A Brain Disease Linked With Head Trauma Has Been Found In The Brains Of Former NRL Players

A brain disease linked with repeated head trauma amongst NFL players has been identified in the brains of two ex-NRL players, the Courier Mail has revealed.

Evident of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (also known as CTE) was found in the brains of deceased NRL players who had both played over 150 games at the highest level.

The research came out from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, NSW Health Pathology and the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre and have been published today in  international neuropathology journal Acta Neuropathologica Communications.

“The changes in the two brains were distinctive, definitive, and met consensus diagnostic criteria for CTE,” said lead author Clinical Associate Professor Michael Buckland, head of the RPA Neuropathology Department and head of the Molecular Neuropathology Program at the Brain and Mind Centre.

“I have looked at about 1000 brains over the last 10 years, and I have not seen this sort of pathology in any other case before.

“The fact that we have now seen these changes in former rugby league players indicates that they, and likely other Australian collision sports players, are not immune to CTE, a disease that has gained such high profile in the United States.”

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