Latest news with #concussion
New York Times
8 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Neuroscientist named in gunman's letter reflects on CTE after decades of studying brain injuries
Chris Nowinski paused frequently. On Monday, 27-year-old Shane Tamura walked into a Manhattan high-rise that houses NFL headquarters and killed four people with an assault rifle. The next day, reports surfaced that Nowinski's name was in a letter found on Tamura, who claimed he was suffering from the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Advertisement New York Mayor Eric Adams said authorities 'have reason to believe (Tamura) was focused' on the NFL. Nowinski, who retired from World Wrestling Entertainment more than 20 years ago due to brain injuries, became a neuroscientist and eventually one of the world's most renowned figures in concussion and CTE research. Not long after, Nowinski's friend and WWE peer Chris Benoit killed his wife, son and then himself. Studies done by Nowinski's foundation after Benoit's death found significant brain damage that suggested the wrestler suffered from depression and CTE. CTE, which is most commonly found in athletes, particularly those who participate in contact sports such as wrestling or football, can only be definitively diagnosed after a person has died. However, Nowinski and his Concussion Legacy Foundation think they are close to being able to diagnose individuals while they are still alive. On Wednesday, a reflective Nowinski shared his thoughts with The Athletic about Monday's shooting, the stigmas surrounding brain injuries and what might happen with Tamura's brain. (Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and length.) What were your emotions upon hearing that your name was mentioned in the gunman's letter? Um … I'm still processing. Did Monday's news, and the news of your name being in the letter, make you reflect on the cases of Benoit and other previous tragedies? Yes, when I learned about the shooting and the CTE claim, I did think about Chris Benoit, Phillip Adams, Aaron Hernandez and other cases that people aren't aware of that involved homicide and often suicide. This is something we've seen before in people who have had CTE, but it's also been seen in a lot of people who don't. When it comes to violent crimes like these, how do you balance the impact of brain trauma with the impact of mental health illnesses? Where does one end and the other begin? No one would argue, in general, that having traumatic brain injuries can increase the odds of developing mental health disorders or increase the odds of abnormal behaviors. The question of the role of CTE as a brain disease, within that, especially in younger people, has a lot more unknowns than knowns. Advertisement I try to focus on what we can potentially learn from these situations so we can prevent the next tragedy. What are the dangers of CTE for younger athletes? Do concussions have a greater effect on young people? When the brain is still developing, suffering traumatic brain injuries or repetitive head impacts can change what that brain was supposed to become. There's no question around that. The nature of traumatic brain injuries is that they aren't the same in everybody. They injure specific parts of the brain, so we should never be surprised that people have different symptoms after brain injuries; it all depends on how your brain is wired and where the injuries occurred. Most people who suffered traumatic injuries, in the big picture, are fine and recover completely or almost completely. For other people, one brain injury changes who they are for the rest of their lives. Everybody who has CTE has gone through the process of getting repetitive traumatic brain injuries. So, in young people, is CTE simply because those repetitive traumatic brain injuries happened? Or is CTE also causing additional degeneration that is adding on top of the damage from the repetitive traumatic brain injuries? Do you fear stigma becoming attached to people who have experienced traumatic brain injuries and might be, in the eyes of the public, more likely to have CTE or become violent? We do have to be aware of the potential for stigma. On the other hand, we also have to be aware that the stories that we're hearing are only the tip of the iceberg. The problem for someone like me is that families confide in us the truth about what their loved one went through. Many of the stories they tell us so that we can learn about them as scientists, but they are never willing to tell them publicly because a lot of those loved ones are high-profile members of the community. We don't want everyone to think every ex-football player, including me, has the potential to do a terrible thing or is inevitably going to do a terrible thing. But we also have to balance that with the terrible things that are happening to these families. In your past 19 years of studying concussions, how far do you feel we've come in our understanding of CTE and how much further do you think we need to grow as a society? I think the most important advancement that has been made is finding that CTE is caused by repeated traumatic brain injuries, that there's not some mysterious other factor here. But also, it's not just the symptomatic concussions that are causing it; the risk of CTE is most associated with the number and strength of repetitive hits taken over a lifetime, which gives us a path forward to preventing CTE. Advertisement The problem we have is that almost no one is trying to prevent CTE, so we're still creating the same problem. There's very little acceptance that it is preventable, and the organizations that are creating CTE don't necessarily want to balance their role in creating CTE. I hope that we're soon able to marshal the attention and resources this disease deserves so that we can actually diagnose and help people while they're alive, and also strengthen the case for why we should stop hitting kids in the head and we should really try to prevent this, because brain diseases are terrible. If we knew how to prevent Alzheimer's disease, we would be doing everything. Yet for CTE, it has one cause, and we're almost doing nothing to prevent it. Are we anywhere close to getting CTE testing available for athletes while they are alive? We are, we are. The studies are finally happening that will tell us how to diagnose CTE in living people. … I do think it's just around the corner now. Would you say it's a safe assumption to say that there is a startling number of active NFL, college or even high school football players who have early stages of CTE? Yes. When the numbers are revealed, I think they will shock people. As we look forward, can you walk us through what could happen now with Shane Tamura's brain? Just speculating, because I don't have any inside information, but the New York City Medical Examiner's Office is among the most sophisticated in the world, and they have affiliated experts who understand CTE. The brain will be fixed in formalin solution to harden, so it can then be processed and studied, and that will happen for two or three weeks. Then it'll be photographed and observed, as it is, and then it will begin to be cut in ways to study more than 20 different regions of the brain, looking for any and all abnormalities, both visible and those that need to be studied, which don't become visible until you use use a small brush with antibodies on the tissue which make abnormalities visible and be studied under a microscope. Advertisement (The timeline) all depends on capacity. What you learn is that for all neuropathologists, there are more brains to be studied than there is time. If this was the only job they had, it could be done in under two months, but we'll see what the capacity is. In 2007, when Benoit died, your advocacy was just beginning, and now, 18 years later, your name shows up again, almost like a symbol that is attached to the topic of CTE. I've always felt guilt that I didn't go far enough to help Chris Benoit. Because I remember he asked me to call him, and I did call him, and he did answer, but he sounded agitated and said he'd call me back. Then he didn't, and I didn't chase him down. Whether it's Benoit or Andre Waters, many of those early cases shaped my view that people can really suffer with this, and it really impacts their families. So my goal has always been to let people know that this is possible and drive those who are struggling to find help. At the Concussion Legacy Foundation, we now have five full-time people just taking inbound helpline requests and ensuring people are connected with the best doctor for their symptoms. I've dedicated my life to trying to make sure that those people can live their best life while trying to mobilize the world to find better answers, because their answers aren't good enough right now. And that means diagnosing and potentially curing this. So with that, there's a lot of work to be done. In some aspects, we've made a lot of progress. But there's still so far to go, and I've got to figure out a way to get there faster. (Top photo of Nowinski, far left, testifying before Congress in 2014: Win McNamee / Getty Images)
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Xavier Worthy injury update: Chiefs WR placed in concussion protocol
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy won't be practicing for a while. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Chiefs' second-year receiver is entering the NFL's concussion protocol Wednesday after hitting his head during practice on Tuesday. Reporters at Tuesday's practice noted that Worthy spent some time in the medical tent after getting shaken up while trying to make a diving catch. He eventually returned to the field with his helmet in his hands, and head coach Andy Reid said after practice it was a head injury. The Chiefs made that news official on Wednesday when they placed Worthy in the concussion protocol. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: The Super Bowl runners-up are still AFC West favorites. But two things could sink them Xavier Worthy injury update Worthy is entering the NFL's concussion protocol, according to reporting from NFL Network. The Chiefs' wideout laid out to make a diving catch on the first play of Kansas City's practice on Tuesday and left the field with a trainer immediately after. He spent some time getting evaluated in the medical tent before returning to practice shortly after, his helmet in hand. Reid told reporters after Tuesday's practice that Worthy had suffered a head injury, and now that he's in the protocol, the second-year player will miss a few practices. RASHEE RICE: Chiefs WR sentenced to 30 days in jail for role in high-speed car crash NFL concussion protocol rules The NFL's concussion protocol is a five-step process that each player diagnosed with a concussion must clear before he can return to action. Here are the five steps, per the NFL: Symptom limited activity Aerobic exercise Football-specific exercise Club-based non-contact training drills Full football activity/clearance Chiefs WR depth chart The Chiefs have five rookie receivers on their expanded training camp roster to pair with eight returning players. Here's a full look at Kansas City's wide receiver depth chart, with the rookies marked with an asterisk(*): Rashee Rice Hollywood Brown Xavier Worthy Skyy Moore Jalen Royals* JuJu Smith-Schuster Jason Brownlee Tyquan Thornton Nikko Remigio Jimmy Holiday* Elijhah Badger* Mac Dalena* Hal Presley III* Moore (hamstring) and Brown (ankle) are also banged up and not participating in Wednesday's practice. Rice was recently sentenced to 30 days in jail for his involvement in a high-speed, multi-car crash in March 2024. His guilty plea also included a five-year sentence of deferred probation. He's expected to receive a multi-game suspension from the NFL, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Royals was the Chiefs' fourth-round pick in this year's draft. Holiday, Badger, Dalena and Presley were all undrafted free agent signees. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Xavier Worthy injury update: Chiefs WR in concussion protocol
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chiefs place WR Xavier Worthy in concussion protocol a day after he banged his head in practice
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs placed wide receiver Xavier Worthy in the concussion protocol Wednesday, one day after the second-year pro banged his head while trying to make a catch during training camp at Missouri Western State University. Worthy is expected to be a big part of the Kansas City offense after a dynamic rookie season in which he took advantage of the long injury absences of Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice to put up some big numbers. He finished with 59 catches for 638 yards and six touchdowns, then had 19 catches for 287 yards and three more scores in three playoff games. Brown also missed practice Wednesday after hurting his ankle the previous day. So did fellow wide receiver Skyy Moore, who is dealing with a hamstring injury that could make it more difficult for him to make the team. The Chiefs breezed through a quick workout Wednesday before getting Thursday off. They return for three more days of practice before another day off Monday. Those breaks could give some of their injured players, including offensive lineman Jawaan Taylor (knee), an opportunity to recover ahead of their preseason opener on Aug. 9 in Chicago. ___ AP NFL:
Reuters
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy placed in concussion protocol
July 30 - Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy is in concussion protocol, the team announced on Wednesday. The move comes one day after Worthy banged his head while vying for a deep pass in practice. Worthy will have to clear the protocol before returning to training camp. The Chiefs open the preseason at Arizona on Aug. 9 and kick off the regular season against the visiting Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 5. Worthy, 22, had 59 catches for 638 yards and six touchdowns and also rushed for three TDs in 17 games (13 starts) last season after being selected with the 28th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The rookie added three touchdown receptions in the playoffs, including two in the second half of the Chiefs' 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. --Field Level Media
Washington Post
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Chiefs place WR Xavier Worthy in concussion protocol a day after he banged his head in practice
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs placed wide receiver Xavier Worthy in the concussion protocol Wednesday, one day after the second-year pro banged his head while trying to make a catch during training camp at Missouri Western State University. Worthy is expected to be a big part of the Kansas City offense after a dynamic rookie season in which he took advantage of the long injury absences of Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice to put up some big numbers. He finished with 59 catches for 638 yards and six touchdowns, then had 19 catches for 287 yards and three more scores in three playoff games. Brown also missed practice Wednesday after hurting his ankle the previous day. So did fellow wide receiver Skyy Moore, who is dealing with a hamstring injury that could make it more difficult for him to make the team. The Chiefs breezed through a quick workout Wednesday before getting Thursday off. They return for three more days of practice before another day off Monday. Those breaks could give some of their injured players, including offensive lineman Jawaan Taylor (knee), an opportunity to recover ahead of their preseason opener on Aug. 9 in Chicago. ___ AP NFL:
