Study provides hope for brain disease treatment

The new research comes too late for Junior Seau, but in decades to come it may help ex-football players and others cope with and prevent brain disease related to head impacts.

A study released Tuesday reported signs of CTE, a brain disease linked to concussions, had been found in five living former NFL players via scanning that uses low-dose radioactivity. The investigators admit the study was small and more research is needed, but it is potential breakthrough in fighting a disease that has been only diagnosed after death.

"One of the problems with CTE cases is that some of them end in suicide. The suicides are often precipitous, without warning," said neurosurgeon Julian Bailes, a co-author of the report and co-director of the NorthShore Neurological Institute in Evanston, Ill.

Seau, a former NFL linebacker and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, shot himself to death last May. The National Institutes of Health recently said tests of Seau's brain showed CTE, which has been linked to depression and dementia.

"The hope would be if you could identify them while they are in the early states that they could be treated,'' said Bailes, who describes the search for a way to identify the disease in living people as the "Holy Grail" of CTE research.

The study is based on research at UCLA headed by Gary Small, professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the Semel Institue for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Bailes and Small collaborated in launching the study about two years ago.

"Even though the results are extremely encouraging, we've got to do more studies," said Small. "What we're hoping is that we'll be able to test new treatments and have better ways of diagnosing problems earlier. We're looking toward preventive treatments to protect them rather than repair the damage."

One of the five former players was identified, former 1970s backup quarterback Wayne Clark, 65, of Tustin, Calif. He said he sustained three concussions, one in college and two in the NFL. Though his scan found signs of CTE, Clark said he is doing "fine." But one question in CTE research is why some players with a history of concussions show ill effects and others don't.

"This, I hope, will advance everybody's understanding of what's going on," said Clark, who played with the San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs. "If this turns out to be as groundbreaking as it promises to be, it would be an opportunity for me, and I really feel privileged to be a part of it.''

Clark said he is among more than 4,000 former NFL players currently suing the league in federal court, alleging the NFL knowingly failed to protect players for decades from the long-term effects of concussions.

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Study provides hope for brain disease treatment