and firmly believe that I have CTE. Also a victim of domestic violence and two time car accident survivor. All injuries focused on the head still my MRIs show normal. In the last car accident I couldn't remember how to get home and walked around wetting my pants this lasted six months I was in my late twenties at this time. I sank into a deep depression and began acting out of character became out of touch with reality with day to day memory loss. Now I'm on medication Abilify and Paxil. This has helped greatly however still not who I used to be. Not sure if any other advice also hope this helps others. Audrey