

If it's football season, is it time for CTE alarmism? Let's not exaggerate the risk of brain damage from sports. Instead let's study more brains, including mine.

Thomas P. Dompier
Opinion contributor
Jim Young - USA TODAY Sports

As football players of all ages return to the gridiron, the dialogue surrounding head trauma and concussions will no doubt resurface for parents, players, coaches, health professionals and even legislators. Rightfully so, as the issue needs our attention and further research to ensure the safest possible climate as athletes compete. This is why I’ve already taken steps to donate my own brain to further our scientific understanding.

The topic is near and dear to me both personally and professionally. I have sustained at least nine concussions. My 10-year-old son has already suffered two. If you’ve been following the news, you’ll likely conclude that I, and perhaps my son, have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease.

Taken on its face, I have clinical symptoms of CTE, including: mood swings, impulsivity, bouts of depression over the years, anger, forgetfulness, and I cannot help my son with his math homework (cognitive difficulties).

Media reports have focused largely on the extreme CTE cases of famous athletes. Based on this reporting, what hope do I have? As a 45-year-old, should I end my life and save my family the burden of taking care of me as the CTE takes over my mind?

Victims of sensationalist coverage

This is the road some individuals have tragically taken after receiving sensationalized, incomplete information about this very serious public health issue. Case in point: Todd Ewen, a former NHL hockey player who suffered concussions, killed himself because he was convinced by what he read in the news that he had CTE. According to reports, rather than seeking care for depression, which is treatable, he committed suicide. Turns out, Ewen did not have CTE. Instead, he was killed by hysteria and sensationalism.

The news media haven’t covered cases like mine, where symptoms can be attributed to other factors, where the nuances of individual medical records become apparent. Indeed, my symptoms existed before I played football and before any repetitive head impact exposure.

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My first bout of depression occurred at the time of my parents’ divorce and had nothing to do with head trauma. Similarly, my memory difficulties are likely due to having a million things to do in my professional and home life, as well as normal aging. The new math they teach our kids is just confusing, not sure that has anything to do with head trauma or football.

None of my concussions, for that matter, was football- or even team sport-related. I played a position with little head impact exposure. I sat on the bench and barely got any reps in football practices or games. All of my concussions were self-inflicted on my mountain bike, in car crashes and during horseplay.  Nonetheless, if I died tomorrow and it’s found I have CTE, the headline would likely read, "Concussion researcher had CTE from playing high school football," without describing the nuances. 

Put your brain where your blind spot is   

I’m not a famous athlete who purportedly got sick playing America’s favorite sport and, unless my case fits the current narrative that football caused my CTE, it won’t be reported. To truly understand CTE and its causes, we need to fix this blind spot in the research as well as the news coverage.

I’ve donated my brain to the Miller School of Medicine's Brain Endowment Bank at the University of Miami to help address that blind spot. I encourage others like myself to consider donating their brains so we can fill the gap in the research. Can we really ask athletes to give their bodies and brains to their sport in life and death, if we’re not willing to do so ourselves?

I’m not trying to make light of this situation, as clearly CTE or some derivation of the phenomenon exists in a sample of former athletes. We must try to understand who is at risk and how to prevent it. To do that, we need to study more brains and a greater variety of them. We need to consider what other risk factors might have produced or exacerbated an individual’s symptoms.

I take all of this very seriously. I hope my history provides some context for the dangers of sensationalism, the complexity of the CTE issue, and the complexities of athletes’ medical histories that are often overlooked.

Thomas P. Dompier is an associate professor of athletic training and sports injury epidemiologist at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania.