SARASOTA – January 30th marked National CTE Awareness Day.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or known as CTE, is a progressive brain condition that is found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma.
“As the definition says, chronic meaning occurs over a period of time, and traumatic means injury to the brain, and Encephalopathy is just a fancy term for the brain not acting right,” said Neurologist and Neuropsychiatrist, Dr. Ronald Aung-Din.
Although little is known about CTE, the condition has been linked to mood disorders, including depression, aggression, impulsive behavior, memory loss and other cognitive impairments.
“The brain controls every human function, not just thought and personality, but movement, emotion, and planning,” said Dr. Aung-Din.
Unfortunately, the disease can only be diagnosed through an autopsy, as it requires evidence of degeneration of brain tissue. CTE has been found in the brains of people who were involved in contact sports, such as boxing and American football.
Sarasota High’s Head Football coach, Brody Wiseman says teaching young athletes the importance of how serious a head injury can be goes a long way
“If you’re showing any types if signs or if we even suspect it, or our trainer suspects it that kid is getting yanked from the game until we feel he is ready to go and has been cleared by a doctor, these are high school kids, a lot of them have a lot of opportunities, there’s more than just one game, so it’s always best in my opinion to air on the side of caution,” said Sarasota High’s Head Football Coach, Brody Wiseman.
Harold Wilen, Director of Sarasota’s Boxing Club, has been training boxers since the 1960s.
“Our emphasis is on defense, on not getting hit. boxing in general is the art of hitting and not getting hit,” said Wilen.
The Florida Hall of Famer says much more needs to be done when discussing CTE and boxing.
“Regular testing should be mandatory by the governing bodies,” said Wilen.
“Its unpredictable when the next injury is the one that is going to be the worse, there’s a lot of uncertainties life is full of uncertainties but you have to use judgement and what is right for you,” said Dr. Aung-Din.
The disease often gets worse over time and can result in dementia.