MONDAY, Sept. 23, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- One in three former NFL players believe they have football-related brain damage that’s doing untold harm to their lives, a new study finds.

Unfortunately, their fears might be harming their mental health on top of whatever risks they face from head injuries sustained during their careers, researchers report.

About one-third of nearly 2,000 retired NFL players believe they have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain condition linked to repeated head trauma, researchers reported Sept. 23 in the journal JAMA Neurology.

Players who suspect they have CTE reported significantly more problems with brain function, low testosterone, depression and chronic pain than those who don’t think they have the condition, researchers found.

In addition, about 25% of players who believe they have CTE also reported suicidal thoughts or behaviors, compared with about 5% of those who don’t think they have CTE, results showed.

NFL retirees who believe they have CTE are twice as likely to report frequent thoughts of suicide, even after accounting for symptoms of depression, researchers said.

These symptoms are potentially related to the dread faced by NFL retirees who are certain they have CTE and expect a long and excruciating decline in their mental function, researchers said.

Incurable brain diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease also have been associated with elevated suicide rates.

“As complex human beings, our beliefs can exert a strong impact on our health,” said researcher Dr. Ross Zafonte, chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

“The symptoms that raise CTE concerns are real and CTE concerns are valid, but it’s critical to understand that having persistent fears about this condition can take a toll on mental health,” Zafonte added in a hospital news release.

Doctors can help NFL retirees with their fears by effectively treating health problems that former players might chalk up to CTE, researchers said.

“Many conditions common to former NFL players such as sleep apnea, low testosterone, high blood pressure and chronic pain can cause problems with thinking, memory and concentration,” said lead investigator Rachel Grashow, a research scientist with the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

“While we wait for advances in CTE research to better address living players’ experiences, it is imperative that we identify conditions that are treatable,” Grashow added. “These efforts may reduce the chances that players will prematurely attribute symptoms to CTE which may lead to hopelessness and thoughts of self-harm.”

Players can also help themselves through healthy lifestyle choices, said senior researcher Dr. Aaron Baggish, a professor of medicine at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

“Interventions including weight loss, exercise, improving sleep and implementing a low-salt diet may improve cognitive function,” Baggish said.

More information

Harvard Medical School has more on CTE.

SOURCE: Mass General Brigham, news release, Sept. 23, 2024

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