CTE Found in at Least a Quarter of NFL Decedents, New BMJ Analysis Finds
A BMJ analysis of NFL brain donations from 2008–2021 shows that at least 24.5% of players who died between 2016–2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), based on 215 positive diagnoses among 235 examined brains; the broader period yields an 18.5% minimum rate. CTE can only be diagnosed after death, and dementia was common among brain donors and correlated with CTE severity.