Health news this week from staff writer Patricia Kime. She writes:
Boston University researchers have found at least 19 military veterans, including three exposed to head-jarring explosions in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the same brain-wasting disease as some athletes who play contact sports.
The condition, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, was first discovered in boxers in the 1920s and recently diagnosed in several professional football and hockey players after their deaths. At least 110 cases have been seen worldwide since 2009, according to researchers who recently discussed the need for additional research funds.
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“This is not a new disease … but more and more, we are seeing it in football players, hockey, other sports — and many cases in veterans, including World War II, Vietnam, Gulf War, and Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Dr. Anne McKee, a BU professor and neuropathology director for the New England Veterans Health Care System and Brain Banks.
