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The leading national evangelist for a cause and effect relationship between professional football and dementia is Anne McKee M.D. a neuropathologist and expert in neurodegenerative disease at Boston University School of Medicine. McKee is a leading authority on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, (CTE), a degenerative brain disease that has been found in some athletes participating in boxing, American football, ice hockey, other contact sports, and military service. McKee has presented her findings to National Football League officials and testified before the United States House Judiciary Committee, claiming that there is a cause and effect relationship. Her post mortem findings form the basis for the thousands of civil and workers’ compensation cases that have been filed by former professional athletes for CTE.

Yet, despite the public and media perception to the contrary. her findings have not passed the scrutiny and received the support of her peers. The British Journal of Sports Medicine published the Consensus Statement on concussion in sport following the 4th International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich back in November 2012. The leading medical experts in the world concluded in the Consensus Statement that “It was agreed that CTE represents a distinct tauopathy with an unknown incidence in athletic populations. It was further agreed that CTE was not related to concussions alone or simply exposure to contact sports. At present, there are no published epidemiological, cohort or prospective studies relating to modern CTE. Owing to the nature of the case reports and pathological case series that have been published, it is not possible to determine the causality or risk factors with any certainty. As such, the speculation that repeated concussion or subconcussive impacts cause CTE remains unproven.”

One of the named co-authors of this Consensus Statement was Robert Cantu, M.D. Currently Dr. Cantu’s professional responsibilities place him side by side with Anne McKee. These include Clinical Professor Department of Neurosurgery and Co-Director Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA. He is also Senior Advisor to the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee; Section Co-Chair Mackey-White National Football League Players Association Traumatic Brain Injury Committee; Co-Founder and Chairman Medical Advisory Board Sports Legacy Institute, Waltham, MA; Adjunct Professor Exercise and Sport Science and Medical Director National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC; Co-Director, Neurologic Sports Injury Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Chief of Neurosurgery Service, Chairman Department of Surgery, and Director of Sports Medicine at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Massachusetts,

Thus, despite the pubic and media assumption of cause and effect, the science does not quite support the assumption. The International Conference will again convene next year for the 5th time to study the issue.

And now more notable professional athletes are supporting the cause. New York Giants punter Steve Weatherford and former National Football League receiver Sidney Rice have announced they will donate their brains to medical research after their deaths.The two NFL champions want to help brain disease research, especially on the debilitating effects of concussion.

Rice estimated he had incurred between 15 and 20 concussions since starting to play football at the age of eight. “I had my fair share of fun in the NFL,” said Rice, a Super Bowl-winning receiver with the Seattle Seahawks last year. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t educated enough on (what) concussions can lead to. The brain studies by the doctors will be huge to help, maybe prevent.”

The two stars hope their commitment might mobilize others to do the same. “It’s helpful to get a professional athlete behind something,” said Weatherford. “This is something that has affected Sidney and affected me in the form of one of my dear friends, Junior Seau, committing suicide.” Seau, a 12-time Pro Bowl linebacker, died after shooting himself in the chest in 2012 at the age of 43. A study of Seau’s brain revealed that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a debilitating brain condition caused by repeated jolts to the head that can lead to aggression and dementia.

Both Rice and Weatherford said they thought the NFL had taken positive steps to address the dangers of repetitive blows to the head but that more needed to be done.