October 24, 2023

expert reaction to association between length of career and chronic traumatic encephalopathy risk in rugby union players

A study published in Acta Neuropathologica looks at the link between the length of rugby careers and the risk of traumatic encephalopathy. 

Prof Tara Spires-Jones, President of the British Neuroscience Association, Group Leader at the UK Dementia Research Institute at Edinburgh, and Deputy Director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, said:

“This study by Stewart and colleagues looked at brain tissue from 31 former rugby players. 68% of these people had pathology in their brains indicating chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This pathology is characterized by clumps of tau pathology inside brain cells, particularly around blood vessels in the depths of the folds in the cortex. Each additional year of playing rugby was associated with a 14% increase in risk of brain pathology.  This is a well-conducted study although it is limited by the relatively small number of brain samples available.  This study adds to the existing literature indicating that playing contact sports increases the risk of neurodegenerative diseases in elite players. While this current study did show some people who played amateur rugby had brain pathology, the strongest data linking contact sports to neurodegeneration still come from professional or elite players. Brain injury, such as those that can occur in contact sports, are associated with an increased risk of dementias later in life, however, physical activity generally is associated with lower risk of dementias.  So while it is a good idea to protect your brain by avoiding head injury, it is also very important to exercise.”

‘Risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in rugby union is associated with length of playing career’ by William Stewart et al. was published in Acta Neuropathologica at 00:01 UK time on Tuesday 24^th October. 

DOI: 10.1007/s00401-023-02644-3

Declared interests

Prof Tara Spires-Jones: I don’t have any conflicts with this study:

For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.