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Thursday, November 20, 2008

CBC's The Fifth Estate: Head Games



Good program about concussions. It aired yesterday on CBC's Fifth Estate.

Head Games description:

They have been called the greatest football team in the history of the CFL — the Edmonton Eskimos of the 1970s and '80s that won five consecutive Grey Cups. But, for some of the star players on that team, the years of triumph ended ingloriously in early deaths, from heart attack, suicide and misadventure. The tragedy of those early deaths was often compounded by alcohol or drug addictions, probably caused by another, less visible, killer. Recent research by neuroscientists now shows the link between on-the-field concussions and brain damage; a permanent injury that can lead to depression, suicide and severe aberrant behaviour. The damage is so profound, the researchers say, that post-mortem examinations of the brain tissue of five former professional football players can be compared only to the tissue found in the brain tissue of advanced Alzheimers cases.

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