The New York Times (7/4, Mather) reports, “For the first time, the degenerative brain disease” known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) “has been diagnosed in a female professional athlete, researchers reported” in findingspublished online in the journal Acta Neuropathologica. Australian rules football player Heather Anderson, “who died last year” by suicide, “was found to have had C.T.E” as evidenced by “three lesions” on her brain.
According to NBC News (7/4, DaSilva), “Anderson’s family had donated her brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank, where the analysis took place,” hoping “to learn ‘whether a lifetime of exposure to repetitive head trauma contributed to (Anderson’s) death.’”
CNN (7/4, Whiteman) reports, “Anderson started playing football when she was five years old and went on to play contact sport for 18 years across two codes – AFL and rugby league – before her death…at 28 last November, according to the paper.” During the course of “her career, Anderson had one confirmed concussion, and suffered another suspected four, according to her family.” The diagnosis “shows women’s contact sports also need CTE minimization plans to reduce players’ exposure to cumulative head injuries, and those plans need to start at the junior level.”
Related Links:
— “C.T.E. Found for First Time in Female Pro Athlete,”Victor Mather, The New York Times, July 4, 2023