- Levels of a protein called tau in spinal fluid may help predict which former pro athletes with multiple concussions will end up with long lasting effects from their history of jolts to the brain, a new study suggests.
The elevated levels of tau found in some of the athletes in the study"make us concerned that there is neurodegeneration going on," Tartaglia said."But we don't know if they have CTE. That can be determined only after death." For the new study, Tartaglia and her colleagues recruited 22 male former pro athletes - most of them former Canadian Football League players or pro hockey players, and one snowboarder. For comparison, they also recruited five healthy volunteers and 12 volunteers who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, both groups a mixture of men and women.
When the researchers analyzed just these two groups of athletes, they found that the number of concussions an individual experienced or the number of years he played were not related to his levels of tau.
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