Corridor of Fame quarterback Brett Favre’s announcement that he has Parkinson’s illness is bringing renewed consideration to the potential hyperlinks between collision sports activities and a danger of mind illness.
Favre revealed his prognosis on Tuesday whereas testifying earlier than Congress about his alleged misuse of taxpayer cash. The listening to targeted on a welfare scandal in Mississippi, however the topic of Favre’s well being arose as a result of he mentioned dropping an funding in an organization that he believed was making a “breakthrough concussion drug.”
“I’m positive you’ll perceive why it’s too late for me as a result of I’ve just lately been identified with Parkinson’s,” Favre stated.
Favre performed 20 seasons within the NFL, principally for the Inexperienced Bay Packers, and retired 13 years in the past. In a 2022 interview with “The Bubba Military” radio present, he estimated that he had suffered hundreds of concussions.
“Each time my head hit the turf, there was ringing or stars going, flash bulbs, however I used to be nonetheless in a position to play,” he stated in that interview. “That’s what’s type of horrifying in regards to the concussion factor. It’s those that appear minor that do the injury.”
Sports activities that contain repetitive collisions — equivalent to soccer, boxing and rugby — carry a danger of concussions and different head accidents.
“We all know that the mind can solely take a lot, and when there’s this sort of trauma — not even simply sports-related, however any type of repeated trauma to the mind — we all know it’s going to have an effect on it down the road,” stated Shannon Shaffer, a nurse practitioner on the Cleveland Clinic and liaison at Rune Labs, a neurology-focused software program and knowledge analytics firm.
Early analysis has established a probable hyperlink between these actions and Parkinson’s, in addition to different neurodegenerative illnesses like Alzheimer’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and continual traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). A number of research have discovered {that a} single concussion can elevate an individual’s danger of being identified with Parkinson’s by greater than 55%.
The NFL didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark about Favre’s prognosis and the hyperlink between soccer and neurodegenerative illness.
Final 12 months, a examine discovered {that a} historical past of taking part in soccer was related to 61% larger odds of getting Parkinson’s signs or being identified with the illness. A 2018 examine equally discovered that repetitive head impacts from years of taking part in contact sports activities had been related to precursors to Parkinson’s.
Hannah Bruce, an creator of the 2023 examine, stated it may be tough to find out what function, if any, soccer performed in a case like Favre’s.
“It’s exhausting to say whether or not it’s precisely due to the soccer or if it simply elevated his danger or odds of creating Parkinson’s illness, or if there’s different elements at play,” stated Bruce, who carried out the analysis on the Boston College Alzheimer’s Illness Analysis Middle. “However we’re seeing extra soccer gamers come ahead. It positively says one thing.”
Neurologists who handled boxing legend Muhammad Ali concluded in 2022 that his medical historical past supported a prognosis of young-onset Parkinson’s illness, however they may not hyperlink the illness to go trauma. Ali died in 2016.
Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative illness that causes nerve cells within the mind to weaken and die. It might result in tremors, muscle stiffness, impaired stability and hassle strolling and speaking. To cut back the signs, sufferers usually take prescription drugs or obtain deep mind stimulation, which sends electrical pulses to nerve cells within the mind.
Repeated trauma to the mind is thought to be a possible set off for the illness, since it may trigger irritation that results in the loss of life of extra nerve cells over time. However it’s certainly one of many danger elements, together with older age, an underlying genetic susceptibility and publicity to sure pesticides.
Dr. Kevin Crutchfield, a neurologist at Hackensack Meridian Well being, stated docs usually rule out different elements earlier than linking Parkinson’s to soccer accidents.
“The default isn’t, ‘Oh, you performed soccer, you bought Parkinson’s,’” he stated.
Crutchfield added that tens of hundreds of males have performed within the NFL and, to this point, there’s no tidal wave of Parkinson’s diagnoses amongst them. However the illness isn’t at all times simple to diagnose, and signs don’t essentially develop quickly after a head damage.
Thor Stein, director of molecular analysis at Boston College’s CTE Middle and a co-author of the 2023 examine, stated that in some circumstances, CTE is usually a set off for Parkinson’s. Many former soccer gamers have been discovered to point out indicators of the mind illness, which may solely be identified autopsy.
“The extra you get these repetitive hits to the top, the longer you might be uncovered to that, the larger your danger is for creating quite a few totally different degenerative illnesses, together with each CTE and Parkinson’s illness,” Stein stated. “And extra just lately, surprisingly, we discovered that in these individuals who do develop these signs that it’s usually not the everyday pathology, however usually it’s CTE that’s inflicting their Parkinson’s illness signs.”
In a July examine of mind donors with identified CTE, Stein and his co-authors discovered that just about 1 / 4 had exhibited indicators of parkinsonism.
Favre stated in an interview with TODAY in 2021 that he wasn’t positive whether or not he had CTE.
Crutchfield stated it’s necessary for gamers to take breaks after a head trauma to keep away from extra critical mind accidents.
“The mind is far more inclined to recurrent hits in case your mind hasn’t had sufficient time to heal,” he stated. “So athletes hiding a concussion as a result of they wish to maintain taking part in will not be factor.”
This text was initially revealed on NBCNews.com