Topic guides: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE): Content

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Dementia Australia resources

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
Webinar. In this video Cognitive Neurologist, Dr Rowena Mobbs, explains the difference between concussion and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known more simply as CTE. The pattern of symptoms in CTE are explored, including poor emotional and behavioural regulation. There is new support emerging for anyone concerned about CTE from head injuries, including former athletes, military personnel and those who experience acts of physical violence.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) dementia by Dementia Australia
Publication Date: 2022
Information about Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) dementia, a condition affecting brain function due to repeated head injuries over time. It describes symptoms, treatment and management options, and tips to support someone with the condition.
Dementia Australia’s submission to the Senate Inquiry into Concussions and repeated head trauma in contact sports
Publication Date: 2023

Concussion and CTE Coalition 2024-25 Pre-budget submission
Our joint pre-budget submission outlines two proposals to: - Pilot a national program of support for people living with CTE, their families and carers. - Develop a community awareness and education campaign about concussion and CTE – and to prevent CTE
CTE funding set to boost Australia’s future brain health - Media release, Friday, 21 February 2025
Dementia Australia welcomes the $12.5 million investment by the Federal Government to tackle chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

Books and online resources

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) by Charles J. Golden; Matthew R. Zusman
Publication Date: 2019
This book reviews the existing literature around etiology, neuropathology, and clinical manifestations of CTE and includes case studies pertaining to these components of CTE. It investigates the claim that CTE causes depression, violent behavior, and an increased risk for suicide by providing an in depth discussion using empirical data.
A Healthcare Provider’s Guide To Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE): Diagnosis, pharmacologic management, non-pharmacologic management, and other considerations
CTE is often mistaken for Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, mood and psychotic disorders, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In some patient, CTE can coexist with other neurodegenerative pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Concussion by Michael Lipman; Frankie Lipman
Publication Date: 2022
Only in the past decade have the consequences of repeated head knocks become better known, and the science is still rapidly catching up. With the discovery of CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, in the brains of deceased football players, it is now known that the onset of a form of dementia, caused by repeated concussions, can strike people as young as those in their thirties and forties. This is what has happened to Michael Lipman, a former rugby international who came out in public in 2018 as having had a diagnosis of early-onset dementia and probable CTE. With courage and candour, Michael and his wife Frankie Lipman tell their story.
Unforgettable by Steve Thompson
Publication Date: 2022
In 2003, England won the Rugby World Cup. Steve Thompson was in England's front row, at the heart of the match, and at the heart of the scrum - one of sport's most violent battlegrounds. But triumph came at a cost. Today, he remembers nothing about playing in that final. In his words, watching the tape back is like watching a ghost. The years of hurt, and the culture of sucking up punishment and coming back for more, have taken a terrible toll. Steve has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, and serious progressive brain damage.
Head on: An All Black's memoir of rugby, dementia, and the hidden cost of success by Carl Hayman
Publication Date: 2023
Hayman is now left counting the hidden cost of the achievements that would have exceeded any young rugby player's dreams. He now fears both the known and the unknown with equal trepidation. as he looks for answers to dementia and a degenerative brain condition called CTE.
The Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Mastery Bible Your Blueprint for Complete Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Management by Ankita Kashyap and Krishna N. Sharma
Publication Date: 2023
This book offers summary information about CTE and general information to address the multifaceted challenges of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

Videos and Podcasts

Headfirst Podcast - CTE and Concussion with Dr Rowena Mobbs
This podcast episode discusses the critical topics of concussion, CTE, dementia, and strategies for disease mitigation.
Plum - TV Series - ABC iview
ABC drama television series Plum is a fictional story of Peter Lum as he navigates his cognitive changes and redefines who he is.

Journal articles and papers

Concussions and repeated head trauma in contact sports (2023)
The Senate Community Affairs References Committee report into concussions and repeated head trauma in contact sports September 2023. Browse the report by chapter or download the whole report.
Risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in rugby union is associated with length of playing career (2023)
The results of collated and analyzed neuropathological data from autopsy brain examinations on individuals with rugby as primary sport exposure submitted to three international brain banks with specific interest in contact sport and brain health.
Stewart, W., Buckland, M.E., Abdolmohammadi, B. et al. Risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in rugby union is associated with length of playing career. Acta Neuropathol 146, 829–832 (2023)
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)—features and forensic considerations (2023)
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a condition characterized by a range of neurological deficits that are attributed to repeated episodes of blunt head trauma. Initially identified in boxers who were considered ‘punch drunk’ with ‘dementia pugilistica’ [1], it has now been found in a much more diverse cohort of individuals including other professional and amateur athletes who have experienced frequent and repetitive concussive and/or sub-concussive impacts during contact sports.
Byard, R., Tiemensma, M., Buckland, M. E., & Vink, R. (2023). Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)—features and forensic considerations. Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology, 19.
Sport-induced traumatic brain injury: families reveal the ‘hell’ of living with the condition (2022)
23 interviews were conducted with family members over three days at a Concussion Legacy Foundation event. The outcome demonstrates the challenges faced by both those living with diseases of the brain, such as CTE, and their carers, This article is also available as an audio file.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE dementia by Dr Rowena Mobbs (2021)
Department of Neurolgy at Macquarie University, Dr Mobbs is a leading clinician in concussion, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and dementia services.

Episodic memory deficits are associated with impaired insight in traumatic encephalopathy syndrome: initial findings of the SNAP-CTE study (2021)
Preprint (2021)
Rowena E. A. Mobbs, Jennifer Batchelor, Alessandra K. Teunisse, Ellen Erskine, Eamon Brown, Joshua Hood, Anthony E. Mobbs, Clare L. Fraser, Alan J. Pearce, Richard Stevenson, Roy G. Beran, Anna Miskovic-Wheatley, Karina Chan, Alicia Ching Mun Foo, Reidar Lystad
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has been identified at post-mortem in Australian football codes players. Detailed and objective clinical and radiological characterization of patients at-risk of sporting and non-sporting repetitive concussive and subconcussive traumatic brain injury (RC/SCI) is important to our understanding of traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES) and CTE. This paper presents the initial findings of the symptomatology, neurocognitive, and pathophysiological changes in CTE (SNAP-CTE) study.

Websites

What is CTE
Concussion Legacy Foundation website
Includes information about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
Memory and Ageing Centre - University of California
Connecters Australia
Connecters Australia supports people living with CTE and their loved ones.
Boston University - Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center
The Center conducts high-impact, innovative research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy and other long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma in athletes and military personnel.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Alzheimer's Association (US)
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a brain condition associated with repeated blows to the head. It is also associated with the development of dementia. Potential signs of CTE are problems with thinking and memory, personality changes, and behavioral changes including aggression and depression. People may not experience potential signs of CTE until years or decades after brain injuries occur.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (NHS UK)
Comprehensive information covering symptoms, causes and diagnosis.
The Australian Sports Brain Bank: CTE diagnosis and research
Link to listed published research
Australian CTE Biobank - CTE Prevention, Care and Cure
Our mission is to understand CTE, a younger-onset dementia, with the aim of creating precision medicine approaches, transformative research, and community translation programs that will benefit individuals and their families

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