In a move affecting impact sports, the US National Institutes of Health has formally recognized a causal link between repetitive blows to the head and the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
The NIH is the world’s largest biomedical research institution, and its decision to rewrite its official guidance on CTE has been described by the campaign group as a tipping point in the debate on the risks of doing collision sports. In the NIH’s view, previous research suggests that a causal link between repeated traumatic brain injury and CTE is clear and unequivocal.
Its position is at odds with that of the Concussion in Sport Group, which is backed by FIFA, World Rugby, the IOC and others. The Concussion Consensus Document published by the CISG has consistently downplayed the relationship between CTE and sports-inflicted brain injuries. The latest in 2017 stated that “to date, no causal link has been established between CTE and exposure to concussion or contact sports,” with multiple sports federations advocating for legal reform. challenge and call.
The change in NIH guidance came after a group of 41 leading scientists, physicians, and epidemiologists co-signed a letter to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (Ninds). The letter cites a review of recent research on CTE published in the journal Frontiers in Neurology in July, highlighting the types of recurrent brain injuries suffered by abuse victims, soldiers, and athletes, among others, and their clear causality. There has been evidence that this is the case since the disease was first recognized in the 1950s, and Ninds’ director said the causal link was “pretty clear” in 2014, but they ‘s official guidance so far has not reflected that.
This change aligns the NIH with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which stated in its 2019 advice: This means that her two leading independent medical research institutions in the world are in agreement on the cause of his CTE. It is unclear whether the CISG’s next concussion consensus will reflect that. The group will meet in Amsterdam on Thursday and Friday to draft an updated version of the consensus, which it plans to publish early next year.
The CISG has already come under intense scrutiny since its presidency, with lead author Dr. Paul McCrory resigning earlier this year after allegations of multiple plagiarisms in his work. At the time, McCrory apologized on Retraction Watch, saying it was “neither intentional nor unintentional” that he took no responsibility.
“Now that causality is established, the world has a golden opportunity to prevent future cases of CTE,” said a spokesperson for the nonprofit Concussion Legacy Foundation. Known causes are environmental exposure and most often the choice to play contact sports.
“Our goal is to reform all youth sports so that there are no repeat preventable head blows before the age of 14. There are no headings or tackles in football. [American] soccer and rugby. This change, combined with logical restrictions on repeated impacts to the head in 14+ sports (such as banning hitting in football/rugby practice and severely restricting heading in practice), will help him in the future. is expected to prevent the majority of CTE cases in ”
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