Brain bank uncovers suicide link to CTE in sports stars
Most brains donated to the bank had signs of neurodegeneration, a case series shows
Half of the sportspeople with chronic traumatic encephalopathy who donated their brains to the Australian Sports Brain Bank died by suicide, scientists have revealed.
The brain bank published its first case series, based on 21 donated brains, in the Medical Journal of Australia.
Six of the 12 people whose donated brains had signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) died by suicide, compared with only one of the nine patients with no CTE, the team found.
Of the 21 brains in the study, nine were from rugby players, eight from Australian rules football players, and one each from boxing, soccer, basketball and equestrian sports.
