Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a brain condition caused by repeated hits to the head. It has long been linked to professional athletes in contact sports like football and boxing.
Now, a new study from the Boston University CTE Center shows that CTE should be officially considered a cause of dementia. This research could change the way we understand brain diseases in aging adults.
The study, which is the largest of its kind, looked at the brains of 614 people who had been exposed to repeated head impacts. Most were athletes. The researchers focused on 366 individuals who had only CTE and no other brain diseases. They compared them to 248 people without CTE.
The results showed that people with the most advanced form of CTE were four times more likely to have dementia. This is a strong link—similar to how advanced Alzheimer’s disease is connected to dementia. These findings were published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
Dr. Michael Alosco, a lead author of the study, explained that this research confirms CTE is not just about changes in the brain—it also leads to real problems with memory, thinking, and daily life.
Dementia is when people have serious trouble with memory, decision-making, and everyday tasks like driving or managing money. Alzheimer’s disease is the most well-known cause, but there are other brain diseases that can lead to dementia, too. This new study suggests that CTE should be added to that list.
One concerning finding is that CTE is often mistaken for Alzheimer’s disease or not diagnosed at all during a person’s life.
Of those who were diagnosed with dementia while alive, 40% were told they had Alzheimer’s. But when researchers looked at their brains after death, there was no sign of Alzheimer’s—only CTE. Another 38% of cases were labeled as having “unknown” causes of dementia.
This shows how hard it is to correctly identify CTE before death. Because CTE can look like other diseases, doctors may give the wrong diagnosis or miss it completely. That’s why researchers say we need better tools to detect CTE while people are still alive.
Some experts have questioned whether CTE really causes symptoms. As recently as 2022, some researchers claimed it was unclear if CTE led to any brain problems. But this new study strongly disagrees with that view. It shows that CTE has a major impact on brain function and people’s lives.
The researchers found that only advanced stages of CTE were linked to dementia. Milder forms didn’t show the same risk. This is important because not everyone with CTE will develop memory problems. But for those with severe damage, the risk is high.
This study adds strong evidence to the idea that CTE is a serious disease with real consequences. It calls for more research into how to spot it early and how to tell it apart from other brain diseases like Alzheimer’s. It also raises awareness that repeated head injuries can lead to lasting damage.
In the future, scientists hope to study CTE using living patients to better understand its symptoms, progression, and how to treat it. This new research marks a big step forward in understanding the true risks of repeated head trauma.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about low choline intake linked to higher dementia risk, and how eating nuts can affect your cognitive ability.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that blueberry supplements may prevent cognitive decline, and results showing higher magnesium intake could help benefit brain health.
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