Biloine W. Young • Mon, December 15th, 2014
The information about brain-damage among football players grows more and more worrisome. Professor Alon Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, has published findings in JAMA Neurologythat suggest that up to 40% of football players may suffer from, as yet, unsuspected blood-brain barrier damage. This incidence took place among players who had not reported concussions.
According to a report in Medical News Today, Friedman and his team came to this disturbing conclusion through their work with a new brain imaging method called Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DCE-MRI). This method, they report, highlights brain regions with abnormal vasculature, indicating damage to the blood-brain barrier. The researchers believe that damage to the blood-brain barrier is a cause of brain degeneration and may be a factor in complications with the brain following head injuries.
