Youth contact sports linked to brain disease in Mayo study

Mayo Clinic researchers say they have discovered a significant and surprising incidence of brain degeneration in males who participated in amateur contact sports in their youth.

About one-third of the men, whose brains had been donated to the Mayo Clinic Brain Bank, had evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repetitive brain trauma, the researchers announced Wednesday.

The Mayo study links contact sports — football, boxing, wrestling, rugby, basketball, baseball and others played while in school — with the development of CTE, which can affect mood, behavior and cognition if the cases are severe enough.

http://www.startribune.com/mayo-research-finds-youth-contact-sports-boost-risk-of-brain-degeneration/360065411/